Classroom Activities To Get Kids Talking About Books

Part of what makes books fun and memorable for adults is talking about it. Kids are no different. In addition to the pleasure of discussion, talking about books is a powerful tool for learning. Talk deepens thinking and can create new neural pathways. And, talking about books provides a connection between children and adults -- a way to talk about ideas in a neutral, non-threatening way.

Here are some classroom activities that'll keep children thinking and talking about what they're reading. These activities are excerpted from Books Your Kids Will Talk About!, by Susan Hepler and Maria Salvadore and published by the NEA Professional Library. Books helps educators and parents of kids in kindergarten through sixth grade navigate the ever-expanding universe of children's literature, with comprehensive, multicultural, annotated booklists and suggestions on how to integrate books into the curriculum.

The classroom activities suggested below are addressed to your students -- to save you time in trying to rephrase ideas to convey to a child.

Want more classroom ideas and teaching strategies -- and annotated lists of books organized around 10 themes that are important to a child's world? Order your own copy of Books Your Kids Will Talk About! today.

Activities for Books About Living in a Family

• Read a book, such as Cherry Pies and Lullabies or Dim Sum for Everyone, and talk about favorite or special foods in your own family. Make or take a picture of your family enjoying those foods, or create a group recipe book of favorite foods.
  
  
• Imagine you joined the family in one of the books you read. Where would you fit in? What would you do with the children in the book? Write a story about your visit or talk with someone about your life with that family.

Activities for Books About Going to School

• Read a few books about the first days of school, such as Elizabeti's School, First Graders from Mars: Horus's Horrible Day, or The Name Jar. Talk about first-day jitters, and remember your own first days in a particular school or classroom. Interview an older person to see what he remembers about his first days in school. Ask a former teacher about her first days of teaching school.
  
  
• Invite someone who used to live in another country to talk about what going to school was like for them. Prepare a few questions, such as: How did you get to school? What subjects did you study? What were your teachers like? What games did you play for recess? What were lunches like? Did you have to wear special uniforms?

Activities for Books About Making Friends

• Choose a book in which people who might be friends face a challenge or problem, like Chester's Way, Gold Dust, The Jacket, or Surviving Brick Johnson. Pretend you're one of the friends and write or tell of your feelings about the other person. You might comment on two parts of the story: when you first met your friend, and later at the end of the story. How did you and your friendship change?
  
  
• Ask two adults to tell you about their oldest friend. Why have they stayed friends so long? Has their friendship changed?

Activities for Humorous Books

• Look at the exaggerated humor in books such as "Could Be Worse!," McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm: Three Tall Tales, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, Gooney Bird Greene, or The Birdwatchers. Try spinning your own exaggerated tale of some common activity you do, like riding the bus to school, taking out the trash, or cleaning your room. You could illustrate your story, too.
  
  
• Look at the many books that are based on folktales, such as Cinder Edna, If the Shoe Fits: Voices from Cinderella, Once Upon a Marigold, or The Giant Carrot. Then tell or write another favorite folktale from a different point of view, or in a new setting such as your school, the soccer field, or the Wild West. Tell or read your story to others to see if you can make them laugh.

Activities for Books About Getting Through Tough Times

• Choose a character, like the title characters in Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart; the girl in Flamingo Dream who has lost her father; or Austin in Blackberries in the Dark, who has lost his grandfather. Jump ahead five or 10 years and tell how this boy or girl now remembers those times and in what ways the character is stronger.
  
  
• Find a newspaper article that tells of someone having a hard time. Who is helping that person? Be sure to look for support from city services, family and friends, church, club, or other community groups. Or, tell how an organization you belong to helps people who are having difficulties.