Tips for starting a high school book club?

[Aspasia]

I'm wanting to organize a book club for high school students so they can discuss great works of literature together. I've gone back and forth on whether I want it to be primarily fun and social vs. academic (which would affect our book selection and the tone of our meetings), and I think I've landed on prioritizing academic discussion...but casually and with plenty of chill and opportunities to socialize and have fun.  I've also gone back and forth on having the kids take turns leading the discussions vs. me being the main facilitator, and I think I've landed on me facilitating. I have an MA in English, so I feel comfortable with it from that standpoint, and I guess just going back to where I landed on the focus of the group, I want to make sure the discussions are academically productive. I'm thinking each month I'll present maybe 3 books for the kids to vote on for the next read. 

My questions are, has anyone done this with their teens? What worked well and what didn't? What am I failing to consider? What are your thoughts on my preliminary plans? I'm not married to any of the tentative conclusions I've reached. Very open to feedback and insight from others. 

TIA!

Edited August 26, 2021 by Aspasia

[daijobu]

I actually think you've done an excellent job already of thinking everything through.  

For others who are just getting starting organizing group learning activities I recommend:

• Be relentlessly focused on the needs of your student.  No democracy with other parents' input.  If you are doing all the work, then you decide what it's going to look like, and let everyone else decide if they want to join you.  (Sounds like you have this covered.)
• Post a list of books in advance so everyone is clear on what will be read.  (Not everyone agrees on what is high school level or what is appropriate.)
• Are there multiple copies of the books at the library?  Do you want to include the cost of books in your tuition?
• Do you have a plan for sick days?  

But honestly, it looks like you are off to a great start!  

[Lori D.]

Sounds fun! I would just suggest taking an informal poll first and find out what the interest in a high school book club would be.

re: number of participants
I have found that I need a minimum of 5 students to get any actual discussion, and 8 students is the sweet spot. At 10 students, the quiet ones start shutting down, and at 12 students, simple group dynamics takes over, and few people want to talk -- plus that starts becoming a difficult amount of students to manage from a classroom standpoint.

re: interest level of participants
Also, you'll want to know if the kids are natural readers and WANT to do this -- or if parent is just wanting to drop off their non-reader in hopes something will rub off on them. Having more than one non-reader in a group kills discussion when it is a small group (say, 5-6 students). You also have to decide how you're going to handle that. If this is informal, then some students (mostly non-readers) may just not read. Then you have a black hole in your group that you have to work around for discussion. 😩 So, I guess that boils down to: vet your participating families. 😉

re: book choice
"...discuss great works of literature together..." and "...I want to make sure the discussions are academically productive..." sounds like this is tilting more towards a formal literature class. On the other hand, "... I'm thinking each month I'll present maybe 3 books for the kids to vote on for the next read..." sounds more like a book club.

Most of the book club lit. selections I see tend to be YA titles on contemporary topics, while "great works of literature" tends to be titles in a formal curricula or program. I have a hard time picturing presenting the option of: Hamlet, Jane Eyre, or The Iliad (choice of 3 great works of literature), and having students jump for joy at their choices. 😉 

Not at all trying to dismiss your idea! Knowing your students and knowing your families will help you know how to gear your book club. For me, by making my literature offerings into a formal class, I get to do a fun mix of both discussion able YA, classics, short stories, etc. -- and provide info so that the discussions are academically productive AND we still have fun. 😉 
________________

Totally just my experience with the homeschoolers local to me, and I run a formal credit class, not an informal book club:

I would not have had enough families willing/able to take time out of their busy schedules for the non-credit activity of high school book club. Middle school or upper elementary grades, yes. High school, no. By high school, all the families I know are either doing so much lit. already that they don't have time for an informal (i.e. no-credit) book club, OR, the parent desperately needs to outsource a full English credit in some way, so they need me to do both Lit. AND Writing.

