Who Was....Book Club: Flexible Schedule Course

This is a FLEX Class meaning that there are no live meetings; however, it will be very interactive and readers will be encouraged to have engage in whichever of the following ways best fit their needs: have discussion about books via comments, video submissions, uploading documents, and interactions with activities throughout the month.

Excitement about books and reading is a huge motivating factor in reading growth. By engaging with peers about a new book each week, students will be boosting their reading comprehension strategies and hopefully growing their love for reading.

Below, you will see the schedule of the books we will be discussing during the month. Students should the listed "book of the week" each week. On Tuesdays CST, I will create a post for learners to share some interesting facts they discovered while reading the book. Readers can add their comments anytime throughout the week.

Each week, readers will read or listed to the "book of the week".  Then, they will be expected to contribute at least 2 interesting facts to the discussion each week. Each reader can contribute these facts however each they feel most comfortable. Some suggestions for means to share their facts include: a video submission of the reader talking about some interesting facts, an uploaded copy of a picture the reader has created to show and tell some interesting facts from the book, a written report of a few interesting facts...it's all about sharing the love of reading and learning about interesting people in history!

I will upload a video each week to share some of my own thoughts about the a book and facts I found interesting. Through the Outschool Classroom, readers will have the opportunity to engage in discussion via chat.

I will also share a file with some real-life photographs related to the book. This file may also contain some video links for learners to explore (parents are encouraged to view these links with their children). 

Each week, I will post a video on Tuesdays to get the discussion going for the week.

By Thursday of each week, students are expected to upload a video or project in which they tell us about some facts that they found to be interesting. Readers are also invited to ask questions related to the book. They will be able to view projects and videos of the books that other readers have shared throughout the week and should take some time to engage in conversation through comments about the book (guidelines for positive, supportive communication will be presented during the first week of class). 

I hope this class inspires learners to read often, learn about interesting people in history, confidently speak to others about their books and ideas, and to connect to other readers.

Here is the breakdown for conversation focus points for each week:
December: 
Week of January 7th:
Who Was Jane Goodall?
 - For our activity this week, students will not need any supplies. We will spend some time looking at and trying some sign language.

Week of January 14th:
Who Was Harry Houdini?
- Get ready for some fun with magic! This week, the shared activities will involve learning some magic tricks! Students will need to have access to a coin, a deck of cards, paper, and scissors to try out the tricks and illusions. 

Week of January 21st:
Where are the Galapagos Islands?

Week of January 28th: 
Where is the Amazon Rainforest?

During this course, along with discussion in the Outschool Classroom and engaging in activities related to the book each week, readers will also be encouraged to engage other activities involving books such as scavenger hunts regarding books or personal interests as we grow as a community of learners.

** This version of class is a FLEX Class which means there are no live meeting. This helps reach readers with different learning preferences, schedules & time zones. I do have a live instruction version of this class as well called “ Who Was...What Was...Where Is...Book Club”.