A teacher is launching a new book and puts it under the document camera for their class to see the cover. "What do you think this book will be about?" the teacher asks. This scene has been played out in classrooms around the globe, many that we have been in. It has happened when I was the student, and, I admit, when I was the teacher.
It always fell flat.
Gail Saunders Smith in Ultimate Guided Reading How-To Book finally helped me figure out why it always felt so off. We are essentially asking students to throw darts at a dart board based on cover art. Students cannot make meaningful predictions in this context. Sure, some covers have enough information for students to make an educated guess, but many do not.
Instead, Saunders-Smith suggests, we should tell students what the book is about. "This single simple bit of knowledge arms [students] with a shelf of understanding prior to encountering the book (p10)" she writes. Further, it is suggested that we give students that initial information in order to consider the book before starting so that students are prepared to make connections. The author gives the example of launching a study of Charlotte's Web, suggesting an introduction of "this is a book about friendship" and co-creating an anchor chart of what the students know and believe about friendship, launching a class discussion to ignite prior knowledge. We do this with informational texts with KWL charts, but how often do we do it with novels?
How to Launch a New Novel In the Classroom
For fiction books, we have a variety of options available to use to help students have a rich start to a new book.
1) Gallery Walk of Quotes from the Book
Select powerful quotes that allude to some of the major conflicts and characters in the book without giving anything away- print them in large font and post them around the classroom for students to do a gallery walk. Ask them to discuss what they predict from the book AFTER they've engaged with these quotes.
2) Pre-Writing Activity
Give students a prompt to write about that relates to one of the major themes or conflicts in the book. Tell them to talk about a time where they felt like everything was new and different for them before launching Home of the Brave or ask them to imagine what it would be like to never know what the outdoors were like before exploring City of Ember- these prompts help students tap into their own experiences to develop empathy for the characters before they even begin reading.
3) Explore the Book's Context
For books that are likely to be doors rather than windows and historical fiction choices, invite students to learn about the setting before starting. Padlet is great for this- you can source videos, short stories and articles for your students to pick from and allow them to explore on their own and then share what they learn with a partner.
4) Create a Web of Predictions
Help students use what they DO know about the book to guide them to making meaningful predictions. Look for books by the same author they've read and ask them based on those stories what they can expect from this one. Show them how to look at the publication date and ask them what they think that might mean for the story. Discuss the genre of the story and what that means we can expect.
There are many ways we can engage students with a text before beginning, but these are some of my favorites. In my novel study of Children of the Longhouse by Joseph Bruchac, I use the first two of these. What strategies do you use to launch novel studies in your classroom? Share in the comments.
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