Middle School Book Clubs on The Constitution

For Trimester 1 my humanities classes are focused reading and unpacking the US Constitution. As a part of the curriculum, students are reading literature based on their interests in small groups, or book clubs; the selections that the students can choose from are based on their connections parts of the The Constitution and its amendments. The American Library Association was a great starting point as I developed a list of books appropriate for 7th and 8th graders on this theme. I narrowed down my list to the following choices:





Nothing but the Truth by Avi

Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

Return to Sender by Julia Alvares

To develop interest and choose their books, students were divided into groups of six, and each student was responsible for researching a certain title and then giving a short book talk to the rest of their group. After the book talks, students expressed interest in their top three titles on a Google form, and I later formed groups of 3 or 4 students based on their expressed interests and book habits.

During the first meeting in their book clubs, students were accountable for developing a documenting a reading plan, which would allow them to make steady progress in their text over the next six weeks, with meetings to discuss the text once per week. Book club meetings are best when structured with specific focus themes and activities from the teacher, while still leaving wiggle to account for the differences in the titles. I look forward to seeing the connections my students can make between The Constitution and these literary representations.