So, I made the books I was interested in covering into a formal English credit class (Lit. + Writing) at our homeschool group's co-op. I do require a class fee, mostly so that parents will have some "skin in the game" and make sure that their students read the works and do the weekly go-along lesson, so that we can actually HAVE discussion. 😉 

re: costs
Will you to rent a room at a facility, or pay insurance for use of a room at a facility? Or do you have access to a free facility? Running it out of your home can be a lot of wear and tear on furniture and carpet. And you also have to take into consideration the schedules and needs of other family members. Or will you be able to "piggyback" with a homeschool co-op and use a room for free, or for a small fee, and your book club would be another offering at the co-op?

Also, what about book fees? The fee I charge covers my expenses and provides a tiny amount for the MANY hours I put into developing the weekly lessons and in scoring/giving feedback on the writing assignments. Books are the responsibility of families, and are extra/on top of my class fee. I often pick up a second copy at the used book store to loan to a family in tight financial need, and try and provide ideas of how to get books cheaply.

re: drop off, or a parent stay?
Currently, I run classes as part of our homeschool group's co-op, which requires parents to stay on site, BUT, there are classes available for all ages, and a playground for younger siblings, and a room for parents/siblings to do schoolwork while students are in my class. Several times I was running the class all on my own, either at my church or in my home, and I ran it as drop-off because I had no place for parents/other siblings to be. BUT, I always had a second adult there for "2-deep".

Speaking of which, I see in your signature that you have 3 younger children. What will they do during this time? If you're at a co-op facility, then that's great -- they can have their own classes. If you're doing this out of your home... wellll... I'd probably be dropping the younger 3 at grandma's (or have one of the homeschool moms take them to play with her kids)... 😉 

re: "2-deep"
Also, I ALWAYS make sure we have a "2-deep" policy (always 2 adults present with one or more student, and no students alone together). I have worked with foster kids and that is the standard policy. And it just makes so much sense in our accuse-others/sue-happy society to make sure that *I* have that protection *ANY* time I'm working with *ANY* kids. Also, in the case of a student having a medical emergency, the 2-deep policy means I have another adult there to assist with group management and in dealing with the emergency.

How to get that 2nd adult? The first year, I tried requiring parents to take turns volunteering, but since so many had younger kids, they just couldn't work it out. Now I have a system of providing a discount on the class fee, so parents "work" as my class aide for X number of weeks and get X amount off of the class fee. Everyone wins -- I get my "2-deep" parents, and parents get to feel good about working for their discount.

re: how long to run?
Attention span and having something to talk about seems to vary with the particular group of students -- I've had years where 20 minutes was the limit and students had nothing else to say after that. Other years, with a different set of students, they could talk for 75 minutes straight, and be surprised when time was up. 

I've settled on the following for my formal classes: 90 minutes total; 50-55 minutes for literature (about 10 minutes is teaching info: background info/lit. topic/lit. element, and 5 minutes of some sort of activity to put that topic into practice), and then about 40 minutes for discussion. The weekly lesson has discussion question ideas in it for them to think about to help springboard discussion in class, but also to keep everyone on topic (i.e. discuss the book, not random non-book topics -- they can do that in the socialize time 😉 ). We take a 5-10 minute break, and then the last 35-40 minutes is me teaching writing.

Edited August 27, 2021 by Lori D.

[Aspasia]

4 hours ago, daijobu said:

I actually think you've done an excellent job already of thinking everything through.  

For others who are just getting starting organizing group learning activities I recommend:

• Be relentlessly focused on the needs of your student.  No democracy with other parents' input.  If you are doing all the work, then you decide what it's going to look like, and let everyone else decide if they want to join you.  (Sounds like you have this covered.)
• Post a list of books in advance so everyone is clear on what will be read.  (Not everyone agrees on what is high school level or what is appropriate.)
• Are there multiple copies of the books at the library?  Do you want to include the cost of books in your tuition?
• Do you have a plan for sick days?  

