How to Use Book Clubs As a Reading Strategy in Elementary School

1). Choose a genre or theme around which to select books. If you start by selecting a genre such as historical fiction or a theme like friendship, you can search for books that fall into that genre or contain that theme. This practice, while not mandatory, makes classroom instruction much easier for the educator because it allows him to teach lessons that are related to the common elements of each book, such as the similar historical setting, instead of individually designing lessons that are appropriate for each particular book.
2). Select books of various reading levels. Using book clubs in classroom instruction gives you the uncommon opportunity to tailor reading material to students' individual abilities. This allows teachers to easily accommodate a variety of reading levels within one class. The number of books that you need to select is dependent upon the number of students in your class. Book groups are ineffective if they are comprised of too many students. Select as many books as necessary to ensure that you have reading groups of no more than five students.
3). Allow students to select a book which interests them. While you do want to assign students based on reading level, it is also important to allow them a modicum of influence in the decision process. Students will be more interested in the reading material if they feel that they had a hand in selecting it. The easiest way to allow students to select while still ensuring that they end up reading a book at their level is to allow them to select from two or three books that are near their level. You can easily create three lists---one high, one medium and one low---with two or three books on each. Give the appropriate list to students depending on their reading level. This allows students to choose while still allowing you to ensure that the reading material is neither too easy nor too hard for the student.
4). Have students create a reading schedule. Once the students have been placed in appropriate groups, allow the groups to meet and set a reading schedule. Give each student a copy of the book so that they can look at the number of pages and chapter breaks, then ask the groups to divide the book into three sections. Groups will meet after each section. In order for the discussions to be effective, it is important that students meet their reading checkpoints. If they fail to, they will be unable to actively participate in the book discussions. Impress this importance of this upon the students and encourage them to keep up with the preset schedule.
5). Set aside in-class reading time. Give students time to read on a consistent basis. You can set aside 10 minutes of class time per day or instead allow students to read independently on preset days each week. While some students may read at home, it is possible that other students' home environments are not conducive to reading. Also, if students read in class they can ask you questions and you can help them overcome obstacles as they arise.
6). Use student created or preset reading questions to guide group discussions. Student book club meetings will likely be ineffective in the absence of discussion questions. Students, who are still developing the skills necessary to engage in critical discussions, need assistance in engaging in literary conversations. You can establish discussion questions in several ways. One option is to allow students to write discussion questions. To do this, you should have students compose questions several days before the scheduled discussion date. Collect the questions and select ones that you feel are most effective. Create copies of the questions to pass out to students either the day of the discussion or one day prior if you would like to allow them to prepare responses. Another option is to acquire questions from a preplanned reading guide or book companion. There are prearranged courses of study to go with many books. Many of these courses of study contain reading questions or worksheets that teachers can utilize when teaching the books.
7). Facilitate student meetings. As students reach their reading checkpoints, facilitate their meetings. You can establish a schedule for these meetings and have them all occur during the same time, or you can allow groups to meet at different times dependent upon the length and complexity of their books. Allow the book group meetings to be as student-led as possible. The most effective way to accomplish this goal is to assign one group member as the discussion director. Allow this person to ask the discussion questions and guide the course of conversation. Monitor the discussions as closely as possible to ensure that students are hitting on all of the vital literary elements in the book and getting as much enrichment from the reading material as possible.