Book Club Group Discussion

1. Create a HYPOTHETICAL discussion. ( 2 pages ) see below how to do it
2. Create a presentation. (7 page) see below the instruction
For this Assignment please 1 book from the selected books to answer this assignement:
Choice of children's novel (these will be chosen during the course):
Curtis, C. P. (1999) Bud, not Buddy. Del Laurel-Leaf.
DiCamillo, K. (2000) Because of Winn-Dixie. Candlewick Press. Hamilton, V. (1999) Bluish. Scholastic Inc.
Lowry, L. (1993). The giver. Delacorte Press. Uchida, Y. (1971). Journey to Topaz. Heyday Books.
Book Club Assignment: Online Instructions (if you are working independently)
Book Club Discussion Groups
So, what are the book clubs supposed to be about and what are you supposed to be doing?
Get a Copy of the Book
First, you will need to secure a copy of the book you will be reading and discussing. Please do this as quickly as you can.
Schedule When You Will Read and Discuss the Chapters
While you are waiting for your group members to get the book, your group will need to create a “schedule” for reading and discussing the chapters of the book. Although some of you may choose to read ahead, you will all “be on the same page” about when particular chapters of the book will be discussed. In in-person discussions, it is often considered polite to say things like, “So, what do folks want to do?” or “Does anyone have any suggestions for creating a schedule?” I’m not convinced that this is an effective strategy for online discussions. I recommend offering a “scheduling suggestion” in a polite way that suggest you are flexible to the suggestions or modifications of others. THIS WILL ALL BE HYPOTHETICAL AS IF YOU ARE IN A GROUP.
Begin the Discussion
You will keep a record of your HYPOTHETICAL discussions. Here’s what one student last semester posted to her group’s discussion: “I think that now we focus on reading the book and discussing our thoughts and making predictions about what we think may occur, etc. Just like an actual book club would.” I couldn’t have said it better! In other words, the idea is that by actually engaging in a book club discussion and preparing a presentation you will gain a deeper understanding of what your students might experience by participating in book clubs. To refresh your recollection of the topics and themes commonly discussed in book clubs, you might find it helpful to go back and review the course readings on book clubs and literature study.
When “discussing” don’t forget to cite specific examples from the book when you post your ideas and opinions. It might also be helpful if you mentioned the page number. For example, instead of saying, “I really like the author’s use of metaphors.” You might say, “I really like the author’s use of metaphors. For example, on page 7 the author uses a metaphor to describe….” Consider giving your post a “helpful” title. In the above example, you might title the post, “Metaphors.” That way, when you or the other members of your club find an interesting metaphor, they can add it to the “metaphor” thread of the discussion. All of this will be kept in a doc.
The Presentations
Your presentation should reflect something that transpired in your group discussions. Perhaps your group was interested in the historical period in which the book took place. Maybe your group did some research about that period and this research deepened your appreciation for the circumstances faced by the characters. You could then focus your presentation on that aspect of your group process. Or perhaps your group focused on the author and would like to present an author study. Maybe it was the author’s use of language, characters, or place that your group found intriguing. Perhaps your group would like to consider innovative ways to present this book to students and discuss teaching strategies that might engage their attention. Your presentation might take the form of a PowerPoint presentation and/or a handout of some kind. But I don’t want that to limit your thinking. Perhaps your group would like to explore how to integrate literature and the arts and has an innovative idea about how to present this. If your group has a different idea about how to present your book, please let me know. There’s one caveat: please do NOT make a chapter by chapter summary the focus of your presentation. The best way to find out what happens in each chapter of a book is to read the book. Your presentation should provide some “value added” information, such as insights about the book, the author, the time period, the book club process, or the ways to teach this book to students,