Idea of the Month - 2009
November
It's Turkey Time!
November just naturally brings up the thought of turkeys. So, encourage your readers to read a turkey this month.
First, each reader makes a body and head of a turkey. There are many ways to do this, including the "trace around the closed fist" technique. The idea is that every reader will have a turkey with a body and head, but no feathers. Then, during the month of November, everyone adds a colored feather to their turkeys for each book they read. Remind them to write the title of the book on each turkey "feather" added.
To encourage evaluation, develop a rating color-coding scheme for the feathers - e.g. red feather - really good; orange feather - pretty good; yellow feather - fair; blue feather - not so great. You could also use a color scheme for the feathers to determine the genre of the books read.
Of course, it is likely that readers will select a book or two that they perceive to be a real "turkey", not very good at all. Encourage someone else to read the "turkey" book to determine whether they agree that it deserves the turkey award. Discuss what makes a book a "turkey" in the minds of your readers. Use these "turkey" characteristics to help readers determine the specifics of books they do/do not like to read.
These ideas are intended to help readers share what they have read and enjoyed with other readers. Sometimes the strategies also help readers select the books they want to read next. They are easy to implement and appropriate for a variety of ages. You will find a new idea posted each month; some are appropriate for the particular month, most are appropriate at any time. Don't forget to look at ideas from previous months to help motivate your readers.