Category: Book Clubs

Register on the staff development calendar for this book club!  Participants receive a copy of the book!

Email Tanis Anderson at Tanis.Anderson@burnabyschools.ca if you have any questions.  

Here’s a great article about nurturing the love of reading all summer long:

click here

I love Donalyn Miller’s books.  She also has a great blog.  Here’s an article from a few years ago that’s worth a re-read:

Book Challenge Revisited

Click here to read Pernille Ripp’s article about kids self selecting books.

There are a lot of resources that will help you teach  growth mindset that are free on Teachers Pay Teachers!  Check out this link!

click here

Thank you to the teachers who are participating in our “Mindset for Learning”  Book Club.  Last night was our first session.  We had great discussions, and everyone shared wonderful ideas, that inspired so many people.     Click here for Growth Mindset Book List

The conversation has come up a lot lately about how books expose children to a lot of emotions, from fear, to jealousy, to joy, to anger.  Never has children’s literature and young adult fiction been better, but it’s left many of us wondering if some of our students are losing a part of their innocence through some of the books they are reading.  It has left us asking if this is okay.  Matt de la Pena wrote a beautiful article below, and Kate DiCamilo responded.  Both articles brought tears to my eyes, and I encourage you to read them both – with kleenex.

Why We Shouldn’t Shield Children From Darkness

Kate DiCamillo’s response

Thank you to all who turned out last night for our first of three book club sessions, exploring Daily 5/Daily 3.  

Here is the powerpoint from the presentation:

daily 5 session 1 powerpoint

Thank you to Nicole Wilson, at Capitol Hill Elementary, for sharing the rubric she uses to assess her students on letter writing.  This is something she discussed at our Grades 4-7 book club.  Nicole has her grades 4 and 5 students engaged in reading workshop.  When they have finished a book, one of the activities they can do is write a letter about the book.  The criteria is co-created, and Nicole explicitly teaches letter writing.  Once students are comfortable with the assignment, Nicole conferences with the students while others are reading.  Attached is the criteria sheet she and the students have created, that guide their conversations.

Click here for a copy.  3 point Reading Letter Rubric-revised

Thank you to Aja Geddes, teacher from Capitol Hill, for sharing some great strategies she uses with her students to keep them excited about reading!  Aja has generously offered to share these ideas with us!  

With this “Book Request Sheet” students can write down books they want for the classroom or school library.  

Book request sheet

With the “Someday list” students can keep track of books they want to read.  Perhaps they heard about a good book from a friend, and don’t want to forget about it!

reading-My Someday List

With this “top picks” form, if a student really liked a book, they can fill out one of these sheets, and they get displayed in the classroom.  This is a great way to generate interest in a variety of books.  This is done in book stores in real life, so how great it is to bring this into the classroom to create excitement around reading!

Top Picks – books

If you have something you’d like to share, that sparks a love of reading or writing in your classroom, please send it to Tanis.Anderson@sd41.bc.ca