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| Rosina Emmet Sherwood Girl Reading,1888 Photo credit:freeparking |
Here's the group activity from the conference that we didn't have time to do:
Find someone who… has finished War and Peace
Find someone who… can recite a piece of poetry
Find someone who… has read all the works by one
author (e.g. everything by Dickens)
Find someone who… has been in a book club before
Find someone who… has read a James Bond novel
Find someone who… has bought a book but never opened
it
Find someone who… has read Fifty Shades of Grey
Find someone who… hasn’t read Fifty Shades of Grey
Find someone who… can remember immediately whether
they have read a book or not
Find someone who… reads different books at the same
time (e.g. one book on the Metro, one book at home)
Find someone who… likes audio books
Find someone who… never sees the film before reading
the book
Here's the handout:
BOOK GROUP
FIRST MEETING IDEAS
·
Favourite Book: all members have two pieces of paper – one with their
names and one with the title of their favourite book. Then all names and titles
are displayed and everyone tries to guess and match up the books to the
members.
·
Find a Member: give all members a list of criteria and they will have
to find a name to fit into each category. For example, “Find a member who has
finished War and Peace”, “Find a member who has been in a book club before” or
“Find a member who can recite a poem”.
·
Have a book-free
meeting, on special occasions like
Valentines or Halloween.
·
Ask members to
come with alternative endings – even try writing them and reading them out loud.
·
Create your own
literary awards and ask members to vote for their
best reads, favourite authors, etc.
GENERIC TOPICS AND QUESTIONS
How did
your feelings change as you read or listened to the narrative?Did it make you
angry, frightened, laugh, or cry?
Which relationship
was most interesting and why?
Did you get off
to a slow start or were you hooked straight away?
What did you think of the ending? Was it what
you expected?
If you've read a true story, biography or
autobiography, did you think it was well told? Did you find out more or less
than you wanted about the subject? Have you changed your opinion of them now
you've read their story?
Who was your
favourite / least favourite character? Were there any characters you could
identify with?
Did you find
some parts of the story more enjoyable than others?
If the story was set in another
time or country, how did that affect you? Was it convincing? Would
you want to live in that time or travel to that country / place?
Is this a book
you would recommend and, if so, why?
Would you read another title by this
author?
Did you skip
the boring bits or just read the end? If you gave up on the book, can you say
why?
If it was made
into a film / TV series, which actors would play the main parts?
Did it remind you
of any other books you have read? Can
you think of any other stories with similar ideas, characters or
settings?
USEFUL SITES
FOR
BOOK
RECOMMENDATIONS
http://bookclubclassics.com/Blog/best-books-for-book-clubs/
Some great book guides
http://bookpage.com
Type ‘book club’ into the blog search engine for inspiration
https://www.englishclub.com/reading/recommended/index.htm
Recommendations for English learners and teachers
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jhsk
“World Book Club invites the globe’s greatest authors to discuss their
best known novels” listen to discussions
and dramatizations
http://successfulenglish.com/2013/01/good-reads-for-intermediate-english-learners/
Some recommendations for Young Adult Learners
http://readers.penguin.co.uk/
Penguin’s Book group page, including advice about setting up a group
http://readinggroups.org/
A site for reading groups including reviews and advice
http://www.bookgroup.info/041205/index.php
A site for reading groups, you can even add your group to the list!
http://www.thereadingclub.co.uk All about starting up a reading group
http://www.openingthebook.com/whichbook/
Great resource for choosing something to read. Take a look at the blog too
LITERATURE AVAILABLE
Start
a Book Swap List – everybody provides a list of 5 or 10 books they are willing
to swap to pool resources.
A variety of short stories and poetry
suitable for primary and secondary school students. Some of the work is
original and some packs provide resources for stories well known for the film
version, such as Billy Elliot and Bend It Like Beckham.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ Over
45,000 free books. Good for the classics
http://www.readanybook.com/
Remember, if you're interested in setting up a book group please get in touch! I can help with practicalities and help spread the word.
