Wacky Wednesday Book Discussion (3rd & 4th graders)

We hosted our first 3rd and 4th grade book discussion this afternoon and it went very well!  We read Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford and I was surprised when all 17 kids had read the book!  They were also excited to discuss the book and I think it helped when the first question I asked was, “Did you like the book?” and let them know it was ok not to like it.  I told them that you’re not going to love every book you read, but even the few (mainly boys) who didn’t love it still participated.  I think the kids could easily relate to Moxy and her desire to put off her homework for as long as possible.  We spent about 45 minutes talking about the book, answering some trivia questions, and discussing a little vocabulary because even though Moxy is on a third and fourth grade reading level – there were a number of big vocabulary words that we matched to their meaning  as a group.

The kids were very interested in telling me their opinions, were (for the most part) very respectful of each other as they talked, and had some really good points that even I had thought about.  I’m really excited it went so well because this was the first time we offered a book discussion for the younger kids and parents and kids alike have given me positive reviews.  We’re going to be doing one more book discussion this summer – Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom by Eric Wight, and may even continue offering this program during school breaks.