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Review Club by Donalyn Miller
The first time I talked with Sam about reading, I knew that she was going to be a challenge. She announced to me that she had read The Hunger Games series over the summer and was now rereading Harry Potter. During the first week of school, Sam read all of George O’Connor’s Olympians graphic novels and decided to reread The Origami Yoda series while waiting for Joshua to finish our new copy of The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppet. In two weeks, I saw that the Olympian graphic novels had spread to five other readers in the class because of Sam. By week three, she professed to me that she was having trouble finding books that she hadn’t already read.
Rereading my conference notes, I knew that Sam wasn’t the only one struggling to find new books to read. I could name at least four other students in the class who exceeded any goals I might set for a fifth grade reader. Finding books that stretched my avid readers without pushing them into content that was beyond their emotional age was going to be difficult. Upper elementary school students reading way beyond grade level deserve to grow as readers, but it is hard to offer reading experiences that provide sufficient challenge without pushing them into books they are too young to read.
One day, Sam and Vivian discovered the boxes of new books in our storage closet, “Hey, Mrs. Miller. What are these books back here? Can we read them?”
Glancing at the books in their arms, I told the girls, “Those are new books that I bought over the summer. I am reading them to decide whether we are adding them to our class library.”
Vivian smiled, “We could help you out, Mrs. Miller. Can we read them? We can tell you if they’re good.”
And Review Club was born.
Gathering Sam, Vivian, and three other wild readers into our storage space, the students and I set guidelines for reviewing new books. I would have been fine with my usual, “Go forth and read, write, and talk about the books” expectations, but the kids in our newly formed Review Club wanted more structure. As Austin reminded us, “A good club needs rules.” Sharing my experiences on several book review committees, the children and I created our own review policy:
- Every book must be reviewed by at least two readers.
- Readers must read at least 50 pages of a book considered for review.
- If you enjoy the book, you can finish it. Otherwise, you may abandon it after 50 pages.
- You must write a brief review for the book and make recommendations to Mrs. Miller about the book’s value as a classroom library addition.
- If you think a book is inappropriate for the class because it is too “edgy” or too easy, let Mrs. Miller know.
For my part, I confer with Review Club members at least once a week to check on their progress and assess their reviews and notes. I keep two book bags by my desk for Review Club books and the children just dig in them when they want a new book to review. Chloe and Vivian squealed when they ran across an ARC of Anne Ursu’s The Real Boy, “Can we read this now? This book doesn’t come out until September 24th. Do we have to wait until then to read it?” By the time our pre-ordered copy of The Real Boy arrived, the entire Review Club had read it and scores of other students were lining up to read it next.
Review Club is a big success. My highest readers found a way to challenge themselves and they enjoy reading new books and providing me with their expert advice. After all, the children are the intended audience for these books. When I am unsure about the kid appeal of a specific title, Review Club kids chime in. Instead of books sitting in our storage closet until I can read them, Review Club keeps a continuous stream of new books and recommendations flowing into our classroom.
The children are building reading relationships with each other, too—chatting about what they are reading, and seeking out each other’s opinions about what to read next. I see the influence of Review Club members spreading to other students, who express curiosity and interest about what they are reading. If anyone else in the class wants to review new books, I let them. After all, reading shouldn’t be exclusive. Wouldn’t it be great if all of our students sought membership in a club dedicated to reading?
Donalyn Miller is a fifth grade teacher at Peterson Elementary in Fort Worth, TX. She is the author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild. Donalyn co-hosts the monthly Twitter chat, #titletalk (with Nerdy co-founder, Colby Sharp), and facilitates the Twitter reading initiative, #bookaday. You can find her on Twitter at @donalynbooks or under a pile of books somewhere, happily reading.
This is a super idea. And I see it working with my secondary students as the new titles come in for the AEWA committee reading. While a book might not meet the award criteria, how does it do when being considered for our classroom library?
Super idea, Donalyn.
Beginning with Melissa Sweet’s post on Sunday, this has been a super week at Nerdy Book Club. I hope people are writing all of this stuff down.
I’ve been searching for a way to stretch these readers as well. Love the way they advocated for themselves (Club rules! Who knew?). I teach 4 separate classes of 5th graders and wonder how I could create a group across these classes because each class includes 1-2 of these wild readers…thank you Donalyn, for giving me something to play with and think about-as usual!
I love this idea, Donalyn! I think I might try this when I bring my NCTE/ALAN books to school next month.