But honestly, it looks like you are off to a great start!  

I TOTALLY agree. I've learned over the years not to try to take everyone's opinion into account when planning activities. You can't ever meet everyone's needs/requests, and after you've asked for them and then not prioritized them, people feel like they lost something they never actually had. Plus, in situations like those, the group makes decisions like an iceberg. Every single detail becomes a major hold-up. 

Good call on posting a list of the books. I was thinking I might need to do that upfront, just so everyone knows what they're getting into.

[Aspasia]

2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Sounds fun! I would just suggest taking an informal poll first and find out what the interest in a high school book club would be.

re: number of participants
I have found that I need a minimum of 5 students to get any actual discussion, and 8 students is the sweet spot. At 10 students, the quiet ones start shutting down, and at 12 students, simple group dynamics takes over, and few people want to talk -- plus that starts becoming a difficult amount of students to manage from a classroom standpoint.

re: interest level of participants
Also, you'll want to know if the kids are natural readers and WANT to do this -- or if parent is just wanting to drop off their non-reader in hopes something will rub off on them. Having more than one non-reader in a group kills discussion when it is a small group (say, 5-6 students). You also have to decide how you're going to handle that. If this is informal, then some students (mostly non-readers) may just not read. Then you have a black hole in your group that you have to work around for discussion. 😩 So, I guess that boils down to: vet your participating families. 😉

re: book choice
"...discuss great works of literature together..." and "...I want to make sure the discussions are academically productive..." sounds like this is tilting more towards a formal literature class. On the other hand, "... I'm thinking each month I'll present maybe 3 books for the kids to vote on for the next read..." sounds more like a book club.

Most of the book club lit. selections I see tend to be YA titles on contemporary topics, while "great works of literature" tends to be titles in a formal curricula or program. I have a hard time picturing presenting the option of: Hamlet, Jane Eyre, or The Iliad (choice of 3 great works of literature), and having students jump for joy at their choices. 😉 

Not at all trying to dismiss your idea! Knowing your students and knowing your families will help you know how to gear your book club. For me, by making my literature offerings into a formal class, I get to do a fun mix of both discussion able YA, classics, short stories, etc. -- and provide info so that the discussions are academically productive AND we still have fun. 😉 
________________

Totally just my experience with the homeschoolers local to me, and I run a formal credit class, not an informal book club:

I would not have had enough families willing/able to take time out of their busy schedules for the non-credit activity of high school book club. Middle school or upper elementary grades, yes. High school, no. By high school, all the families I know are either doing so much lit. already that they don't have time for an informal (i.e. no-credit) book club, OR, the parent desperately needs to outsource a full English credit in some way, so they need me to do both Lit. AND Writing.

So, I made the books I was interested in covering into a formal English credit class (Lit. + Writing) at our homeschool group's co-op. I do require a class fee, mostly so that parents will have some "skin in the game" and make sure that their students read the works and do the weekly go-along lesson, so that we can actually HAVE discussion. 😉 

re: costs
Will you to rent a room at a facility, or pay insurance for use of a room at a facility? Or do you have access to a free facility? Running it out of your home can be a lot of wear and tear on furniture and carpet. And you also have to take into consideration the schedules and needs of other family members. Or will you be able to "piggyback" with a homeschool co-op and use a room for free, or for a small fee, and your book club would be another offering at the co-op?

Also, what about book fees? The fee I charge covers my expenses and provides a tiny amount for the MANY hours I put into developing the weekly lessons and in scoring/giving feedback on the writing assignments. Books are the responsibility of families, and are extra/on top of my class fee. I often pick up a second copy at the used book store to loan to a family in tight financial need, and try and provide ideas of how to get books cheaply.

re: drop off, or a parent stay?
Currently, I run classes as part of our homeschool group's co-op, which requires parents to stay on site, BUT, there are classes available for all ages, and a playground for younger siblings, and a room for parents/siblings to do schoolwork while students are in my class. Several times I was running the class all on my own, either at my church or in my home, and I ran it as drop-off because I had no place for parents/other siblings to be. BUT, I always had a second adult there for "2-deep".

