10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

You've been all over the web. You've searched every book club site you can think of, but you can't find a reading guide with discussion questions. Not a good sign-especially because it's your turn to lead the book club discussion. So now what do you do?

10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

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10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

First thing-don't panic. Second-keep in mind that book club reading guides are fAirly new to the trade: publishers began issuing them with any regularity about 10 years ago, maybe less. So B.G. (before guides), book clubs actually had to figure out how to lead their own discussions. Yikes.

But even if you can't find a specific reading guide for your title, things still aren't as stringent as they were back then. Now you can find Generic Book Club Questions-like the set listed below. These 10 questions are designed for any novel and will generate rich, lively book club discussions.
How did you experience the book? It's not always helpful to talk about whether or not you liked the book, but rather how you felt as you were reading it? Were you pulled effortlessly into the book...or did you have difficulty getting into it? Why? Did you find yourself amused, intrigued, enthralled, disturbed, fearful, irritated, angered, or impatient? Are the characters convincing-do they come across as believable human beings with underlying motivations? Are they fully developed as emotionally complex individuals? Or are they one-diMensional, with little emphasis on their inner lives? Which characters do you admire or dislike-and why? What are their primary characteristics; how would you describe them? In what ways do the characters interact with others-a parent with children; a husband with his wife; a friend with friend. What motivates the actions of a given character? To what degree does the character's past play a role in her present actions? Are those actions justified or ethical? Do any characters grow or change over the course of the novel? Does any character come to learn something about himself or view the world differently? If so, what does she learn? Or is the character "static," unchanging from beginning to end? What is the central conflict of the plot? Is the conflict internal to the character (a psychological conflict)? Or is it external, having to do with character vs. character? Character vs. society? Character vs. nature? (Most novels have a combination of both internal and external conflict.) Is the novel plot-driven? In other words, does the plot unfold quickly, focusing more on action than on the inner lives of the characters? Which do you prefer? Is the plot well-developed? Is it believable...or is it forced? Is it suspenseful or more contemplative? Does it unfold naturally, or do you feel manipulated along the way by coincidences, odd plot twists, or cliffhangers? Is the ending satisfying? Predictable or not? Does is wrap up the ends neatly? Is it too neat, too pat? Does it leave some issues unresolved, questions unanswered? If you could change the ending, would you...if so, how would you change it? What central ideas might the author be exploring-the novel's themes? Consider ideas about the nature of love, the requireMents of goodness, the meaning of justice, the burden of the past...basic human issues that are at stake in the book.At times I think generic book discussion questions are better than the ones issued by the publishers. Those read too much like a nasty pop quiz. I can't answer the questions-sometimes they're too specific, too precise. In fact, I'm not sure anyone can answer them, except the author...and even then I'm not sure.
The generic book questions, on the other hand, are more open-ended and depend to a larger degree on the experience of the readers. And because of their broader nature, I think they get to the heart of a novel more effectively than the pre-packaged versions.
So the answer to the question above-what do you do when you can't find specific discussion questions for your title-is to relax. Use generic questions and you'll do just fine. In fact, you-and your book club-will do brilliantly!

10 Generic Book Club Questions to Jump Start Your Discussion

The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading

Knowing sight words is one of the basic building blocks when learning how to read. A sight word is a word that children can read readily without having to sound it out. Sight words also are generally phonetically irregular and used with high frequency in most publications. To lay a foundation for learning how to read it is imperative to introduce sight words to children. This bolsters their confidence until they become more able to read the written word. Definitive research that involved using sight words for reading instruction purposes supports this method. These studies were based on the premise that the English language is made up of some 500,000 words and only about 200 are utilized with regularity in printed text. Edward B. Fry and Edward William Dolch composed practical lists which today are still used and highly respected by both teachers and parents.

The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading

The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading

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The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading

The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading

Dolch, who has a PhD, published a study in the 1940s that transformed the method used for teaching reading. He wrote about his theory in a book Problems in Reading and explained that children who can identify a certain core group of words by sight could easily learn to not only read but also comprehend better. Dolch methodically composed this list containing some 95 nouns and 220 service words. He studied English text, with a focus on children's reading books, and selected words to include in his list. When a young child learns the sight words, she or he becomes a more proficient reader in less time than other learn to read methods.

Then Fry (who has a PhD too) in 1996 expanded on Dolch's research and published a book titled 1,000 Instant Words. This book is a compilation of the most common of the sight words and the list is arranged so that the most frequently used ones are given precedence. His research found that a mere 25 words (these words are listed on top) make up approximately one third of all items published. He discovered that one hundred words comprise approximately one half of all the publications written. Fry's list was composed based on these facts, as he worked to inspire young children to commit to memory these sight words to jump-start the reading process.

Both Men understood how children should learn to read. Through repeated exposure to these regularly used sight words, many of which are phonically irregular, new readers learn to recognize them upon sight. This streamlines the learning to read process, allowing certain high frequency words to be recognized instantly, then the child need only to phonetically sound out new words seen in the text.

The Fry and Dolch lists are arranged by levels of advancing difficulty. Dolch's list of sight words was designed to be thoroughly learned and mastered by the 3rd grade. Fry's list, on the other hand, was separated into grade levels specifically for the first 6 grades. Today, however, many educators are pushing students to know most, if not all, of the Dolch list by the first grade and Fry's list by the fourth grade.

Children can have an enjoyable time learning the Dolch and Fry words. Parents and educators use various methods to assist new readers instantly recognize sight words. One such approach is incorporating repetitive exposure to these common words into Computer or board games. This can be a particularly effective method since it is likely to capture and retain a child's attention.

The Dolch and Fry Sight Words Lists Jump-Start the Road to Reading