Teacher Tip: What Makes a Good Book Talk?

Think of a book talk as a brief commercial for a book. You might prepare for your book talk by jotting a few notes on a sticky note to remind you of the essential points you want to make. Remember, commercials are short, punchy advertisements. A book talk will take only one or two minutes. A good book talk might involve:

• Talking about the title and author.
• Showing the cover and some of the illustrations.
• Reading aloud the lead or a particularly interesting or exciting part of the book.
• Connecting the book to the students' lives.
• Posing questions.
• Giving a brief synopsis of the book.
• Connecting the book to other books the students like.
• Telling a little about the plot or about one character.
• Sharing your own response to the book.

From Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Copyright (c) 2001 by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell. Published by Heinemann.