Book Talks have been on my to do list since I started teaching fifth grade and we *finally* got around to them last week. This turned out to be a HUGE hit in my classroom and I felt like I was finally addressing those speaking and listening standards. My kids loved talking about their favorite book, which is how we started Book Talks. Now that we understand what they are and the rules, I’m going to start using it for the weekly story or for parts of a novel study.
We first talked about how to be a good audience member and speaker.
Then we pushed the desks back and made a circle with our material ( follow up question cards, pencils, and peer reviews)
Next we determined what speaker was going to present. Everyone had to remember their audience member rules and focus their attention on the speaker.
After the speaker finished their presentation, he or she asked if anyone had any questions or comments. The speaker was fully in charge of monitoring questions and comments. I just sat back and watched. I love when they take responsibility! 🙂
The follow up questions cards helped give the kids ideas of what to ask, but they certainly weren’t limited to these cards.It was just a good jumping off point.
Next, it was time to fill out the peer reviews. This required the audience members to list the strengths of the speaker, as well as areas they could work on in the future.
I was so happy with the way my kids handled Book Talks! I can see this becoming a regular routine in our classroom 🙂
