In an effort to battle the idea of book deserts and making sure my classroom library includes all types of books, I have been excited to start graphic novel book clubs this year! This mini-project only takes one week of instruction per class that I teach, and it does not take up the entire day for instruction or work. When I wrote a grant in the fall for 100 graphic novels, the mission was simple: use more graphic novels as mentor texts and create small graphic novel book clubs to kids who can share the joy in talking about the same books that they are reading. We see kids naturally want to form book clubs because reading is social, and it makes it so the act of reading can also be less scary. If I am a struggling reader, I find it less intimidating if I have someone else reading with me. Reading is not meant to be an independent experience. Book clubs can be set up in a variety of ways considering materials, time, and accountability. This post outlines how I conducted my mini-project with my sixth-grade students and the considerations that were made for including graphic novels in choice reading time.

Whether you call these types of groups book clubs or literature circles, the idea of building a reading community in a classroom stems from the shared experience of reading. I love trying to weave in book clubs. After reading 180 DAYS: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle last summer, I became inspired to weave these types of book clubs into my teaching more and more throughout the year. It was after I saw them present at the Michigan Reading Association Conference in March that I knew I had to change up how I implement book clubs in my classroom this year.