Saturday, April 13, 2013

Social Issues Book Club Unit: Part Two

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the launching of our social issues unit and shared some of our initial charts at the beginning of the unit. To read the Social Issues Book Club Unit : Part One, click here.  

We are currently culminating our social issues unit and book clubs had their last book club conversation on Friday.  After our April vacation, students will be reflecting on the unit by thinking about what they learned as readers throughout the unit and how the book club conversations impacted their thinking as a reader.  Stay tuned for a post about their end of unit reflection next week.  

Below are some of the charts we created as a class throughout the unit as well as a photo of the book club wall students created to share their thinking with all of their classmates.  This was a great way for book clubs to share strategies and charts they were using and creating to deepen their thinking as readers.  It was also a great way for book clubs to teach and learn from each other.  



Book Club Wall 


Stay tuned to hear about our reflections for this unit before we begin our Historical Fiction Book Club unit! :)

5 comments:

  1. I love hearing about all that you are doing, Melanie, & the charts are helpful. Even though I do know most of this, I enjoy seeing how you are putting it all together with your class. Question, with the book club wall, do you see students taking the time to read it, or do you determine a time & an action to examine it? Sometimes when I've put things up, I wonder if any one of the students pays attention! Thanks!

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    1. Hi Linda,
      I'm glad to hear the photos of charts are helpful! Yes, I do make time during the week for students to look at the book club wall and see what their classmates are doing in their book clubs. I usually include in my morning message at least once or twice a week for students to read at least one section on the book club wall and be prepared to share something they liked or learned from another book club at morning meeting. I do this for other bulletin boards too throughout the year so students are actively looking at what their classmates are doing and learning from one another. Hope that helps answer your question :)

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  2. What a wonderful unit, Melanie! Kids love juicy topics like these to think about deeply - and these days, our kids need to spend time reflecting upon issues of fairness and justice, I think. I love the charts....gorgeous, and (most importantly) rich with the thinking that's going on in your classroom. I can't wait to read about the unit reflections.

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  3. My school has just started Readers/Writers Workshop this year. I teach sixth grade, so we don't have the great books that 3-5th grades have. Although you are teaching 5th grade, all your materials are so helpful. We are about to start Historical Fiction and will be doing Social Issues later in the year. These charts for Social Issues will be great then. I have already looked at the Historical Fiction charts. Thank you so much.

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  4. Below are some of the charts we created as a class throughout the unit as well as a photo of the book club wall students created to share their thinking with all of their classmates. This was a great way for book clubs to share strategies and charts they were using and creating to deepen their thinking as readers. It was also a great way for book clubs to teach and learn from each other.

    ReplyDelete