Book Groups with Sarah Donovan #nErDcampMI

Sarah J. Donovan, PhD (s/her) on July 8, 2018

It was a lovely afternoon in Parma, Michigan. Clear skies guided our walk from Western High School’s gym where we’d just listened to Meg Medina, Pernille Ripp, Chad Everett, Sara Ahmed, and Donalyn Miller give their seven-minute Nerd Talks, each a call-to-action. We carried their stories of love and literacy to Room 608 in the middle school, where we readied ourselves to talk about choice and voice in book groups. As we greeted one another, Donalyn Miller’s talk, “It’s Not Complicated, resonated:

Literacy still matters, but the literacy opportunities we provide children have to change. We have to change. The children cannot wait while we figure it out. I know more about the conditions that engage (or fail to engage) children with reading today than I did in 2007. I will continue to evolve in my understanding as I go forward. I don’t have all of the answers, but I am a seeker. Teachers must remain students of our profession for our whole careers. We hold on to what we know as long as it serves kids, and not one minute longer. Our two greatest skills remain kid-watching and reflective practice. Who are my students? What do my students show me they know and need? What have I tried that worked? What have I tried that didn’t? What am I going to do about it?

Almost forty teachers came together in Room 608 because #nerdcampMi is the place to come to do something “about it” — to reflect together, to discuss what works together, to uncover responsive practices together, to problem-solve together, to be and innovate in a supportive space together.

Book groups are so complex with lots of moving parts, so I thought we should focus on reading choices and opportunities for students to use their voices. In our 50 minutes, I offered protocols for 1) independent reading book groups and 2) shared-text book groups. We practiced a bit with new books, and I shared student examples. I know it was not nearly enough, but I hoped it inspired ideas and illuminated possibilities for more choice and voice in our classrooms.

In the following videos, I offer a brief review of what we discussed for you to revisit as you need throughout the school year. Then, below the videos, I include information from our session survey as a way of addressing, more explicitly, some of your questions facilitating book groups. And below that, I have links to materials from our session and other Ethical ELA blog posts about book groups and choice reading. Please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss book groups. I am happy to organize a Hangout or Zoom to do some co-planning with you!

Session review on YouTube, 3 parts

Survey

We began with a survey to gather book title recommendations and gauge book group comfort. Of about 40 participants, 20 took the survey. The teachers in the room worked alongside readers from third to twelfth grade. Of those 20, 35% reported having never participated in a book group with friends, family, or at a local bookstore or library.

Consider starting your own book group with family or friends, or, if you are fortunate to live near an independent bookstore, check out their website for book groups. Oprah has some tips for How to Start a Book Club, and here is an example from Anderson Bookshops’s website to show the range of book groups available.

For the 65% who had participated in a book group, they reported the important qualities of any book group include the following: everyone’s voice is heard, relationships, reading and discussing together, members willing to share, different perspectives to help others appreciate the book in new ways and/or reconsider interpretations, all read and want to chat, and taking turns in selecting books.

When it comes to book groups in the classroom, again, participants had a range of experiences. See the pie chart below.

Experience Facilitating Book Groups — *We did not do book groups or literature circles in any format. *We did one round of book groups, but it was a disaster, and we did not try again. *We did informal small group discussions, but students did not meet in groups regularly to discuss their reading. *We did several rounds of book groups, which were pretty good, but I’d like them to be better. *I love book groups, and the students are awesome at it. I don’t really need help, but I came here for validation and maybe I could help you in the presentation:)

What had prompted me to propose this session at Nerd Camp was that I had tried book groups over the years with mixed results. I felt the “roles” were too constraining, so I abandoned them in favor of fishbowl or socractic seminars; however, those didn’t always get at the author’s moves or the how dialogue or events propelled action. I realized that each discussion protocol emphasized something different, so I created more and varied opportunities for reading groups in the classroom.

Finally, I felt like I was having my best year with book groups. Students were doing the reading, talking a lot, self-assessing, and reflecting in rather sophisticated ways how they were growing as individual readers because of the balance of independent and group reading experiences. In order to focus on the concerns most immediate to the participants, I asked them what they most wanted to change or improve in their book group protocols. See the bar graph below.

