Talking Texts: A Teachers' Guide to Book Clubs across the Curriculum

by Lesley Roessing, Lesley Roessing former secondary and university educator and author of No More “Us’ and “Them ” Talk, Lester Laminack (Foreword)

Talking Texts is a guide for teachers to the steps and strategies of implementing text clubs in many forms— fiction and nonfiction book clubs, textbook clubs, article clubs, and even poetry clubs—in the classroom. All strategies presented are applicable to any discipline so that text clubs can be employed across the curriculum in any grade level.

Genres: Professional Development

140 pages, Hardcover

Published June 18, 2019

Reviews

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a 3.8 rather than a true 4 based solely on the size of the print. Otherwise, informative, practical, and easy to read. I hope it’s as easy to implement

[Kate Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have if looking to implement book clubs - incredibly thorough and packed with great ideas!

[Melissapalmer404 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professional resource for implementing book clubs of various types in various levels of classrooms. I found it helpful.

[Ann Tuennerman]

Lesley is a force and a generous person. I am a new teacher (2nd year) who started a book club at my school since it has no library. We have not met in person yet she has generously sent me some of her advance copies and other materials to share with my students. I work in a school where 100% of the students receive free lunch and the average student has 1-2 books at home. It truly takes a village and I love the PDC I have met on Facebook.

I loved Talking Texts! The book gives information you can use instantly. There are a lot of great books on reading and all things related to reading but this is one of my favs so far. She breaks things down easily and has worksheets and materials so you do not have to recreate what works.

I teach special education middle school and am working with my team and ELA teachers for us to implement the items in her book.

Thank you Lesley.

[Kerry Cerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a brand new media specialist this year, and while I love books, I've been a bit nervous to start a book club at my high school. As a children's book author myself, you'd think a book club would be a breeze for me, but I want to be sure discussions are meaningful. I want discussions to be deep. I want kids to walk away with new perspectives. I feared I might not accomplish this, so I put off implementing the book club. After reading this short but overly informative book, I'm ready to tackle this next year, and I'm actually looking forward to it. Thank you for a wonderful read, Mrs. Roessing.

[Karen Madigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book from the guru of book clubs. Whether veteran teacher or new to the profession, teachers will appreciate the author's comprehensive background information and knowledge shared about the value of book clubs as part of ELA instruction. A practical guide which provides everything you need to get book clubs up and running in no time at all. My students are motivated to read and respond to text, but perhaps more important, have meaningful discussion about literature. Can't wait to use more of her instructional strategies!

[Julie Trejo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met the spunky author at a conference in the spring and couldn't wait to get my hands on this book! I used materials from the conference in my fifth grade class, but have put even more tools in my toolbox since reading the book! I am looking forward to using book clubs differently this year without making them drudgery for the reader (or me)!

[Melissa Sacco Leone · Rating 5 out of 5]

In have been teaching for 14 years and conducted book clubs in the past. What I like about this book is that it’s set up with plenty of examples and guidance on how book clubs should look in the classroom. New and veteran teachers alike will find useful ideas and strong guidance on how to best approach every aspect of book clubs.

[Jo Hackl · Rating 5 out of 5]

TALKING TEXTS is a masterful must-read resource for anyone working with students or who has students at home. Ms. Roessing’s rich experience and her passion for students, books, and reading shine through in in every page. Her book provides a practical step-by-step approach, practical models and innovative ideas that teachers and parents alike can use to create life-long readers and engaged learners. I have started several book clubs and wish that I had had this wonderful resource from the start. It is one that I now keep close at hand.

[Devan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some good ideas in here that went along with some revisions I had already planned for book clubs. It would be a nice book for those that are just starting book clubs. The ending felt a bit abrupt and either the chapters need to be reorganized or an additional chapter at the end could help this. I will definitely be reviewing my notes when I work on my book club units.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Roessing provides a practical guide for implementing book clubs in both the English Language Arts classroom and other disciplinary classes. Along with ideas on how to set up the book clubs, the author also provides reflection guides for the students, concrete examples of lesson plans, and ideas for books.

[Melynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

📖 Must read for ELA teachers.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short easy read on how to conduct Book Clubs/Lit Circles in a classroom. Lots of great ideas and suggestions. Includes many reproducible pages to use. This should be a required textbook for English Education majors.

After reading Lesley Roessing's Talking Texts book about how to run book clubs, I found myself wishing that this book would have been part of my undergraduate level instruction. Talking Texts was a quick easy read that was full of practical applications instead of just theory. The author literally walks you through not only the why of book clubs or literature circles in classrooms, but also how to run the "meetings" of your groups giving you plenty of things to do or discuss that will work with all books read, not just one or two. The author also gives plenty of examples of books clubs, how to use them in different subject areas and in many cases gives a few examples to get you started with choosing the book. Needless to say, having had this information before I started teaching would have been a time saver. If you in any way have students read novels (or even short stories) within your class, run and get this book.