Thing 44 - Social Reading

Social Reading

Social reading has opened up my world of reading! I love being part of the #2jennsbookclub and #yearofya, it has broadened my reading habits and I have picked up books from genres I usually pass over. 

  2 Jenns Bookclub is moderated by Jenn LeGarde and Jennifer Northrup each season participants get to nominate books for the virtual bookclub. The top 10 are chosen and then voted on with a Google Form to determine the titles we are going to read. There were 6 titles this season. We meet every month on a Thursday at 8:00 p.m. to tweet. The club starts off with a 140 character booktalk and the questions begin. Ideas, books and thought are shared. The discussions are student centered. The hour flies by! 

Two of my favorite take aways,  are the playlist to go along with the book that is created on Spotify and the idea of a reading journal. I now keep a journal of the books I read - it started on paper and has progressed to a Rocket Notebook that is reusable and allows me, with a picture from my phone, to upload my notes, thoughts and quotes to the Google Cloud. Love it!

Year of YA is moderated by Mollee Brandon and Tavia Clark. I found this bookclub by being a part of the 2 Jenns Bookclub. Year of YA focuses on themes - each month a theme is given and you have the freedom to choose books that fit the theme. This month we are reading award winners, last month it was memoirs. The bookclub takes place on Tuesdays at 8:00 and is run the same way 2 Jenns Bookclub is run. Again, the time flies by! 

Both bookclubs, as said earlier, have helped me to stop judging books by the cover, broadened my PLNs and I talk to people from all over the world about YA books - it doesn't get better than this! The virtual book clubs have also helped me to better use and understand Twitter. The first one I participated in, I felt like a bit of a stalker, because I hung in the background watching and "listening." Now I jump right in. I would highly recommend getting involved in a virtual book club.

Social reading ideas;

Goodreads, I have started my Goodreads account from scratch. While I am not writing reviews yet, I am keeping track of all my 2018 reads and listens. I have a widget on this blog and my website showing how many books I have read toward my 75 book challenge for 2018.

Email Signature, includes books that I have read and I am currently reading. Each time I send an email, people get to check out what and how much I have read which brings me to....

When Adults Don't Read Kids Lose - 12 tips to help educators develop their own rich and authentic reading lives by Jennifer LeGarde (#2jennsbookclub) and Todd Nesloney.  Check out the link - there is a great PDF that can be printed and shared with staff. I copied the PDF, laminated it and put it around the building - on the copy machine, in bathrooms and break rooms. Get your staff reading!

My laynard and door to the library has a picture of the book I am currently reading - let kids see you as readers!!!

I also checked out the International Digital Children's Library which gives student's free access to digital books from all over the world. The goal of the organization is to give students access to books from their culture in their mother tongue.