Deciders and Suggesters

"How to Do Book Clubs in the Middle School Classroom"

Pernille Ripp is an educator who firmly believes in book clubs. In this blog post, she discusses some of the factors that go into creating a book club environment to encourage students to buy into the activity. While most of her points align with those presented in Subjects Matter and what I personally believe, some of them do not.

She discusses student choice and, while I believe that there needs to be an aspect of student choice in this activity, I‘m not sure I’m on board with the level of freedom she gives her students. Students should be able to pick a book from a wide variety of selections; however, I don’t think that they should be able to start a book and abandon it. I think that by allowing this, students are not as accountable to selecting their books and doing the work. It almost feels like giving them an “out” if they find out that the book they chose is more difficult/longer than they wanted rather than what they can handle.

I thought it was interesting that she mentioned that teachers should remain on the edge of the activity and refrain from joining a discussion. While the book discusses starting out by actively participating in the groups only to slowly back away as the students grow accustomed to the activity, Ripp states that the teacher’s presence within a group could cause students to become hesitant with their opinions and thoughts. I remember being afraid that I would say something incorrect in the seminars I was a part of in high school. Not because of my peers, but because I didn’t want to be corrected by the teacher in front of other students.

This article brings out the question of “How much choice is too much choice?” when planning a literature circle. I don’t think there is an exact answer to that question. There are varying levels of choice that should be offered depending on each classroom.

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