How do we have good book discussions?

I like having a plan in place -- a suggestion about how to start the conversation.

Otherwise, one of two things happen:
1. Awkward silence + awkward staring
2. Talking about random topics (such as the Steelers game, nails, some random YouTube video, anything BUT the book)

Here are our tips for high quality group discussions:

• Commit to actually talking about the book.
• Listen to the other people in your group; this is an important sign of respect. Don't be that person who zones out and then repeats a big point three minutes after it's been made.
• Share your own thoughts instead of just sitting there -- we want to hear what you have to say.
• Decide what you need to get done by the end of the discussion.
• Go back to the book/evidence so you know what you're talking about. Don't fake it.

Here's OUR plan to get our conversations started, before we get in to discussing our summer reading questions.

Start with "Alphabet Soup" (an activity I took from the Litlovers website). First think as a group how you want to divide up the task!

Here are two processes we tried for this task in first block :
1. Find a starting point (like start at "A") and then be ready to change course if you start to think of other things
-OR-
2. Fill in the most obvious letters first, then once your brain is warmed up, go back and fill in the others