Laura Milligan has published a new article ‘How to Set Up a Virtual Book Club for Students’ on Edutopia.
Milligan says, “For a long while, I’ve held a deep belief that reading, both solitary and communal, has an impact on who we are and how we interact with the world. No matter the students’ ages, or whether they’re in a small group setting or a large seminar discussion, conversations about books tend to turn into conversations about being human.
When schools moved to a distance learning model in March 2020, I immediately began running virtual book clubs for students of all ages, and students that I teach signed up right away. Because of word of mouth and social media, soon I had book groups for children of all ages and children from all over the country. The impetus for the reading groups is my belief that a sense of belonging supports a student’s social and emotional health, and book clubs provide connection in myriad ways.
Just as I do for my traditional classes, I bring a lesson plan to the online book chat. And, just as I would during my in-person classes, I always anticipate that my plans will change”.