Finding Success in a Book Pass

A book pass is an easy way to allow students to preview several titles in a short amount of time. You can make this as structured or as lenient as you like. The only ingredient that you can't work without, is, of course, the books.

The first time I tried a book pass was with a group of high school seniors. The pass was a way to allow them to select their book club choices. The titles were interesting and each book had a hook within the first few pages. As we passed the books around, the students completed the book pass worksheet and rated each title on a four-star rating basis. We were very organized and timely with our passing. Everyone found a title they enjoyed and I was able to promote reading in my senior English classroom.

This year, I was not so organized in my book pass, yet I found success in much the same way. I introduced content area young adult literature into our human growth & development curriculum. I threw the 7 titles into the small cooperative learning groups and let them have at it. I initiated a few passes, but pretty soon everyone was engrossed in their own novel. If they weren't hooked immediately, they switched it up themselves. By the end of the 20 minutes, each student was engaged in SSR with his/her new title.

I have found that most teachers are reluctant to try book passes in their classrooms. The fear of the unknown convinces them that their big, bad seniors aren't going to tolerate this alternative means to picking out new books. Recently, a self-contained special education teacher took the plunge to try to book pass with his students. Not only did they not run out in revolt, they actually found titles that they enjoyed! He realized that he didn't have enough copies of some of the more popular books for the students that wanted them. That's a good problem to have in the high school level.

This young teacher went to the edge and realized that he can fly. He found success with the book pass--all he needed were the books and the will to implement a change in literacy attitudes in his classroom.