Bocky Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 The director of new tutorial my dd is enjoying has asked me to lead a book club for teens next year. The class would meet once a week for an hour. There would not be any writing assigned; I would concentrate on discussion/activities. At a guess, I might have 6 students with more closer to 13-14 years old, but 2 or 3 15-17 years old are possible too. The tutorial is CC (attendance is open to all homeschoolers) and meets in a church. I love teaching literature to my dd, so I think this could be fun. Have you run a teen book club? What worked best? What books/short stories/graphic novels have worked well? What resources helped you prepare? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 I don't think I'll be much help but here is what I did. In my case, I wanted my kids to read more challenging classical literature. So I was up front that I would be assigning the books and that it wouldn't be a democratic book club. I am also a math/science gal, so I outsourced it to an English PhD student and later another homeschooling mom with this expertise because I don't have it. We met at my home for an hour, and the students were all girls and in middle school. I also did not have a writing component, but I did want it to be more than just a social occasion. I wanted them to have some real learning, which is another reason I outsourced it. HTH. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 I really liked the book Deconstructing Penguins. There's a lot of food for thought to help you develop a plan. With teens, I'd probably also throw in a study of the hero's journey if you're doing any sort of mythology or adventure book. I'd also make a list of literary elements to help guide the discussions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 I'm hoping you'll post what works well later! I'm leading a book club for a small group of kids, average age 10. I heard a speech once about teaching literary analysis using picture books, and I'm doing that. Every two weeks we discuss a book and then I read a picture book that helps me show the kids a new literary concept. I'm not super good at it, but the kids are having fun. They just blew me away with their understanding of Treasure Island. Woo! I can't find the talk I heard, but here's an article by the same person! https://www.centerforlit.com/blog/2016/4/25/picture-booksfor-high-schoolers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Well, a friend and I have been doing a book club with our kids, but it isn’t near as structured as what you are talking about. We started with Narnia books, but lately have done Wonder and a Redwall book. For us it isn’t so much about the high quality literature as getting them excited to discuss books and read them. We started with me leading, asking discussion questions and talking about literary terms as they came up (for example, foreshadowing, allusions, etc). Then it morphed to each child coming up with discussion questions, and me just adding a couple in to highlight things I wanted them to think about or notice. They’re much more eager to do their own, though it means putting up with a few more “of you we’re going to Narnia and you could take anything you wanted” uestions, followed by a list of ridiculous weapons, than I find ideal. Once they all drew thier favorite characters (or themselves as a character if they were in the story, I can’t remember), which they really enjoyed. somewhere online there’s s list of discussion questions for any book that we also used. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 I do think the earlier discussion about literary terms when I was leading the discussion more did help lay a good foundation for the discussions we have now. It gave them a common vocabulary to talk about books with and an awareness of structure that might not have been there before, to help them think about the books more deeply. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocky Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 7 hours ago, HomeAgain said: I really liked the book Deconstructing Penguins. There's a lot of food for thought to help you develop a plan. With teens, I'd probably also throw in a study of the hero's journey if you're doing any sort of mythology or adventure book. I'd also make a list of literary elements to help guide the discussions. Oooh - I have Deconstructing Penguins on a bookshelf somewhere - thanks for the reminder. I like the idea of having a list of literary elements on hand too. Hero's journey is a great idea for this age - in fact dd14 and I have discussed it a lot this year. My first thought was heroic narratives from more than just western culture. @Farrar needs to finish her curriculum 🙂. But since we'll meet once a week I am not sure how much the teens will be able to read for each session. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocky Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 1 hour ago, emba56 said: Well, a friend and I have been doing a book club with our kids, but it isn’t near as structured as what you are talking about. We started with Narnia books, but lately have done Wonder and a Redwall book. For us it isn’t so much about the high quality literature as getting them excited to discuss books and read them. We started with me leading, asking discussion questions and talking about literary terms as they came up (for example, foreshadowing, allusions, etc). Then it morphed to each child coming up with discussion questions, and me just adding a couple in to highlight things I wanted them to think about or notice. They’re much more eager to do their own, though it means putting up with a few more “of you we’re going to Narnia and you could take anything you wanted” uestions, followed by a list of ridiculous weapons, than I find ideal. Once they all drew thier favorite characters (or themselves as a character if they were in the story, I can’t remember), which they really enjoyed. somewhere online there’s s list of discussion questions for any book that we also used. I haven't read Wonder, but I've seen it recommended alot. Do you think it would be good for 13-15 year olds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocky Posted March 31, 2019 Author Share Posted March 31, 2019 5 minutes ago, emba56 said: I do think the earlier discussion about literary terms when I was leading the discussion more did help lay a good foundation for the discussions we have now. It gave them a common vocabulary to talk about books with and an awareness of structure that might not have been there before, to help them think about the books more deeply. Thanks for this insight. I have until September to prepare so this is exactly the sort of thing I should be working on - thinking about how to give them the tools to discuss the reading, not just focusing on the fun part of picking things to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 9 minutes ago, Bocky said: I haven't read Wonder, but I've seen it recommended alot. Do you think it would be good for 13-15 year olds? Well, the main character is 5 th grade. Our teens are 13 and 14 (I think) and they did enjoy it, but I guess it depends on the teen. Maybe pre-read to help you decide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emba Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 Some of the viewpoint characters, however, are teens, not 5th graders and that might help bridge the gap for older readers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenecho Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 (edited) "Schooled" I think would make good fodder for discusion among homeschoolers (didn't read it all...I was substitute teaching and picked it up and read a few chapters...so definately preview). It featured a boy who was homeschooled (but not a normal homeschooler...lived in a hippie community), and some says it "stereotypes homeschoolers" but I think that's exactly why it would make for good discussion! It was funny and I think teens would enjoy it (picked it up in a middle school class I think...can't remember if the setting was middle school or high school). Lord of the Rings makes for great discussions, but it's a trilogy and long so maybe not best for a teen group. Is it a Christian group (since it's at a church, I wondered). Frank Perretti's books (Prophet, This Present Darkness, Visitation) make for great discussions. The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis is another one that would be great to discuss. Fahrenheit 451. I loved it as a teen and so did my son, and it's very discussable. The Hunger Games...violent but not glorifying of violent, and there's so much to discuss. I've got a whole page of discussion ideas here (and my son and I had some great discussions over it). https://wacomom.blogspot.com/2014/11/hunger-games-review-related.html Edited April 18, 2019 by goldenecho 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 4 hours ago, goldenecho said: "Schooled" I think would make good fodder for discusion among homeschoolers (didn't read it all...I was substitute teaching and picked it up and read a few chapters...so definately preview). It featured a boy who was homeschooled (but not a normal homeschooler...lived in a hippie community), and some says it "stereotypes homeschoolers" but I think that's exactly why it would make for good discussion! It was funny and I think teens would enjoy it (picked it up in a middle school class I think...can't remember if the setting was middle school or high school). That was a favorite here when my oldest was in 7th. I want to say the characters are set in 8th grade, because they're at the top of the school. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidlit Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Check out Teaching the Classics by Adam Andrews (applies to all books—LOL—not just classics). Rooted in Language is also a FANTASTIC resource and maybe more along the lines you’re looking for since it sounds like you want a little less structured. Bravewriter Boomerangs also might be a good resource. I’ve taught lit analysis (“disguised” as book club class) for the last several years using these resources with great success. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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