Lunch Bunch Ideas

[Brenda Branson]

Do any of you guys do Lunch Bunch Book Clubs? How do you organize them, how often do you meet, what do you read? I'm looking for some new ideas for this year's groups. I'll be working with 4th, 5th and 6th graders.

[Cathy Nelson]

I assigned book titles for certain grade levels. If I do this again, I will not limit the grade levels, but using the same title did work for me. I encouraged teachers to read the book aloud, but I also had grant money to buy multiple copies for a little over half the books. After getting permission, I made an audio recording of one title (b/c it was not available as paperback and not available as an audio recording.) Some came everday during their recess to listen to my recording, and some classes checked it out to use as a read aloud by me.

[Brenda Branson]

Wow! What terrific ideas. Thanks and I love the variety of options you gave the students. Did you all read the same books at the same meeting? Hope to see you at EdTech. We really do miss having you in our area.

[Cathy Nelson]

Hi Brenda,
I did a lunch book club last year. It centered around th SC Book Award Nominees. We designated a title, and promoted like crazy. There were six ways a student could earn an invitation, and this was done so that more students could come.
-Take AR Quiz (score 100)
-Write a summary (good spelling/grammar)
-Post to the blog
-Create a diorama that depicted a scene from the story and be able to explain it, then display it in the library
-Use the "online" book review form from our library website to post a review
-Meet with me to discuss the book
The variety of methods to earn an invitation allowed students to use a way that was easiest for them, and many chose to make the art project or just talk to me, which was fine. We arranged a time to meet in the cafeteria on the day of the "Brunch" and took the lunch to the library. Sometimes I shared short StreamlineSC clips (like Sweetgrass baskets from one of tht titles) to Clay "Peg-Leg" Bates from a YouTube segment posted from an Ed Sullivan Show. Sometimes we created words, since so many titles dealt with an infatuation of vocabulary (The Pam Munoz Ryan Book), and sometimes I created interactive activities like surveys or q/a that used the handhelds (ActiVotes) with my Promethean Board. The kids were always disappointed to have to leave after forty minutes, which is how long I kept them. And I had to beg them to eat! Sometimes there was more participation than others, particularly when we did the CBA books that were picture books instead of chapter books. It was a lot of fun, and i can't believe I haven't arranged to do this for this year at my new school....I need to get busy!

[Brenda Branson]

Thanks, I have seen her page and it does have lots of good ideas.

[Durff]

I did when i had a self-contained room and we ate in the room. Met once per week. Also did it at previous school in school building while majority went to dining hall. In this school it won't work unless I had a classroom....maybe someday. I just invited kids on a rotating basis, making sure that those who needed extra practice were always there. We read below reading level books to reinforce fluency and have fun. I gave out desserts and Lunch Bunch bookmarks. I think I got those from Laura Candler's site...The Lemony Snicket books would be ideal....