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Reading Across Cultures: A Multicultural Book Club

  • Jun 30
  • 4 min read

Kari Boettler, Robinson School, Aurora, MO

 

Intro

The goal of this project was to start an after-school book club for 4th-grade English Learner (EL) students. Through the book club, students had opportunities to read multicultural picture books, learn new vocabulary, and participate in discussions about the stories. Students were encouraged to share their ideas and make connections using both English and their home language. The overall goal was to increase reading engagement, support literacy skills, and build a love of reading.

 

The books selected for the book club were chosen because they represented a variety of cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Some of the books represented the students’ own cultures, experiences and languages. Others introduced new views, cultures, and experiences that were different from their own. The combination of books, discussions, and activities helped students connect with what they were reading and gave them opportunities to learn about other cultures.

 

Each book took two book club meetings to complete. The first session focused on vocabulary and making predictions about the story. The second session focused on reading and discussing the text. During the discussions, students revisited their predictions, shared their thoughts, and made connections to their own lives and experiences. Students utilized translanguaging skills during discussions. The discussions helped build confidence as students learned from each other.

 

Research supports using culturally relevant literature with multilingual learners. When students are able to see themselves and familiar experiences in texts, they become more engaged and are better able to make connections that support comprehension and deeper thinking (Christ & Cho, 2021; Giroir et al., 2015; Kibler & Chapman, 2018). As students read and discussed multicultural books, they had opportunities to build vocabulary, strengthen their reading skills, and develop an understanding of different cultures and experiences. The goal was that students would leave the book club with stronger literacy skills, greater confidence as readers, and a greater interest in reading.

 


Step-by-Step Plan

Step 1: Send out invitations to 4th-grade EL students

  • Send home invitations for parent permission

  • Take inventory of students, home languages and cultures

Step 2: Order Materials

  • Multicultural Picture Books

  • Craft/Activity items

Step 3: Start Book Club

Students complete a survey (one at the beginning and one at the end)

  • Students will change groups weekly

  • Students will use translanguaging skills during discussions

  • Students will meet on Tuesdays and discuss new vocabulary and make predictions

  • Students will meet on Thursdays to read the book and hold discussions

  • Students will choose a book at the end of the book club sessions and create a movie poster to share

 

Timeline

January

  • Order supplies

  • Give survey

February-May

  • Continue book club

  • Observe student participation

  • Give ending survey

  • Complete projects

 

Budget and Materials


 

Sustainability

This project can continue every year. The books can be reused and new books can be added to the collection. When the books are not being used in book club, they could be checked out to classroom teachers for read-alouds. The project can be expanded to include other grade levels as well.

 

Reflections

The goal of this project was to increase reading engagement, support literacy skills, and build a love of reading. Each week, the students became more comfortable with the routine and with one another. They became more confident during discussions and more willing to share their thoughts and connections to the stories. I would recommend this project to other teachers of multilingual learners because it helps students develop literacy skills, learn about themselves and other cultures, and get excited about reading.

 

One challenge was that spending two book club meetings on each book took more time than I had originally planned. This limited the number of books we were able to read. This issue can be addressed by starting the book club earlier in the school year. Overall, this project gave multilingual learners an opportunity to engage with multicultural literature, build confidence in sharing their ideas and connections, and develop a greater interest in reading.

 

References

Christ, T., & Cho, H. (2021). Sharing power in readalouds with emergent bilingual students. The Reading Teacher, 7(3), 269–278. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27361764 

 

Giroir, S., Grimaldo, L. R., Vaughn, S., Roberts, G. (2015, May). Interactive readalouds for English learners in the elementary grades. The Reading Teacher, 68(8), 639–648. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24574776 

 

Kibler, K., & Chapman, L. A. (2019, May). Six tips for using culturally relevant texts in diverse classrooms. The Reading Teacher, 7(6). https://www.jstor.org/stable/26801676 

 

The Show Me Multiliteracy project disseminates best practices to school teams and develops educators' capacity to support emerging multilingual students' literacy development in both English and their home languages.

© 2020 Show Me Multiliteracy

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