The Edu Book Club

The Book Club Companion is a testament to what is possible when teachers think carefully about what they do. What we have here is not simply a guidebook to effective practice, but an experience in reflective practice. I hope that you find The Book Club Companion as powerful and provocative as I do. - Peter Smagorinsky Just because a book club meets during class time doesn't mean reading can't be fun. And just because reading is fun doesn't mean it can't help you meet curricular objectives. With The Book Club Companion you'll find out how the for-pleasure concept of book clubs can help students enjoy reading during the school day, and how you can use book clubs to immerse adolescents in literate, real-world behaviors as you connect them to the English curriculum. Drawing on current literacy research and more than a decade's experiences with student book clubs in secondary classrooms, Cindy O'Donnell-Allen demonstrates how clubs can help adolescents become more willing, engaged, and strategic readers. Her comprehensive guide distinguishes book clubs from similar instructional techniques like literature circles and offers ideas for implementing clubs, using flexible grouping to meet student and curricular demands, and creating themed sets to offer students choice and you planning options. The Book Club Companion provides numerous resources to get in-class clubs started, keep them running, encourage student response, track discussion, and assess progress. It includes book lists arranged by grade level, reproducible assignment sheets, scoring guides, and tools for record keeping and teacher research. Get into in-class book clubs. You'll motivate students to read, help them enjoy the experience, and give them an opportunity to become more reflective and accomplished readers as they share in the excitement of connecting the real world to the classroom.

Hollis Morgan is a survivor. She married young to flee an unloving family and ended up in prison, paying the price for her charming husband's embezzlement. After finally obtaining a California judicial pardon, Hollis has climbed the ladder from paralegal to probate attorney at a respected law firm in the Bay Area. Unfortunately her first two cases are trials by fire. One involves a vicious family dispute over a disinheritance of family members who seem ready to stop at nothing to get their share. The other is the murder of her former parole officer, Jeffrey Wallace, whose will and family trust she is retained to file with the court. Too many people have motives and family mourners are few, so she resists processing the estate. Without Jeffrey, Hollis' successful reentry into society would never have been possible. It was he who introduced her to the Fallen Angels--his other white-collar ex-parolees seeking a second chance. The book club they formed was a comfort and a distraction, until two murders forced them back under the scrutiny of the law. The group disbanded during the ensuing investigation. Now, realizing their debt to Jeffrey, they come together once more, determined to uncover the truth. Although Hollis has met a great guy--a police detective who knows about her past yet accepts her unconditionally--she is afraid to trust again. Naturally he doesn't want to see her put her life in danger for the sake of a case, but he also knows she won't stop until Jeffrey's murderer is discovered. As both cases heat up, Hollis finds that probate law can bring out the worst in people and sometimes expose a killer. The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club is book 3 in the Hollis Morgan mystery series, which began with The Fallen Angels Book Club and continued with Sticks & Stones.

The first complete guide-for use by adults and children-to creating fun and educational book clubs for kids. As authors of The Book Club Cookbook, the classic guide to integrating great food and food-related discussion into book club gatherings, Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp hear a common refrain from parents, librarians, teachers, community leaders and kids themselves: "How about writing a book for kids' book clubs?" Indeed, in recent years youth organizations, parents, libraries, schools, and our local, state, and federal governments have launched thousands of book clubs for children as a way to counter falling literacy rates and foster a love of reading. Based on surveys representing five hundred youth book clubs across the country and interviews with parents, kids, educators, and librarians, The Kids' Book Club Book features: _- the top fifty favorite book club reads for children ages eight to eighteen; _- ideas and advice on forming great kids' book clubs-and tips for kids who want to start their own book clubs; _- recipes, activities, and insights from such bestselling children's book authors as Christopher Paolini, Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli, Nancy Farmer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Andrew Clements, Laurie Halse Anderson, Norton Juster, and many others. From recipes for the Dump Punch and egg salad sandwiches included in Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie to instructionson how to make soap carvings like the ones left in the knot-hole of a tree in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, this book provides a bounty of ideas for making every kids' book club a success.

Foreword / Cornelius Minor Gratitude -- Creating a culture of reading through book clubs -- Organizing and setting up book clubs -- Launching and managing book clubs -- Lighting the fire of discussion -- Resources at a glance -- Living with books all year long.

A literature-based approach to building reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.

Reading Together is the essential guide for parents interested in starting a book club with their kids and raising their children to become book-loving adults. This book is the first guide to parent-child book clubs. Written by a group of moms and their adolescent children who started a book club while the kids were in first grade, this how-to book shares the dos and don'ts they learned over more than 100 meetings and 100 books. Brimming with insight and inspiration, Reading Together includes the details of organizing and structuring meetings, tips on finding diverse books and choosing titles that spur discussion, common book club challenges and how to overcome them, and more. Readers will also find plenty of curated booklists with brilliant recommendations for middle grade and YA readers across genres, from sci-fi to mystery, adventure, and graphic novels. This book is a go-to gift for bookish parents who hope to raise a reader and connect with their community through the magic of books. ONE-OF-A-KIND: With detailed advice gathered over more than a decade and an engaging story at its core, Reading Together is an inspiring and useful handbook for parents looking to start a book club of their own and nurture a love of reading in their kids. A WINNING FORMULA: This book promises a stronger parent-child bond and is a pure celebration of books and reading—a winning recipe. GIFT APPEAL: Reading Together is an attractive gift or impulse-buy for a bookish parent or a parent of bookish kids. Perfect for: • Bookish parents with children • Parents of bookish children • Parents looking to encourage reluctant readers • Parents looking for after-school activities that are good for their kids • Grandparents of school-age children • Elementary school teachers and librarians

This fiction hybrid reader includes high-frequency and decodable words as well as illustrations for students in the Being a Reader program in grades K-2. The reader's topic is starting a book club.