Speed Dating with Books – Spark some interest!
I tried something new this week, and I’m so glad I did. I was ready to launch reading workshop with my new tenth grade class, and I decided to let my students do speed dating with the books I have in the classroom.
First, I had to decide how to get it all organized. Because our district is committed to reading workshop, I am blessed to have a huge pile of amazing titles. I wasn’t sure if I should put out random selections of books at each station, or group them by subject/genre. I didn’t want the kids to judge the books because they were in a certain category, but sometimes those categories help, right? A quick survey on Instagram helped me decide that random would be best.
Next, I printed off an instruction card for each station, and brought in some “romantic” props from home. Luckily, I have a pile of LED candles and lots of fake flowers ;).
I arranged everything on Sunday afternoon, so when the kids arrived it would be all ready to go. In fact, I kept the door shut until the bell rang, to get the buzz going. I poked my head out to tell them that I had something very special for them, and they had to be patient.
I also had an “overflow” table with other books that didn’t make it to the stations. They had a few minutes to browse that at the end.
When they came in, they saw the tables arranged with just the candles and flowers (I had the books stacked and ready to go on my shelves). I told them first that, in honour of Valentine’s Day on Friday, we were going to do some speed dating. I quickly told them (to avert the panic) that their potential dates would be with books, and started arranging the titles at the stations as I explained how it would work.
There were five stations with five titles at each one (I have twenty-five students, so the math was easy). I gave them approximately seven-eight minutes at each station – I circulated and told them to rotate to the next station once it seemed like they’d all had a chance to check out each book.
They were instructed to take notes on the cue cards I gave them. On side one they’d note which books they liked; when they had been to each station, they were to write their top three titles on the back.
I also had an “overflow” table with other books that didn’t make it to the stations. They had a few minutes to browse that at the end.
This took us about forty minutes. Next they watched a video that was leading into an activity for the next day, and while they watched, I was able to use their top three lists to assign their books.
I was very pleased with the activity and will most definitely do it again. Previously I would just let them roam the shelves, but I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. First, it’s Valentine’s Day on Friday, so I thought it would be a fun way to start the week. Secondly, I figured this process would create more buzz for the books, because the kids would have to make a list of their top three books and wait to see what they got. And, finally, it forced them to take a look at titles that they may not normally gravitate toward. All in all, it was a huge success!
Let me know if you have any questions! You can also check out my online class for Planning a Reading Workshop.
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