If you have a third, fourth, or fifth grade student who is an avid reader, we would love your input for a potential reading-based extracurricular opportunity! The goals would be to foster a love of good books and to give kids the opportunity to talk about what they've been reading. Please take a moment to review the possible formats below, and complete the embedded form if you think your student would be interested in at least one of the options.
Option 1: Monthly Book Meetup
Each month, students are invited to read a common book. Then, toward the end of the month, students who have read the book are welcome to stay after school, discuss the book, and participate in a related activity. Examples include sampling foods from a character's culture, trying out a character's favorite hobby, or watching a film adaptation of the book. This is something that students could do on a flexible, month-to-month basis. They would be welcome to pick and choose which months to attend, based on their interest in the novel, their availability for the month, or any other number of factors.
Option 2: Monthly Book Talks
Instead of everyone reading the same book, students would be given a choice of 3-5 books with something in common (an author, a theme, a genre, etc.). Students would select at least one of the books to read prior to an afterschool meet up. Then, students would spend part of the time talking with peers who read the same book (in other words: spoilers allowed!) and part of the time with peers who read a different book (no spoilers!). The hope is that students would get each other excited by showcasing different books. Those looking for a tech twist might even get to try their hand at making a book trailer for one of the selections! Again, this would be a flexible option. Students can pick and choose which month(s) they would like to participate.
Option 3: Battle of the Books
This is an option for readers with a competitive streak. Students read from a list of books that have been selected at the state level. They work together in teams of six to answer questions about the books in a "battle" to see who knows the books best! Depending on interest, we could simply do this in-house at Evergreen, or we could go on to compete against other schools in the state. This option would require a higher degree of commitment than the previous two and would likely meet weekly or biweekly to practice. Students would not be expected to read every single book on the list (that's why they have teammates!) but would need to read a fair amount to contribute as a team member.