I got to the point in my class where I can’t keep up with reading books I’m afraid are too edgy before they go out in my class library as well, and since I teach middle school, I have several students who I have found are not limited at all in what their parents allow them to read. I started a bin in the back of my room where a few of those students are free to help me read some of these kinds of books for me. They flag what they find to be the most inappropriate parts and give the books back to me to check over before I consider them going out to the entire populace to read, and if they don’t like the book and abandon it, I just put it right back into the bin for another student to try (or I get around to reading it on my own later). It’s worked wonders!
I LOVE this. There is nothing that warms my heart like a bunch of voracious readers who want to read more. They are SO LUCKY to be in your class. (Also I think I have happy dreams of finding excellent-looking, unread books in a closet.)
This is great! We have a differentiation specialist in our district who is always looking for new ways to reach our avid readers. I will share this post with her. They just started looking at Book Reviews as mentor texts, so this is very timely! Thanks!
It’s a constant problem at my school to find what’s appropriate for those avid readers-what a good idea. I have stacks I can’t find time for, so perhaps I can recruit some readers from different classes? Thanks for the super idea!
This is such a wonderful idea…I am already thinking of students who could do this at my school….Thanks for sharing!
Donalyn,
I love this so much. I wish you’d been my teacher–I totally would have been in your review club and would have so appreciated the opportunity (and the responsibility!).
O I love the idea and am going to see how I can use it with my group I have until December. My issue is most of my new books I have gotten on my e-reader to save cost since I am not in my own classroom anymore and not building a classroom library right now. I am going to have to see who can get me copies of books to use with these wild and lovely readers. Thanks for this spark of an idea.
I so wish I had some of these avid readers, but not this year. I think this is a fabulous idea.
Love, love, love this, Donalyn! I have 2-3 select students who have been in my classes that I trust to preview books that I just son’t have time to read/scan before adding to my classroom library. I trust their opinions and rely on them often. Many seek me out in the halls requesting something new to read. Maybe I should officially start a review club, hmmm.
Mmmmmmm….You’ve got me thinking thinking thinking.
David Etkin http://Www.mretome.wordpress.com
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What I wouldn’t have given to have had you as a teacher, Donalyn. I think a knighthood is in order. Dame Donalyn– I like the sound of that.
I am in awe if all you do to build readers.
Love this idea! Thanks, Donalyn!
Donalyn, I am curious to know, do you buy books out of pocket or do you use school funds? What do you do with the ones that aren’t a good match for your class? I am fortunate to have a classroom budget provided by my district that I can use to buy books. Sometimes I find myself in possession of books that aren’t quite right for my fourth graders. I am trying to decide what to do with these books so they don’t go wasted.
What a great idea. I am going to share this with my staff.
Hey Alex. One thing the former Reading Specialist at my elementary school did was to create a Reading Week. Each year we celebrate reading and books for an entire week. Kids raise money and buy t-shirts with our Reading slogan for the year on them. All the profits go into the Reading Booster Club fund. We use this fund to buy books for classroom libraries and to update our Guided Reading library.
Alex, I do not have a classroom budget for books. If I buy a book and discover later that it is not a good fit for my students, I pass the book along to a colleague or another reader.
LOVE this idea! There are a few kids in my 5th grade class who would benefit from this approach. If they knew a ‘Review Club’ was formed, this may just do the trick! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I love this idea! I teach second grade, but a similar things happens with my age group as well. They are avid readers, but the upper elementary books are just too sophisticated for them in many ways. They try them, but often become disinterested and bored with the book. They will miss the inferences and subtleties that the books offer, many times because at their young age, they haven’t been taught how to look for them yet. I am always looking for new books to keep them motivated and excited about reading, but at an age appropriate level. Though they are shorter than the books for older kids, I have piles of them that I have not gotten around to yet, too! Thank you for sharing!
What a great solution! I may have to steal this idea! Brilliant!
Donalyn –
Upper elementary school students reading way beyond grade level deserve to grow as readers, but it is hard to offer reading experiences that provide sufficient challenge without pushing them into books they are too young to read.
The above captures my two children exactly. I love the review club idea and am glad that it is helping you.
Oh, magic! Just the thing to try with my Super Readers after mid-term break – they will LOVE cracking into my book dungeon and picking out the jewels from under Smaug!
I LOVE this! Being a gifted intervention specialist and teaching our accelerated 5th/6th grade ELA classes, this is ALWAYS a challenge for my students and me. You’ve given me a great idea!
I’m going to implement the 40-book goal next fall in my classroom. My excitement cannot be contained.
My problem is that I just don’t know where to start!
I like this idea of a review panel. I also would like to have book clubs. How do you do all these things?