Would you care for a taste of a realistic fiction book? Or, do you have the appetite for a fantasy book or a biography? Maybe you’d just love a bite of a graphic novel or historical fiction.
Fourth graders entered their classrooms on Wednesday afternoon to find that their learning spaces had been transformed by their teachers to look like restaurants. Why? It was the annual Book Tasting event! With Book Tasting menus, placemats, and bookmarks set about the tables, they were ready to indulge in some delicious book genres, those familiar and those new to each student.
All around the room were tables adorned with red and white checkered tablecloths, each prepped to serve up a different genre of reading for the students to sift through. Each table included one of the following genres: realistic fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, biographies, and graphic novels. Along with a sign that indicated the genre for the table was a large stack of books ready to satisfy any cravings in that classification of reading. Students spent the afternoon “tasting” the different genres of books by looking at the backs to read the synopses. At the same time, they generated a list of books from different genres that they’d like to read. The literary tasting was complete with hot chocolate and cookies.
“The hope is that students will have a few books to read over the break and a list of books they’d like to read when we return,” explains Jen VanDyken, Fourth Grade Homeroom Teacher. “All semester, we’ve discussed different genres of books. With the books being divided by genre on the tables, it helps students notice and choose books that maybe they haven’t seen before.”
Happy reading to our fourth graders over break and beyond! We hope this event whets their palates to interest them in a variety of books, and we can’t wait to see what new genres they digest next!