EIGHT reasons why Book clubs meet 21 Century Learning Outcomes!

This last year we have seen a growth in book clubs at HCOS as we connect in cyberspace; on blogs, wikis and virtual worlds to share literacy objectives,  and in the process meet some 21 century learning outcomes.  Here is my plug for how and why book clubs are meeting 21 century educational principles.

1.  COLLABORATION
Students love connecting in a classroom environment, where they can meet, share and play with literacy concepts, whilst deconstructing novels.  Research shows that collaboration is the ideal way to create connectedness and a sense of belonging.

2.  ENGAGEMENT!
New research points to effective online teaching being engaging and dynamic.  Creating relationship with students at the forefront of a classroom environment,  whether formal or informal is imperative for students to feel connected, and have a sense of belonging and accountability.

3.  VOICE
Creating space and giving voice to our students is empowering, Godly and democratic.  Hearing our teens share the personal impact with character, theme or plot is life giving. Spiritual leadership can encourage voice and social justice in the classroom.

4.  BLOOM'S TAXONOMY
Wrestling with worldview is part of the great debate as we come to terms with the message behind the author's worldview?  Secular, Christian, economic, philosophical... too many to mention?  Then of course there is the product of book clubs, or the source?   Creating is the new buzzword in Bloom's Taxonomy!  Writing reviews on blogs, wiki's, google docs, podcasts, or making video trailers, is par for the course.

5.  LEARNING OUTCOMES
As teachers we are 'learning' to love the learning outcomes.  Until we wait for the B.C. ministry to catch up with aligning 21 century outcomes to our  outcomes,  here are the Book club outcomes aligned with language arts and applied skills.  It is amazing how many I could find!!!!!

 6.  TEACHER AS MODERATOR/FACILITATOR
As we move from 'sage on the stage' to 'guide on the side' book club moderators can enhance student engagement by facilitating as opposed to teaching in the flipped classroom.  Read more on the new vision of teacher as professional role model.

7.  FLIPPED CLASSROOM
I love the idea that classrooms can be flipped.  Book clubs begin with reading a book, discovering the author's background,  coming prepared for the discussion with questions related to theme, worldview, plot, author etc. The flipped classroom approach is in practice in schools in Canada; an example is Quinn Bareth sharing about his new flipped grade 6 classroom.

8.  STUDENTS AS LEADERS
As our senior students engaged in book clubs many were excited about leading the sessions.   Our moderators welcomed this step, encouraging them to set the stage after role modeling,  and coaching from the sidelines.  In our younger groups students enjoyed leading in prayer, making decisions about books being read, technology, and analytical questions.  One leadership highlight was seeing my grade 7/8 students create their own forums and polls, using Collaborize Classroom to decide on the next month's read/ or questions related to novels.

Do you have a teaching practice that meets 21 century principles? I would love to hear your comments and ideas?

Blessings to you
Pippa

Bookworm's Bonanza @HCS Learning Commons

 Image via CrunchBase Do you love sharing about books and literacy?  Does the plot, character evaluation, worldview, or themes of a story get you excited, inspired, creative?  Mostly are you a 21 century student who likes to collaborate, using  technology?  If so then Book clubs at HCS may be your creative answer to reading, learning and sharing in cyberspace.

This year God has really grown our book clubs, from teacher groups to student groups, and we are really thankful for His inspiration and provisions.  Our Book club moderators have shown amazing innovation in reaching out with different formats to engage with their students. We look forward to inviting grade 5/6 students to a group in the coming year.  Stay tuned:)

 Here is April Mcleod's blurb about what is happening in her world literally!

"Wow, what an exciting time we are having in the Sr. High Book Club!!!!!! Our latest book has been "Romeo and Juliet" and our meeting was held in a really special place. We have had a virtual classroom created for us in Cybernetworlds and it is in a Medieval Castle decorated with Romeo and Juliet posters, a  fireplace, and couches for our really cool avatars. Then we hold our discussions using Scribblar and share on the whiteboard. We have a great group of students and we are all having a wonderful time discussing some great books. Our next reading is Les Miserables, so feel free to join us.  Until next time..."

Pippa's Grade 7/8 Book club!
My students continue to inspire and bless me in our book club.  Not only are they avid readers, but they are becoming techie dynamo's.  On a monthly basis we have read, shared our writing, created some amazing book reviews, and made some techie video trailers.  Our students do most of the leading and collaboration on Collaborize Classroom,  where they start their own forums, create polls, and make friendships around literacy. Then once every 6 weeks we meet in Elluminate and share with each other about books and life in general.  Some of the books we have read include, Pilgrim's Progress, Shadowspinner,  Where the Red Fern Grows, and our current reads include Alexandria of Africa and Eragon.  We are very excited about our author read at the end of the year, which will include all book clubs in one awesome meeting!  If you are interested in joining in for our next meet there is still space:) PS if you are wanting to join in literacy discussions on the ning there is a BookWorm's Unite group happening too!

Kathy Strebchuk shares on her club!

  I have truly enjoyed helping develop the Grade 9/10 book club! I say “helped” because really, this group of students have taken over and are running the club better than I would!  We meet online about every 5 weeks to discuss our current book and vote on the next selection. But in between these virtual meetings, we have had a blast getting to know each other at the Book Club blog! Everyone has their own “blog space” where they get to post about the books and about themselves. The best part is the commenting back and forth on each other’s blogs. We are all becoming very good friends and don’t even want to take a break for the summer! Here are some of the books we have read so far: Touching Spirit Bear, The Scarlett Pimpernel, Eragon, Leviathan and currently – Murder on the Orient Express! What awesome books these students have picked. Here are some comments from the students themselves about their favourite parts of book club:

“I joined book club to experience new books, as well as being able to chat with other students.”

“My fave part of book club is the fellowship and time to talk to other teens.”

“The meetings are definitely my favourite part. We get to chat about the book we just read, and see how we liked it….or not!”

“My favourite part is probably being introduced to a variety of different kinds of books and book series that I can continue after the book club is over. But I also enjoy browsing and commenting on the blog and communicating with everyone on the online meetings, too!”

So make sure you join a book club next year, ‘cause if you don’t, you definitely are missing out!

Blessings to you
Pippa, Kathy and April!