Comprehension Right from the Start: How to Organize and Manage Book Clubs for Young Readers.

Donna Marriott. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002. 179 pp. $19.50. As part of a school-restructuring initiative, the author designed a multiyear, multiage program for children (in kindergarten through grade 2). For the reading segment, she set aside a two-hour block daily for a literacy workshop covering book clubs and literacy centers. Clubs ranged in size from three to five members, and were selected by the teacher on the basis of the children's abilities, skills, and knowledge. As the number of clubs grew to four, for example, each had about 30 minutes daily with the teacher.

The book clubs followed a similar weekly course of study: Day One, or Introducing the Study, included supporting schema, supporting learning with poetry (some of which had been written by the author herself), previewing the book, doing the first read, and writing literature logs. Day Two covered Skills/Strategy study and rereading. Day Three (or Literacy Discussion) involved literature logs (as a strategy for prethinking), strategies for crafting questions, and strategies for modeling and facilitating good talk. Writing About Reading fell on Day Four, while Day Five consisted of a Celebration of Learning with a final read, retelling, and projects (which in themselves constituted an evolutionary process concerned with meaningful efforts that could be shared). In addition to the structured five-day course, time was allocated four days a week before lunch for a Writer's Workshop, and after lunch for a Reader's Workshop.

The book clubs were the core of learning in the literacy workshop, with the next layer covering independent reading/writing. This, in turn, led to the layer of skills/strategy, culminating in publishing. The last layer was literacy centers, most of which were related to the book club experience.

The author's intent--to create lifelong learners and readers--was surely met through this carefully detailed literacy program that constituted the bulk of each day's instructional time. Obviously, the key component was a concerned professional experienced in teaching young children and willing to implement new strategies to help them become literate school beginners. Reviewed by Mildred R. Donoghue, Professor of Education and Reading, California State University Fullerton