As teachers we are always pushing books on our kiddos. What better way than to hold a book tasting event in the beginning of the year!
Every year I hold a Book Tasting in class. I pass out invitations to the students informing them of the event. They are so excited. We spend two hours looking at about 65 books.
My colleague, who teaches 3rd grade, and I went in together on decor. I do my book tasting this month and she will do it next month. We decided to go with black and white so we can use the materials for other events too. We are trying to stretch our dollars. We got the table cloths, napkins, votive candles, and paper plates from Amazon. The pumpkins, trays, pencil pitchers, and book bins came from Hobby Lobby. Some of the stuff was 70% off.
I have also been collecting new books. I wanted as many new titles as I could get my hands on. I set up a wish list for my classroom on Amazon and some books were purchased by parents. I also pull some books from my class library.
Parents help serve bagels and hot chocolate to students during the event. I set the room like a restaurant and I am the server of books.
Students have a Daily Special on the table which gives the instructions for how to browse through the books. Students are able to look at the cover and read the back of the book. Then they will take a few minutes to read 3 – 5 pages of the story. Students also get a menu that they fill out. It has sections for students to delve into four books closely. They will write the titles, authors, why the stories interest them, and how they will use these books – for literature circles, book clubs, or personal reading. I make it specific to my reading portfolios I do with my class. Students also have a place to just list other books they might be interested in too.
Needless to say, I have perfect attendance on that day and quite a few complements from parents. The students really have a great time! If you are able to create this in your classroom, I think you will find it worth your wild. I plan on doing again in January or February for non-fiction texts.
I do have a product for this activity at:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Book-Tasting-4769484
Karen
