What is Page Turners?
Page Turners is the name of the reading club I've created for my students. Read this post ("Page Turners KICKOFF" to learn about my experiences and the professional reading I completed during the development of this group.
What reading requirements are there for students?
Over the course of the year, each student is challenged (not required) to read 40 books, log the books they've read by genre, and be prepared to discuss their reading during Page Turners meetings. Students are expected to choose "good fit" books that fall within a variety of genres (i.e.: choose two realistic fiction books, one mystery, one historical fiction, two informational, etc.). While I advocate STRONGLY for student choice, I also encourage students to read across genres. When they ask why, I use the example of introducing my son to a variety of new foods when he was little. If you don't try something new once (or twice...or in the case of carrots, sixteen times... :) ), you may not discover just how much you (surprise, surprise) love it! I dedicate time regularly to book talking titles and constantly make book recommendations to my students. If you are a sincere, passionate reader, it's almost impossible for your students not to become "wild readers" as well!!!
How are students held accountable for their reading?
Each student has their own Page Turners handbook, which they use all year long to record titles of the books they've read, keep track of books they want to read, and generate a list of absolute favorites to recommend to friends. Each time students complete another book, they log its title on their "Required Reads" page under the appropriate genre. This also helps me quickly assess a student's reading interests or take note of genres to promote.
What are Page Turners meetings?
Each month we hold a Page Turners Club meeting, usually on a Friday afternoon. This time is spent reading, talking about reading, and enjoying activities and snacks. Each meeting has a pre-selected genre(s) or theme to focus our reading in days before and our discussion during. I open these meetings up to parents, our librarian, the principal, our guidance counselor, other specialists, etc who would like to support student discussion groups.
We begin our meetings by constructing reading forts (an idea I nabbed from a colleague), settling in, and spending some quality extended time reading. Management tip: Be sure to set clear expectation for the time allowed for building (5-10 minutes max), what and how they can be constructed (my students bring in blankets and pillows, must have sight lines out of their fort, and may moderately rearrange desks and chairs in the classroom to create structure), and how many students can be in each (each fort can house up to three). Depending on how much time our schedule allows that day, we have read anywhere between 30-60 minutes. And YES, through this reading club my students have become voracious readers, so having stamina and enthusiasm to read for this length of time has not presented a concern. :)
Next, we quickly deconstruct our forts and regroup our classroom before gathering on the rug for a Book Share. Each month we have a guest reader who shares a favorite book. Our principal has read Dr. Seuss's The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, a grandmother shared a picture book from her home country of Ireland about how Santa Clause carries on in Irish culture, a mom read from Laura Ingall's The Long Winter and shared photographs of Laura and that actual winter, and another classroom mom read from the first chapter of Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers (which she introduced to me as a "boy" version of Laura Ingalls). It's SO IMPORTANT for students to have other adults in their lives (not just you) who are also readers, and listening to other adults read has been nothing short of magical each time.
After discussing this book, students break into groups of 3-4 to discuss the books they've chosen and read over the last few weeks. Each month I have posted discussion questions that students can use to guide their conversations. Here is a picture of a few of the charts I've used...
At this point in our meeting I quickly reassign my volunteers to either man the refreshment table (treats provided by yours truly or one of the volunteers), assist with our craft / project, or engage with students as they assemble into groups with various board games. This time has been a fabulous way to build relationships and classroom community, especially for those students who may not spend a lot of time playing games at home with their family, need to work on not being a sore loser or cocky winner, or practice initiating conversation with those they may not otherwise.
How do I begin planning my first meeting?
I'm so glad you asked!!! I have a planning guide all ready to go as a (click here) FREEBIE in my TPT store!!! At the beginning of each year I select approximately one meeting date per month, print off enough planning pages to have one copy per meeting, email the list of dates to the parents in my classroom and several specialists in my building, and plug in any immediate responses for volunteers.
A few weeks prior to each meeting I pull out my planning guide to finalize specifics...
- What standards and genres are we currently targeting in reading? (This determines our genre & discussion guide.)
- Assign a genre or two for students to focus on and share this with the media specialist. (Our library team then focuses on book talking this genre and guiding students to corresponding "good fit" books.)
- Who will be there? Do I need to send a reminder email asking for last minute volunteers?
- What craft or activity should we do?
One week ahead...
- Check in with students to see if they have been tracking their reading progress and will be ready to participate in the meeting.
- Email volunteers to confirm attendance and inquire about treats.
- Prepare discussion guide.
Embarking on this journey with my class has been unbelievably rewarding as I watch their love of reading grow, eavesdrop on conversations between students as they rave about one of their books, and witness the astounding growth they are achieving as readers in fluency, higher-level comprehension, and vocabulary development. Not a day goes by without someone relating something from a book they've read to a lesson we're working through.
I sincerely hope you will consider beginning your own reading club with your students!!!
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