Book Club Fever

I've caught it. It's highly contagious. And I've got the fever. Book club fever, that is.

Everything that I read and breathe these days deals with book clubs. I'm in the middle of a major review of literature for a grad class, and I am proud to say that I chose something that I can truly enjoy. And I chose something that has widespread ramifications for the high school English class.

Good books demand good talk. Marginalized readers often do not understand how to find a book and a library, even a small classroom library, can seem very daunting. But get kids talking about the last book that they enjoyed and someone will surely step up and say, "I'll give that a try!" Book clubs engage student in that necessary talk.

The more I read and the more I see, the more powerful I realize book clubs are. And I've got the test scores to prove it. Students engaged in authentic book clubs are more likely to have significant gains on Measures of Academic Progress tests. Students grouped by like levels and then given a high-interest appropriate leveled book are even more likely to have significant gains. This shows great promise for our lower-level students. If structured correctly, I believe that they could improve grade levels over the course of just one school year. And that improvement is invaluable.