Book Clubs As Small Groups

This year my SMART goals were: 

To increase reading achievement amongst students with disabilities by 2% in a year.

To decrease the number of students who self report that they disagree that student behavior is usually positive from 11.6% to 10%.

To increase reading achievement amongst economically disadvantaged students by 2% in a year.

When I was writing my closing the gap action plan I was thinking about what services I currently provide and could provide to reach these goals. I knew that I have about 400 books (yep not kidding check out my list here. So I aligned each of my lessons with a book. So every guidance lesson they heard me re aloud.

	Aug./Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.
K	Back To School “The Kissing Hand”“David Goes To School”	Listening Skills “Howard B Wigglebottom Learns To Listen”	Tattle vs. Tell “Armadillo Tattletale”	Fire Safety “Firehouse”
1	Back To School/ “David Goes To School” “Dog Gone School” Listening Skills “Howard B Wigglebottom Learns To Listen” “Interrupting Chicken” “Z Is For Moose”	Problem Solving/ Conflict Resolution/ Point of view “Duck!Rabbit!” “Howard B Wigglebottom”	Citizenship “Michael Recycle” Responsibility “What If Everybody Did  That?”	Friendship “Little Pink Pup” Tolerance/ Jealousy/ Conflict Resolution “Say Hello To Zorro” “Mineosaur”
2	What Is A School Counselor School Rules “Why Do I Have To Eat Off Appreciating Differences Potato Heads  The Floor?” “A Friend Like You”	Tattle vs. Tell “Don’t Squeal Unless It’s a Big Deal”	Personal Safety “Scoop”	Dog/Personal Safety Safety “Please Don’t Tease Tootsie”
notes 3	School Rules/ Consequences “What If Everybody Did That” Conflict Resolution/ Respect “The Sandwich Swap”	Tattle vs. Tell “A Bad Case of the Tattle Tongue” “I Didn’t Do It”	Citizenship/ Decision Making “Win Or Lose By How You Choose!”	Friendship/ Inclusion “The Invisible Boy”
4	School Rules/ Consequences “How To Be A Good Dog” Learning Styles	Fairness Self Confidence “It’s Not Fair” “Exclamation Mark”	Needs vs. Wants Fairness “Those Shoes”	Friendship/ Inclusion “The Invisible Boy”
5	School Rules “How To Be A Good Dog” Perseverance Goal Setting “It’s Tough To Loose Your Balloon”	Decision Making/ Peer Pressure “Peer Pressure Gauge”	Bullying/ Conflict Resolution “Weird “ “Confessions of a Former Bully”	Bullying “Dare”

	Jan.	Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May
K`	Feelings/ Anger “Howard B Wigglebottom” “Dog Food”“How Are You Peeling?” Belly Breathing	Responsibility “I Am Responsible” Honesty “Howard B Wigglebottom”	Friends “Howard B Wigglebottom” “Chester’s Way”	Fairness “It’s Not Fair” Sportsmanship “Howard B Wigglebottom”	Problem Solving “I’m Bored”
1	Rules Review Skills for Success “ I Just Want To Do It My Way”“Library Lion”	Courage Self Esteem  “A Bad Case of Strips”	Managing Emotions “How Do Dinosaurs Say I’m Mad” Belly Breathing Apologize	Fairness “It’s Not Fair” “Rainbow Fish” Sportsmanship “’Michael’s Golden Rules” “Howard B Wigglebottom”	Fire Safety “Firehouse” Personal Safety “Scoop”
2	Rules Review/ Bucketfiling “Halle and Tiger” “Have You Filled A Bucket Today” “Clark The Shark”	Caring Respect “Do Unto Otters” Self Esteem “Molly Lou Melon”	Conflict Resolution “Pirate, Viking, Scientist” “When Pigasso Met Mootsee”	Decision Making “If You Give A Dog A Donut”	Conflict Resolution “Ping and Pong Are Best Friends Mostly” “Enemy Pie”
notes 3	Bullying Bully Scoot “Nobody Knew What To Do”	Bullying/ Power of Bystanders “Marlene Marlene Queen of Mean” “The Recess Queen” “One”	Perseverance “Three Ninja Pigs” “Woe Is Moe”	Test Preparation “The Big Test”	Stress and managing emotions “Silly Billy”
4	Accepting Differences “The Brand New Kid” “Carla’s Sandwich”	Bullying/ Kindness “Each Kindness” “Just Kidding”	Perseverance “It’s Tough To Lose Your Balloon” Test Preparation	Stress Managing Emotions “Wilma Jean Worry Machine”	Career “I Can Be Anything” I Can Be- jobs “Someday”
5	Bullying Peer Pressure “Tough”	Stress/ Managing Emotions “How To Do Homework Without Throwing Up” Brain Pop Relaxation Centers	Test Prep Courage/ Perseverance “Thank You Mr. Falker”	College and Career “When I Grow Up” Reality Day	Middle School Transition “The Numberlys”

Why? Well if you are coming to #ASCA16 you can find out then, but if you aren't coming to New Orleans then I'll let you learn why it's so important here and here.  If your brain is ready for

summer I'll summarize and share some data:

Research collected on middle school read-alouds showed that 58 percent of teachers read aloud to their students – and nearly 100 percent of reading and special education teachers. (http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/05/14/why-reading-aloud-to-older-children-is-valuable/). There is a ton more research out there, but you get it.

Ok so how else was I going to reach that goal? I shifted some of my small groups to become book focused/based. So I created some book clubs. It's been amazing. I've gotten positive perception data back from everyone involved and I can't wait to get my data at the end of the year.

Who: 3rd- 5th grades- I have them split up into boys and girls groups. There are about 6 students (max) per group.

Where: my office

When: lunch. You know how lunch bunches go. They come in a few min. late because they've been going through the lunch line. They are so busy eating that they can't talk or they talk so much they don't eat. Then you have to let them leave a few min. early so they can clean up and be back in class. So, I read aloud for the first few min. as they eat. When they are done they pick up the book and follow along. Sometimes we run late, but I haven't had one teacher complaint and I think it's because they know we are reading. 

What: Here are the books we are reading and a little about the activities we might do.

5th Grade Boys-

If you haven't read this book before you should. It's about a student that doesn't work (academic), doesn't have friends (social) and struggles to cope (emotional). He gets sent to the counselor and well enjoy. After we read we have our study guide that I got here. We talk and then spent time connecting to their own lives. This is my favorite group- I can't even begin to explain how amazing they are. In fact they are so amazing they each came up with their won academic, social, or emotional goal based on a connection they made with the book.

4th Grade Girls-

 
This is a great book to talk about bullying and relationships. Each week we would read a chapter and make connections. You can get a curriculum guide to help lead the discussion here.  There is also a movie so at the end of the group we come back together and watch the movie as a special treat.

3rd and or 4th grade girls:

How many referrals (self or teacher) do you get that about a group of three girls that just can't seem to get along? Oh me a million! So we started the "Drama Llama" lunch bunch. The best part of this book is the "girl talk" section at the end of each chapter. We read and then talk. They could talk forever!

To make our drama Llama Club more fun I gave them these fun reminder cards designed by another counselor in my county. 

In each square I write the date they meet and then we punch the card when they come. It helps me track attendance and helps them focus on how many visits we have left.
I love book clubs. I've been doing them my entire career and they are so rewarding. Want to start your own kids book club check out this article by Bookopolis to get you started: https://mayorofbookopolis.wordpress.com/2015/05/05/how-to-run-a-kids-book-club/

What is your favorite book for student book clubs?