Book Talks and a Menu Board

This week and last week I passed out a book talk and a menu board.

I am so excited about the book talks. I think it is so important to give the students a chance to share the books they are reading and hopefully loving. These book talks are that chance. The best part about the book talks is the chance they have to hear about books that their peers enjoy. I like to think that the students listen to each and every book recommendation I give and then run to go grab that book. The reality is this is not happening. If the students hear about a book that a friend liked, they will run and get that book.

For this book talk students will have just one minute to share their book. The idea will be to hear a bit about a lot of books. We are even calling these Speed Dating Book Talks. The students will sit in a circle and the timer will buzz. They will listen to the book talk. The buzzer will sound and they will head off to hear about another book. The students will even travel with a sheet of paper to write down books they are interested in reading.

The book talks are going to take place in class on February 20th. I gave the students a small sheet that explains some of the things they should include in these book talks. The rest of the time will be filled up with anything else they want to share. Look for these Speed Dating Checklists in the reading folder.

At the same time we are going to be working on a Menu Board about the Revolutionary War. In this menu board each student will need to complete one side dish, one entree, and have the option to complete a dessert. The dessert projects would be extra credit if they were completed.

The side dishes that the students have to choose from our smaller projects. The students can create a portrait of a Revolutionary hero, create a political cartoon for the time period, or memorize a section of the Declaration of Independence to record in my iTouch. The entree projects are a bit more involved. The students can create a map of the colonies labeled with important events of the period, write a report, or create a PowerPoint about an individual from Revolution.

This menu board can be found in the Social Studies or Reading folder. If you have any questions about these upcoming projects, please feel free to get in touch with me.

I hope you are having a great week.