Encouraging Emergent Readers to D.I.V.E. into Reading: Discuss, Investigate, Visualize, & Explore

During this interactive book club, readers will D.I.V.E into literacy by: 
Having discussions
Investigating elements of text / author's techniques
Visualizing the text by talking about our mental images and making connections to help us boost comprehension
Exploring new books and authors

Each week, students will read or listen to a book prior to class. Many of the books featured in this book club are part of Acorn Books Emergent Reader Line from Scholastic. The books in this series are all graphic novels (which lend themselves nicely to practicing fluency).  All of the books we will discuss in this book club were written with Emergent Readers in mind. Emergent Readers are considered readers who have an understanding of the alphabet, phonological awareness, and early phonics. They can also read quite a few high-frequency words. Readers in this stage are developing a much better grasp of comprehension strategies along with word-solving skills.

Books at this stage often have:
Increasingly more lines of print per page
More complex sentence structure
Encourage less dependency on patterns and pictures for word solving
Familiar topics that go into more depth
Relatable characters and life events for 4-8 year old readers

The main goals of this book club are to: increase the desire to read, boost comprehension and fluency skills, to celebrate great things we are doing as readers, and to encourage one another on our reading journeys. You’re welcome to read these books to your child or with your child each week. You’re also invited to encourage your child to try these books independently or to try re-reading them independently after you’ve read them together. Learners are welcome to enjoy the book of the week any way that works for them!


For readers who are planning to read these books independently or with support, it may be helpful for you to know that we will read mostly books at levels F-H during the month of June in the Thursday (Central Time Class). I am happy to open another section of this class that focuses on different reading levels as well such as (C-E or H-I). Feel free to reach out to discuss which level might be best for your child right now or to discuss opening other class times.  

The general flow of class will be as follows:
A few minutes of warm-up and community building activities. This may include discussion, sharing, or a small warm-up activity.

Time devoted to discussing the book of the week. We will talk about: 
Our favorite parts
Things we noticed in the book
Our predictions and if we were "right on, close, or surprised"
Unique things this author/illustrator did in the book
Connections we can make between the book and our lives or another book we have read

We will engage in an activity to enhance our focus of the week. (Students should have paper, pencil, and crayons handy for class. I will post in the classroom if any additional supplies are needed for a given week). This may include things such as:
Drawing a picture to show what we think would happen next if the story kept going
Trying out something the author / illustrator did in the book
A game related to the book

We will wrap class up with time devoted to re-reading/listening to a section of the book together to boost fluency and comprehension. Students do not need to be able to read the book independently. If they would like to read a section, they will be invited to. If they would like to repeat a section how they think it should sound, they are invited to do that too. Students are welcome to engage in the way that best fits them. Although we will not read the entire book in class due to copyright rules, we will revisit portions of the text to work on fluency by looking for clues from the author so we can read the book just like we think the author intended it to sound. We will also often preview some of the book that we will be reading for the following week. The preview will be designed to peak interest, activate our background knowledge, and to do some predicting before reading the book between classes. Children are welcome to join this class at any time. I will always send a message to new students to let them know the book for the week and a little bit about it. 

Throughout our meetings, readers will build reading comprehension by making connections, mental images, and predictions. We will also practice asking questions before, during, and after reading. Readers will be encouraged to notice details in the illustrations, features of the text, and word choice to help boost their reading fluency as well. 

Having the book in hand is a great way to encourage readers to spend more time noticing details in the pictures and text. I will have a physical copy of the book that I will show readers parts of in our introduction and discussion parts of class as well.

D.I.V.E. into Reading Book Club Books for the first few weeks starting in June:
The Biggest Roller Coaster by Tina Kügler (GRL: G)
Do You Like My Bike? by Norm Feuti  (GRL: H)
Don't Worry, Bee Happy by Ross Burach (GRL: H)
The Great Bunk Bed Battle by Tina Kügler  (GRL: G)


* Getting the books ahead of time from a library is a great idea! Many of the books featured in this book club are part of the Acorn Book Line from Scholastic and can also be purchased online. There is a chance that a reader will have already read some of the books featured in our book club and that is absolutely okay. Re-reading books is a fabulous way to notice new details, build fluency, and enjoy old favorites.