- Thursday 02 August 2018
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In the words of Walt Disney, ‘There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island’. This makes for a very fitting theme for this year’s Book Week—'Find your treasure’.
Yes, you can be literal about it and decorate your classroom with a pirate treasure theme and do a multitude of activities that revolve around the pirate theme, but you can also delve a little deeper. You can inspire and encourage your students to find something special through a book that speaks to them. Not every book or genre appeals to everyone in the same way, so it is important for students to understand that they need to find ‘their treasure’. Once they do, reading can become a magical experience they will want to return to.
How to help students find their reading treasure
- Cover a selection of books in plain paper and draw names from a hat to allocate the mystery book to a student. They then read the book and decide whether or not it was a treasure to them and try their luck again. They literally can’t just judge a book by it’s cover to know whether or not it will be their treasure.
- Allow students time to taste a book before they decide if they will like it or not. Teach them the skills of reading the blurb, looking at what genre the book is and being able to thumb through some pages and read the first few pages to get a feel for the writing style and content.
- Try a book search online to find a book that appeals to them, using a website like this one. Students enter the author of a book they liked and it will produce a list of other books they may enjoy.
- If students are passionate about a book they have read then they can create a video trailer so that others can get a feeling about whether or not the book is for them. Students should explain why the book is a treasure to them, why it speaks to them so strongly and who might also find this book appealing.
- Ask the expert—the librarian! Encourage students to discuss with the librarian what their interests are and the titles of books they have read and liked.
- Create interest in newly released books such as the shortlisted titles for Book of the Year. Read the summary blurbs about each book by clicking on the links here and take a class vote to see which book they would like to read and why it appeals to them.
- Encourage students to form a book club with their friends where they can share or trade their favourite books, or just find out what their friends are reading.