Biography Book Talks

Every Tuesday afternoon we discuss books--the books we've read, are reading, and sometimes the ones we love. We make text-to-text connections,text-to-person connections, and genre comparisons. We share our letters about our reading.

This month we are discussing the bravery of women like Helen Keller and Amelia Earhart, the relationship of brothers Ronde and Tiki Barber, the writing of the Bronte sisters, and the art of Roy Lichtenstein. We also discussed the similarities in the biography writing format.

We sit facing each other, making eye contact, working on really listening and paying attention to the words that are being shared by our partner. We are also learning good tools of communication.

"When books are read and swapped, passed from one child to another, interpreted and reinterpreted, all with the highly charged social fabric of a classroom, the books take on added resonance," Lucy Calkins, Founding Director of the Teachers College REading and Writing Project (Columbia University).