With the high school valuing choice reading for all students, Student book talks have become a staple in the English department. All incoming freshmen are introduced to them in Pre-Advanced Placement (AP) English-9, but each book talk varies for a multitude of reasons.
Student book talks are when a student shares with the class about a book they are either currently reading or feel passionate about. A typical book talk shares the title, author, genre, and why they decided to read the book. The purpose of this is for the other students in the class to get an idea of what the book is about and inspire them to possibly read in the future. Out of the five freshmen English teachers, each one has different expectations for how students will complete book talks.
Pre-AP English-9 teacher Kate Schafer prefers the use of technology as a way to schedule student book talks. Schafer has been using Decide Now throughout her teaching career. The students must prepare a book talk early, and then deliver their book talk when the virtual spinning wheel lands on their name.
“I use it so everyone has to be ready to go with one day’s notice. I also don’t want to get blamed for picking people or forcing people to sign up,” Schafer said. “I would rather have you guys blame the artificial intelligence of the app than me.”
When the wheel lands on a student’s name, they are expected to stand in front of the class and read from a paper that has all of the information needed in a book talk. Schafer prefers Decide Now over using a calendar and slideshow presentation because it is easier for both the teacher and the student.
“Just getting up and speaking that’s what I would rather do. I think it’s faster,” Schafer said.
Pre-AP English-9 teachers Drew Wenger and Anna Reynolds do their book talks similarly. Both teachers prefer using a calendar spreadsheet over spinning a wheel at random. They choose this method because they can monitor the students’ work.
“This is my first time doing it this way, it’s been successful because it gives kids choice and agency to pick their date,” Reynold said. “It also creates just enough pressure for them because they have to commit to a date. It is also just easier for me to monitor and keep track of.”
Additionally, when doing student book talks, Reynolds requires a slideshow presentation with information about the book.
“I list all of the days and they [the students] will put their names, which is helpful since they have to do a presentation,” Reynolds said. “They can link their slide on the spreadsheet.”
Wenger finds his students prefer a spreadsheet method over other choices for scheduling book talks.
“We [as a class] like to do it with an Excel sheet. If you sign up for a day you’re locked in for that day,” Wenger said.
Despite the set schedule, Wenger offers a little bit of flexibility to his students. He understands that things come up and is offering to arrange things differently.
“It acts as an active document where I can adjust easily if students need to reschedule a book talk to due missing school or another reason,” Wenger said. “I find that to be the biggest benefit.”
While other Pre-AP English-9 teachers use technology to schedule book talks, Megan Porter and Kaley Obney prefer to use a paper calendar for students to sign up.
“Students can visually see what dates have already been taken by other students each month,” Porter said. “I just tape the calendars to my whiteboard so they can check there.”
Instead of taping the calendar to the wall, Obney passes it from student to student.
“I pass around a calendar so they get to choose when they’re going to do it,” Obney said.
When Porter and Obney schedule book talks so far in the future, it may be possible for students to forget when their book talk is, but the trade-off is it gives students ample time to prepare.
“They have a lot of time to mentally prepare before they have to go,” Obney said. “Some of them want to get it over with and others are like ‘Where’s the last month?’”
Since Porter and Obney use a paper calendar, they need an alternative in order to access their students’ presentations.
“They just need to share their Google Slide with me before their Book Talk presentation,” Porter said. “It’s easier for me to just check my email and pull it up that way over logging into Canvas.”
Obney has her students email their presentations to her beforehand so she can organize them all in one document.
“They email me the slide and then I put [it] into my slide deck once they have it,” Obney said.
So while all teachers are required to have students do book talks in their English curriculum, they each put their own personal twist on the assignment.
“I think it’s really dependent on style like each teacher. We all agree to do book talks but what’s interesting is that it’s a way for us to show our unique perspective to our kids,” Reynolds said. “It’s just our opportunity to really show who we are as individuals and what our teaching styles are.”
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