What was the name of that book I wanted to read? | Mentoring in the Middle

What was the name of that book I wanted to read?

I'm linking up with Joanne over at Head Over Heels for Teaching because her blog post got me thinking about what I do to get kids excited about reading.  Take a look at her post because it's chock full of good ideas!

One of my favorite things to do is help match kids up with good books.  I talk about books a lot and in a lot of different ways.  Sometimes I haven't read the book but I'm familiar with the author, so I make that connection, or connect to another book I know the kids are familiar with.  Sometimes I talk about the topic and connect to things students are familiar with, or the similarities between the new book and one they know.  Sometimes I read the first few lines (or paragraphs) in the book because I know that will grab the students.  And sometimes, I pretend to be the main character and talk about what's going on in my life.

Kids get jazzed up about books when you're excited about them.  But, since I talk about books a lot, I don't always remember which ones students are referring to when they say something like this.  "Do you remember that book you were talking about two weeks ago.  You know, the really good one!"  (Blank look on my face.) So I ask, "Do you remember the title, or the author, or what it was about?"  "No, I just remember that it sounded really good and like I'd want to read it."

Hmmmm.....



Enter my solution.  Is it fancy?  Nope.  Kids keep it in their binders and whenever we talk about books, they take it out and write down the necessary information.  And then, when they ask me for help in picking a new book, we start here.  If you'd like a copy of these, you can find it here.

It's a Win-Win!  And who doesn't like that?!


3 comments

  1. Keeping track of the books you want to read next is such an important skill for readers! I love it. :)

    Melissa
    Wild About Fifth

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  3. I like the book talk idea! I need one of these so I can keep track ( lol). I try to create anchor charts of books we read for the younger kids.

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