Lesson Plan Ideas: How to Choose a Book

[Joanna Drusin]

Hi Lit Team! 

Every fall I need a thoughtful way of getting independent reading books to my 6th graders.  I like to teach a BRIEF "how to choose a book" lesson, before letting them loose in the library. 

The goal is to discourage what I often see later in the year

The scene:

Student A to Student B:  what should I read? 

Student B to Student A: Oh, read this, it's really good. 

(Student A borrows book without second thought)

Does anyone have resources or ideas on how to teach this lesson in a more exciting way than just a discussion of how to choose a book?  (Typically, we talk about genre, length, author, level of difficulty...but it feels a little bland)

In other news, I've found two websites that can help students choose books...maybe they will be useful to you!

http://www.bookadventure.com/book_finder.aspx

http://www.scholastic.com/bookwizard/

xo

Joanna

www.mapsandmemories.edublogs.org