CSLA 2008, Post 7

I had the opportunity to go see Pam Selleck present Making Literary Connections with Book Talks. Well worth the time and effort. It makes me want to energize my book talks.

While she gave a lot of advice, her basic book talk tips are:

• Select books that might not otherwise be selected. Pam suggests that you really don't need to book talk Twilight. Find the good books that kids don't know about.
• Read the book. Yes, many folks, including me, don't always read the entire book. I need to work on that and so do you!
• Keep the talk short. Her book talks were of varying lengths, but 4-5 minutes was about the amount of time she used.
• Don't give away the plot. Students want to be surprised. Let them.
• Have multiple copies available in the library. I need to work on this. It makes it hard at the middle school level where often, at the most, you only have two copies.
• Make sure the library staff, if relevant, knows which book you are talking. When students come in asking about a book, but have forgotten the title, it helps to know what they are talking about.
• Give the students a list (or a bookmark) of the books you book talk. Students need something to remind them of which books were presented.
• Beware of AR! Book talk books at varying levels.