Popcorn, Books and Community: Online Student Book Clubs
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I recently chatted with a third-grade teacher who is not only “making the best of things” with online learning but is also meaningfully building community.
Let’s be clear. This teacher works in a downtown Phoenix school, with students inconsistently attending class on Zoom who, when they are present, have myriad distractions at home. She’s juggling two small children and a husband who works at home, too. In other words, her experience mirrors 99.98% of those who are reading this post.
Yet, she’s incredibly excited about creating an online book club for her class. Here’s how she did it:
Identified a handful of high-interest yet inexpensive Scholastic titles.
Asked for help from her Facebook community. (She received more than enough funding to buy multiple titles for every student in her class.)
Invited students to join the book club. They collaboratively decided what book to read.
Provided a snack, e.g., popcorn, along with the chosen book during the school’s weekly materials distribution.
The book club members will meet on Zoom to discuss their book and to enjoy their treat together!
Laura’s Milligan’s Edutopia post, “How to Set Up a Virtual Book Club for Students,” provides additional ideas on the topic.
However, the magic of my friend’s book club lies in its community building between the larger community and her students as well as students choosing to participate and what they will read.
Of course, there is nothing like breaking bread (or munching popcorn) together to build life-long friendships and a love for reading.