Thanks to Jill Patchin for this great post about an early reader book club!
We
had our first “My First Book Club” meeting recently, and it was a
blast! The group is intended for children transitioning into reading
their first chapter books along with a parent or other adult. We took
registration for this event, and got a great response. The day of the
program we had 12 kids and 9 adults attend.
The
book for our first month was Mercy Watson to the Rescue. Each parent
and child checked the book out on their own and read it before attending the
program. I made up activity books for each child. Inside were word
finds, a maze, and other activity sheets I found online along with some sheets
that said things like “Who was your favorite character? Draw their picture
below.” For each question that I asked verbally in the program I gave the
kids an opportunity to voice their answer or opinion aloud, write it down in
their activity book, or draw a picture of it in their activity book. This
way I hoped that kids of all ability levels would be comfortable.
We
also did a craft – making pig snouts (both kids and grown ups!), and played a
game – shoot the “butter” (yellow pom-pom) onto the “toast” (cardboard cut
out). This pom-pom popper activity was an idea I found on Pinterest. We feasted on cupcakes decorated to look like pigs.
I have had a wonderful response and the parents commented that they
really liked reading the book together and attending the program.
Our
next “My First Book Club” will be in November and our book is Down Girl and
Sit: Home on the Range.
As an ice-breaker, each pair put together a simple animal puzzle, then had to make the noise of their animal. They found the other pair in the room with the same animal that way, and introduced themselves.
If you have questions about this program, contact Jill--jillp @ eauclaire.lib.wi.us. Bonus: She has 4 activity books left, for the fastest responder!
Labels: book club, book-related programs, early readers
