In my experience, excitement results not from one massive school-wide activity like an author visit from John Green.* (Although that would be mind-blowingly fabulous, and will someone please set that up for me today?) Excitement about reading is the cumulative result of small, on-going efforts -- daily, if possible -- to place engaging text in front of your students, express enthusiasm for that text, and provide students with the opportunity to explore, discuss, and write about that text. It's true. The more I gave students time to talk with each other about the books they were choosing for themselves, the more excited everyone became about reading. Including me!
For one such activity, we need look no further than social media, specifically Twitter.
I always love the beginning of every year because that's when publishers post lists on social media of the books they'll debut in the new year. Just yesterday, I ran across the most wonderful tweet from Brightly, an online resource in partnership with Random House Penguin:
Colorful and with print large enough to placate even the most reluctant reader, this Brightly list not only features each book jacket and a short blurb about its contents, but also offers links to four online booksellers where you -- and your students -- can explore the books even further!
Here's how you can use this as a classroom resource to get your students all aTwitter about books that will soon hit the shelves:
Step One: Tell your students that, today, they get to preview the 18 most buzzed about books of 2018! That's right! Through your amazing connections in the Twitterverse, YOU have arranged for them to get a sneak peak at 18 amazing books not yet released to the general public!
Step Two: For their computer-time assignment, direct the students to look at each of the 18 covers, read the 18 blurbs, explore the 18 links, and -- most importantly -- write the titles and authors of any books they might want to read on the "Books I Want to Read" page in the back of their composition books.*
Step Three: Once the students have perused the entire list, have them complete a Google Form survey or a good old-fashioned print ballot, naming the three books they found the most interesting and settling on the one book they think stands out as the best of show.
Step Four: The written assignment is for students to write a short paragraph stating which book they think looks the best/they want to read most/they want to read first/etc. Their topic sentence should be supported with at least one reason they want to read it, and each reason followed by explanation and/or example. Something like this:
Of the 18 books we previewed in class yesterday, I am most looking forward to reading The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller. As you know, science is my favorite subject, and according to the book blurb, the main character Natalie uses scientific method with a classroom "egg drop" experiment as well as a method for solving her mother's real life struggle with depression. I'd be very interested to see whether it's possible to use scientific method to solve real life problems. Also, the blurb suggested that this book is, in some ways, like The Thing About Jellyfish, my very favorite book from last year. The Science of Breakable Things is definitely going on my "Books I Want to Read" list!
This paragraph should not be an elaborate composition project. The more of these paragraphs the students write, the more adept they will become at discussing text and at recommending books to each other, a major component of creating a book buzz in your classroom.
Step Five: Reading is a social activity -- or, at least, it should be. Talking about books they have read as well as books they want to read is an important part of getting students excited about text. In small groups or as a whole class activity, have the students share their paragraphs or just discuss their opinions about the books the chose as their favorites.
Step Six: Create a bulletin board or poster featuring all of the book covers plus 1) how many kids chose each book as their favorite and 2) the date when each book is going to be released. See if you can get your librarian/the PTA/classroom parents to purchase a copy of the book for your school/classroom library.
Step Seven: Make a point of letting the kids know the week/day before the book is due to be released, and ALWAYS be sure to show any professionally-made books trailers provided by the publisher.
These seven easy steps should take no longer than two days during which your students use technology to read about books (and maybe compose their paragraphs, depending on the availability of computers on your campus). It affords the opportunity for the group work that so many administrators promote, and it helps to instill in students the good reading habit of knowing what they are going to read next.
* If you haven't yet nabbed a copy of Green's latest, Turtles All the Way Down, do yourself a favor and order it today -- for yourself or for your 8th grade and up classroom library. Beyond the pleasure of learning what that title has to do with anything, the book 1) offers beautifully developed character relationships that can make adolescent readers feel less alone and 2) provides comfort in knowing that you're not the only person in the world coping with anxiety every. single. day. of your life.
** For more info on the "Books I Want to Read" page, see Starting the Student Book Buzz and The Best Book List EVER!.