In our session, I did my best to address some of the concerns listed above, but below I will try to be more explicit.

Students don’t read: I realize that time is precious in the English classroom, so it makes sense to use class time doing the most important actions- reading and writing. Once you set up the book groups and schedule the meeting day, plan backward for time to read. For example, when students were in their “global issues book groups,” we scheduled three weeks to read our books. Every Thursday was a discussion day, so Friday through Wednesday, we spent half of class time reading. I would confer with students, check their progress, problem-solve distractions/delays, and check for understanding. The other half of class time was reading news articles related to the book’s topics, setting, character, or author. I would teach a mini-lesson related to reading news, and students would research. This inquiry supported interested and built background knowledge that helped deepen meaning the next day when we’d read. Thus, on Thursdays, everyone had read and brought their additional inquiry to the discussion.
Superficial discussions: Book groups are fun because readers can share opinions about what they liked or hated in a book. Opinions add energy to a discussion. However, opinions can be misinterpretations (a misreading, a shallow reading), so it is important for group members to be able to point to a specific passage and discuss the character interactions or plot sequence to support the basis of the opinion. The “role” sheets I developed are pretty informal in the sense that students can just write a page number and note on their sheet as they read during class. When they meet with their group members and express an opinion, they have a page number and note handy and can read aloud a passage, inviting others to share their opinions or interpretations. This will get readers re-reading and deeper into the text.
Equity of voice and assessment: The bar graph above shows that teachers seem most concerned with equity and engagement during the discussion. I have found that with informal and formal protocols, this can be resolved in a couple ways. First, when conferring with students prior to book group days, be sure to model discussion protocols with students who may be more timid. This works as your assessment but also builds confidence in your readers by giving them more opportunities to practice talking about their books and reading experiences. Second, use a timer during discussions. Set a timer for 3 to 5 minutes for one person to share his or her “role” or book talk. Oh, and a third, is to use Screencastify on the Chromebooks or a cheap digital recorder to record the discussions. Many students do speak a bit more when they are creating an artifact or evidence of learning, and if you express that a goal of the discussion is to speak and listen, those who tend to dominate the discussion will also make more space for other voices. The recording aspect of this will also help with teacher-assessment. You can observe a couple groups at a time during discussion days, but students can record their discussions for you to assess later and for them to use as evidence of their discussion skills and growth in portfolios.
Access: As for quality books, this is a judgment, of course. However, I have done book groups with the oldest books in the school –dust-covered, long-forgotten, but free — and the newest releases — bought with my money or a grant — and books from the library. Access to the “right” books depends on how you frame the purpose of the reading group. For the “classics,” I found Old Man and the Sea, Death Be Not Proud, Prince and the Pauper, Red Pony, and others. I just brought them to the class and said, “Why are these ‘classics’? Let’s find out. Make groups however you wish and pick a book — first come, first serve.” For verse novels, I called the local library and asked them if they could get about 60 verse novels appropriate for junior high. The librarian gathered the books and dropped them off at our school the next week; we borrowed them for about a month and ran informal book groups asking What makes a “good” verse novel? For the contemporary texts, I applied for a grant through our school the previous year, but I did end up spending some of my own money, too. Still, you can do book groups with short stories, art, poetry, songs, spoken word, and even books you would typically teach whole-class. Book groups simply make space for most student choice and voice.
As for time, well, I teach 40 minutes of reading and 40 minutes of writing. In 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents, Penny Kittle teaches on a block schedule, and Kelly Gallagher teaches 50 minute-periods. There is a lot to do, but with careful planning and prioritizing (and some creativity), you can make every second count, which includes reading and talking about reading.

I realize the above five points do no address all the concerns or intricacies that make book groups meaningful and enjoyable for all students. Every classroom context is different. The key, I think, is being responsive and resourceful. As Mrs. Miller suggests, keep “kid-watching” and be reflective about what works, what doesn’t, what you’ve tried, what you haven’t. With book groups, students are doing the reading, the talking, the analyzing. They become reading advocates and cultivate a community of readers that you cannot do on your own. Trust that they will tell you what they need, and you now know you can call upon #nerdcampmi for support anytime.