When it comes to reading, just like eating, some kids have pickier palates than others.
So… what a better way to pique their appetites for a good read than to have a book tasting!
Ms. Dolan’s students reserved seats at their classroom “restaurant” where they received a blank menu and a bookmark.
They were able to spend a few minutes reading the description of a specific literary genre, making observations of the books and their covers and selected the… tastiest one! The whole class would then spend about 5 minutes silently reading. This allowed students to decide if they wanted to add it to their “must read” bookmark or to their menu.
Students repeated this process for a variety of genres (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama). Finally they were able to discuss with their classmates about the books they were so excited to start reading and made recommendations.
No more, “I have no idea what to read!” for this group of 4th graders!