🗯️📚Graphic Novel Book Tasting

Another book tasting today in the library, this time for the Life Skills English classes! As these groups are small, we had a very personalized lesson and could spend as much or as little time as we needed talking about different pieces of the lesson.

Students brought their Chromebooks to the library so we could begin with a MackinVIA review. 

Then it was on to the tasting itself. Tables were set with a variety of graphic novels in the following categories: War, Sports, Fantasy, Memoir, and Adaptations.

The table signage was created using Gemini's image tool, and after a few different attempts at prompting, the images reflected the content of the books in a graphic novel style.

Students then listened to a short booktalk from each category and had time to browse the tables and bookcases for a graphic novel to check out for class. Every student came away from the activity with a graphic novel, and some students, who'd checked out first books in a series, were already talking about reading the sequels.

National Hispanic Heritage Month & Book Tasting

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 - October 15 annually, so this week, we hosted a special book tasting in the library to celebrate! Students had the chance to sample a variety of books, each showcasing Hispanic authors, characters, or historical figures. 

The selection included fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels, giving everyone a diverse range of genres and stories to explore. From narratives about identity and culture to historical accounts, these books offered something for every reader. 

The tasting sparked great conversations and curiosity, and many students left with new books in hand to continue their reading journey. What a fantastic way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!

Nonfiction Book Tasting

While we've hosted book tastings in the library before, we had a first-time request this week: Can you host a nonfiction books *only* book tasting? 

Of course we can!

After pulling several titles, commonalities began to emerge, like memoirs and biographies, sports-themed books, and narrative nonfiction titles. After putting all of the books together, broad categories became clear: memoir/biography, sports, military, narrative nonfiction, World War II/Holocaust, survival, and true crime. Using a template from earlier book tastings, we created table signs to help students move about the library to find a book.

Students in each class that visited would have time to browse the collected books as well as the nonfiction books on shelves. However, one teacher specifically requested book talks to accompany the activity, while another teacher preferred broad information about each category. In the end, nearly 65 nonfiction books were checked out!

If you're looking to host a nonfiction book tasting, you can use similar table signs that are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

Novels Class Book Tasting

Recently students in Novels class participated in a book tasting as a way to consider different genres and explore the digital offerings from MackinVIA.

After input and guidance from the Novels teacher, ten different groups for students emerged as categories to browse, with graphic novels included in many of them.

Each category included around ten books for students to look through and think about, and students had a notecard to fill in as they made their way from table to table.

Over the course of the class period, students had time to browse, read, and make notes about potential reads, with many students choosing books from the tables to check out, and others seeking read-alikes or other books from the shelves.

The Novels class is one that will visit the library throughout the semester for different activities and literacy-based work. Stay tuned for more!