Buckaroo Book Club: The Ox Cart Man

On Thursday, the two classes circled their wagons for the final time of the season. Just like in the story The Ox Cart Man by Donald Hall, the season changes. It is almost time for summer vacation for the cowboys and cowgirl at the Reading Round_Up!

We had time for one more Buckaroo Book Club!

 Four students from Sheriff Yollis' class met with a posse of four from Sheriff Salsich's class.

 Students took turn sharing what they liked about the story and asking questions of one another.

 Name tags were useful for directly addressing people at the club.

 Donald Hall won the Caldecott Award for his illustrations. The fireside scene was a favorite. How is this 1800s home different from yours? 

 Even though the members were nearly 3,000 miles apart, they still enjoyed talking about the book and the illustrations. Skype is a great tool for sharing.

 How is your life different from life on a farm? Which would you rather do - work on a farm or go to school?

This general store was very different from our modern markets.

What did you like about the book club?

Can you recommend a good book for another time?

Voicethread Book Club - "Fly Away Home"

Last month the students from Mrs. Yollis' and Mr. Salsich's classes read Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting.

Eve Bunting has written hundreds of excellent books for children. Many of her books deal with difficult situations, and the ways that people deal with them.

Fly Away Home is about a homeless boy and his father who live at an airport. It is a great book for having a book club because there are many different opinions and feelings that people can have about the book.

In our book clubs we have been focusing on:

• Supporting our opinions with details from the text.
• Listening carefully to what others say and responding to their ideas.
• Adding onto others opinions by agreeing or disagreeing politely.
• Looking back in the text for details that connect to people's ideas.
  

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Here is our "Voicethread book club" about the book:

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If you have read the book and have a voicethread account, feel free to add a comment in the voicethread. Let's keep the discussion going!

Have you read any other Eve Bunting books? What did you think of them?

Buckaroo Book Club - "Martin's Big Words"

January 17th was a very important day in the United States.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights leader who made huge difference in our country.

To learn more about his life and accomplishments, you can read this article from Scholastic News.

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For our Buckaroo Book Club last week we read Martin's Big Words, written by Doreen Rappaport and illustrated by Bryan Collier.

This is a fantastic book about Martin's life with some of his most famous quotes. The illustrations are beautiful works of collage.

Here is a video with a few parts from our Buckaroo Book Club:

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Have you read this book? If so, what was a part that you really liked?

What lessons can we learn from Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Buckaroo Book Club - "Thank You, Mr. Falker"

Last week we had our second Skype book club.
This time the students discussed Patricia Polacco's fabulous book Thank You, Mr. Falker.

As you can see in the video chat below, this is a fantastic book for making connections and thinking about big ideas and themes.

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Have you ever tried to learn something that was very hard to do at first?

If you have read this book, please share your ideas about it!

What did you notice about the discussions in the book club?

Buckaroo Book Club ~ The Garden of Abdul Gasazi!

Last week some of Sheriff Yollis and Sheriff Salsich's students had a nice face-to-face "jaw" about a real humdinger of a book - The Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris Van Allsburg.
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Have you ever read The Garden of Abdul Gasazi? 

If so, add some of your own thoughts about the book.

Have you ever been in a book club? What did you like about it?

 

Video: Tips For Having a Buckaroo Book Club!

Attention all cowboys and cowgirls!

Here at the Reading Round-Up, we are fixin' to circle our wagons and have a Buckaroo Book Club!

First, let's listen to Billy and Clementine. They have some solid book club tips for you!

GoAnimate.com: Book Club Ideas by lindayollis

For some more tips and examples of book clubs in action,
check out this video from Sheriff Salsich's class from last year.

Have you ever been in a book club?

What did you like about it?

What makes for a good discussion?