Booktalks in the Middle

One of the English teachers in my school has her students complete booktalks each marking period. Students have been completing this assignment while in the library for book checkout, so I have been able to listen to them talk about the books they are reading and give them ratings. It's always interesting to hear what kids think about the books from the library, as well as see what books they bring from home and the public library.

A couple of the books students have shared recently include:

Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart

This one cracked us all up. Students have to read a passage from the book that they want to share with others. The student who shared this book read a passage about goats "dating." The entire class was clamoring to check this book out after hearing about it through a booktalk.

Half Upon a Time by James Riley

I'm so glad that a student brought this book to talk about. It was a new book to me and the booktalk was intriguing. Twisted and fractured fairy tales are often popular, so I added the series to our library.








What I'm enjoying most about the booktalks is having the opportunity to hear uncensored opinions and ratings of books. Students often check out books and then I don't hear as much back as I would like unless it is something they are raving about and a bunch of other students want to put the book on hold. I like to hear the "eh" opinions and the "no way" opinions as well because it helps me think differently about selection.

I think getting kids thinking critically about and talking about what they have read is such an important component of what librarians and educators do in support of literacy. How do you get kids talking about the books they have read?