Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Book Club: A great way to teach children to share their feelings and care about others

This year, I started a book club which I initially opened to the fifth graders I taught, and eventually to the entire fifth grade. Whether you are are a teacher or counselor, I recommend utilizing this excellent way of getting kids to read and think deeply about the material they're reading.  A book club is a great vehicle for teaching and for counseling. It allows the instructor to access all levels of Bloom's, and is especially suited for highest levels of application and synthesis. For counselors, it goes beyond your typical "lunch bunch" and provides a thought-provoking lesson plan that simultaneously promotes achievement because the child is reading and making those important personal connections.

This year, our most powerful experience was through the reading of Sharon Draper's Out of My Mind. The story is about a child with severe disabilities who is off-the-charts brilliant but whose ability to communicate is so limited that she feels locked inside the prison of her body, unable to connect with other children at school, her teachers, even her family. Every child feels like this from time to time. Students involved in the club had many aha moments about their own personal limitations. They also developed a deep compassion for other children, and desired to reach out and experience more, while helping others. 

The culminating application exercise for our group was to attend and volunteer at a Buddy League game. Buddy League is a local organization that provides opportunities for children with disabilities to participate in the joy of playing and friendly competition of sports. 

I will be posting links to my lesson plans and forms I used for initiating Book Club in my school. I would like to make this a school-wide activity that students could choose to join, complete with membership privileges, t-shirts, etc. I find that many elementary school children are lacking opportunities to be a part of something and simply having this "club" to be a member of is in itself a healing force. You can find pictures and more information about this year's book club here.