This year Ms. Marks started ‘Book Club Fridays’ with her Advanced Placement Literature class.
The books utilized in these clubs came from Donors Choose, a non-profit organization that helps public schools get their innovative project ideas off the ground.
Ms. Marks does ‘Book Club Fridays’ in collaboration with class themes.
“We have a theme for each club rotation. There’s a theme that’s connected with the theme of the book we are reading in class,” said Ms. Marks.
Rotating forward, students also work in their journals answering questions. Some questions being student-generated prompts.
Yarelly Ramirez, a WJPS senior said, “It’s a fun way to be open and discuss a new book with close friends.”
Putting an emphasis on choice, Ms. Marks said, “Choice is important and the ability to have time in class and be able to read and grow is important in an AP class for practice.”
Furthermore, Ms. Marks said that choice amongst students and these book clubs helps “remove the structure of reading, and push for the genuine love of reading.”
WJPS senior, Matteus Schmelke agrees that “it is a very fun idea and it will help students learn to appreciate reading more.”
Moving forward, Ms. Marks will end the theme introduced in four to five weeks and wrap it up with a culminating project.
Then, in future rounds, the clubs will keep up the rotations’ key ideas of connection, choice, and new themes with the intention of integrating four to five extra individual books to build up a ‘literature of merit for the AP test.’