From page 124: "No one piece of text can meet the needs of all students...Reading a whole class novel takes too long - how many other books could have been read in that time?...Laboring over a novel reduces comprehension by making it harder for the student to fall into a story...We are ignoring student interest in what they like to read."
An alternative? (Many teachers at our school do this now!) Ms. Miller suggests "Book Clubs" - selecting one theme and gathering a wide range of texts on this topic. After previewing book choices, students list their top three picks and the teacher assigns goups. Short stories, plays, poetry, visual media and read alouds on this same theme can be used for whole class skill instruction and discussion. The students then can practice and apply the focus skill in their Book Club reading.
Have you ever had Book Clubs in your room? What were the advantages? What were the challenges?
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