Reading Group Discussion Guide

A great way to get young readers — and their adult drivers! — into the bookstore is to create a book club for kids. You can choose to start a children’s-only book club or a parent-child club. Poll some of your regular customers to see which idea is more popular. Although parents love the idea of being in a book club with their child, they often find it difficult to get the reading done.

Once that decision is made, decide on an age range and advertise the first meeting in the store and in your newsletter. You might decide to send a notice out to teachers at your local school, but be aware of the limitations of your meeting space. You don't want to turn people away for lack of chairs!

Keeping in mind that actual age doesn't always reflect reading ability, use an age range in your invitations. Students from ages 9-12 might have similar abilities and interests, which is key. All the readers in the group ned to be able to read the selection without a struggle. You can also choose to advertise each upcoming meeting so that if a customer who is not participating regularly has read that month's selection, he or she could join in the discussion.

At the beginning of the meeting, have each reader give — quickly — his or her opinion about the book. By “forcing” each participant to speak at the beginning of a meeting, they will instantly become more relaxed. As they get to know each other better over a couple of meetings, their ideas will flow more freely and they will be less shy with their opinions. Of source, there will always be one participant who tries to dominate the conversation, which is when the adult monitor must step in carefully to be sure the meeting doesn't become a platform for a particular participant.

The following series of questions can be used to spark discussion of Blaze of Silver . Read the book, put out some snacks, and sit back and listen— you may be surprised at the in-depth discussion that follows.

Reading Guide
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