Speaking of which, I see in your signature that you have 3 younger children. What will they do during this time? If you're at a co-op facility, then that's great -- they can have their own classes. If you're doing this out of your home... wellll... I'd probably be dropping the younger 3 at grandma's (or have one of the homeschool moms take them to play with her kids)... 😉 

re: "2-deep"
Also, I ALWAYS make sure we have a "2-deep" policy (always 2 adults present with one or more student, and no students alone together). I have worked with foster kids and that is the standard policy. And it just makes so much sense in our accuse-others/sue-happy society to make sure that *I* have that protection *ANY* time I'm working with *ANY* kids. Also, in the case of a student having a medical emergency, the 2-deep policy means I have another adult there to assist with group management and in dealing with the emergency.

How to get that 2nd adult? The first year, I tried requiring parents to take turns volunteering, but since so many had younger kids, they just couldn't work it out. Now I have a system of providing a discount on the class fee, so parents "work" as my class aide for X number of weeks and get X amount off of the class fee. Everyone wins -- I get my "2-deep" parents, and parents get to feel good about working for their discount.

re: how long to run?
Attention span and having something to talk about seems to vary with the particular group of students -- I've had years where 20 minutes was the limit and students had nothing else to say after that. Other years, with a different set of students, they could talk for 75 minutes straight, and be surprised when time was up. 

I've settled on the following for my formal classes: 90 minutes total; 50-55 minutes for literature (about 10 minutes is teaching info: background info/lit. topic/lit. element, and 5 minutes of some sort of activity to put that topic into practice), and then about 40 minutes for discussion. The weekly lesson has discussion question ideas in it for them to think about to help springboard discussion in class, but also to keep everyone on topic (i.e. discuss the book, not random non-book topics -- they can do that in the socialize time 😉 ). We take a 5-10 minute break, and then the last 35-40 minutes is me teaching writing.

Wow, wow, wow. Thank you so much for all of these details! 

I actually hate YA literature almost universally (with some exceptions) and I'm not interested in getting into contemporary teen identity issues in this group, which seems to be the focus of most YA lit. It's just too hot-button and I don't want to touch it. I guess I was hoping that with voting, they'd look up the books and decide between, say, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Something Wicked This Way Comes for October's read. But you're right that it might be a pipe dream. 

That's a good idea on the 2-deep issue. Hmmm....I need to think through that. 

So many good things to consider. Thank you so very much. 🙏

[Lori D.]

54 minutes ago, Aspasia said:

Wow, wow, wow. Thank you so much for all of these details! 

I actually hate YA literature almost universally (with some exceptions) and I'm not interested in getting into contemporary teen identity issues in this group, which seems to be the focus of most YA lit. It's just too hot-button and I don't want to touch it. I guess I was hoping that with voting, they'd look up the books and decide between, say, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Something Wicked This Way Comes for October's read. But you're right that it might be a pipe dream. 

That's a good idea on the 2-deep issue. Hmmm....I need to think through that. 

So many good things to consider. Thank you so very much. 🙏

Well, they might be thrilled with that particular "Halloween-y" set of choices -- it REALLY depends on the students. 😉 So again, advance knowledge of the particular students is incredibly helpful. 

BTW -- you have good taste! 😄 I've done Something Wicked... 2x now in my class that covers classic Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Speculative fiction and it was enjoyed universally. So, maybe YOU just pick the list and don't worry about offering choices...? Brave Writer does that each year with their Arrow and Boomerang book club online classes.

Also, short stories are very fun. Maybe once or twice in the year you could do 2 short stories for a meeting and compare. (That requires some advance thinking about what would work well to discuss in tandem... 😉 )