March 9th Book Club Meeting

Ice breaker: Who is your favorite character in Harriet the Spy? -- I got a lot of "Harriet's", a "Sport" and I said "Ole Golly"

 Challenging Words -- Activity didn't go as planned, technology malfunctioned :(

 Think about its -- Discussion from reading assignment. Went well.

 Questions from chapters -- The girls didn't really come up with any, but I came up with a few for the group. 

 Decorate Notebooks -- They loved this!!

--We didn't get to the rest of the agenda-- TIME FLEW BY!!

 Read aloud together

 Discussion

 Assign chapters to read for next week.. well I did assign the chapters.

Thoughts: 

Something interesting that I noticed was that anytime I want to hold a "discussion" about a topic in the book or anything related, the girls are so conditioned to "raising their hands" as if it were a school setting. I don't blame them, it's what they have been doing their whole life. I think I'm going to try something new by teaching them how to manage an intellectual debate/conversation. I know it may be a large feat for 10-12 year olds, but I'll see how it turns out. I'd rather them guide the conversation rather than me having to "call on them". If it doesn't work, we could go back to the other way, but it'll be an interesting experience. '

March 9th Book Club Meeting Agenda

March 9th

v Welcome back!

o   Ice breaker: Who is your favorite character in Harriet the Spy?

v Challenging Words

o   Review, define, context clues

v Think about its

v Questions from chapters

o   Ideas? Thoughts?

v Decorate Notebooks

v Read aloud together

v Discussion

v Assign chapters to read for next week

March 2nd Book Club Meeting

First meeting!!! Yay!! 

6 girls in attendance

Before we officially started the meeting, we played hangman to guess the name of the book we were reading. The girls seemed to enjoy it and it was a fun way to discover the title of the book. 

After that, I passed out the books so that everyone had a copy in hand.

Introductions went well. We learned a little bit about each other and the girls were able to make some new friends.

Next, I went over the "dear reader letter" with the girls so that they knew what they were responsible for for the rest of the week. 

I then taught the girls how to organize their notebooks with numbered pages and a table of contents page. 

Towards the end of the meeting, we read the first chapter and had a small discussion throughout the reading. 

Before we departed, I assigned the chapters to read for next week. The girls seem really pumped and excited for what's ahead.

Thoughts from this week's meeting:

I'm trying to incorporate more than just "reading" a book. I want them to get a lot out of this experience. While reading the first chapter, we worked on reading skills such as context clues and recognizing figurative language (areas that students often struggle with).

Tutoring Flyer

Think about it! Chapters 1-4

Harriet the Spy

Chapters 1-4

1. Harriet writes down everything she sees in a notebook because she wants to remember everything. Predict what might happen if people saw what she wrote about them.

2. Harriet had never seen anyone that lived in a one-room house before she met Ole Golly’s mother. Compare how you live to how Ole Golly’s mother lives.

3. Harriet has a uniform she wears when she goes out on her spy route. Describe what she wears and why.

4. Harriet has a spy route she takes every day. List all the places she goes and what she sees.

5. Sport has to take care of his father instead of the other way around. Describe all the things Sport does that are usually an adult’s job. 

March 2nd Book Club Meeting Agenda

March 2nd 

v Introductions

o   name, grade, school, favorite place to read

v Housekeeping/responsibilities

o   Dear Reader letter

v Guesses/Hangman

v Passing out of books

v Notebooks

v Read aloud together

v Discussion

v Assign chapters to read for next week

Dear Parents

Please be aware that book club will meet for the following dates in March. March 2^nd, 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd and 30^th. April 6^th will be our movie day. We will watch the movie that goes along with the book. I advise that your child does not watch the movie before this date. We wouldn't want to spoil all of the fun! Also, please read over the “Dear Reader” letter with your child so that both you and your child are aware of what they are responsible for. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or concerns you may have. If your child is unable to make a meeting for any reason, please e-mail me ahead of time so that I am aware and can plan accordingly.

Also, please be aware that I also offer FREE tutoring services here are the library. Tutoring is based on a first come first serve basis. Please see a person at the front desk in order to sign up for an available spot. Students who are in grades K-3 can be scheduled for half hour slots and students in grades 4-6 can be scheduled for one hour slots. Feel free to e-mail me with questions about this service as well.