G4–6 Book Club (Independent): Evidence & Discussion

Who this level is for

This is the next level for a child who can now read easy chapter books on their own. If that's still hard, your child starts in G1–3 Book Club.

At the Critical level, students in Grade 7 and up critique fiction and nonfiction and write research papers. See all Book Club levels

What changes when your child moves up from Developing to Independent

G1–3 Developing

Reads easy chapter books
Answers questions about the plot and context
Summarizes the plot and says or writes how they felt

G4–6 Independent

Reads fiction and nonfiction with harder vocabulary and more complex events
Comes up with their own questions about social studies, science, and history topics in the book
Writes and debates opinions backed by evidence from the book

Debating and writing about the book

Your child writes in English using evidence from the book plus information they look up on their own.

What your child practices
Debate from different viewpoints
How it works
Looks at the book's themes from several angles and states their own position with reasons.
What your child practices
Recheck the evidence
How it works
Checks with the instructor whether the evidence they picked supports their interpretation.
What your child practices
Get written corrections and rewrite
How it works
Fixes sentences and wording based on the instructor's corrections, then rewrites.

Sample Book Club lesson: reading Restart, step by step

In Gordon Korman's Restart, the main character loses his memory and changes as he discovers who he used to be.

Step: 1Activity: Watch a TED talk and discuss
At this step, your child: Watches a TED talk related to the book's theme and talks about the background knowledge needed to read it.
Step: 2Activity: Learn the words
At this step, your child: Learns key words from the book with their meanings and example sentences, then memorizes and writes them.
Step: 3Activity: Book introduction
At this step, your child: Learns about the author, the genres (Humor, Social Commentary), and the story's setting.
Step: 4Activity: Meet the characters
At this step, your child: Finds out who is in the story and what role each character plays.
Step: 5Activity: Read the book
At this step, your child: Spends 30 minutes of class time reading the book.
Step: 6Activity: Put events in order
At this step, your child: Works with the instructor to put events in the order they happened, and fills in anything they didn't catch.
Step: 7Activity: Analysis
At this step, your child: Traces how the main character changes and the conflicts he faces, works out what memory loss, injury, and kindness stand for, and spots foreshadowing.
Step: 8Activity: Conclusion and book review
At this step, your child: Sums up the main ideas and questions, then writes a book review with a star rating and a favorite scene.
Step: 9Activity: Follow-up assignment
At this step, your child: After class, records their interpretation in Cornell notes (a page divided into sections), worksheets, and mind maps.

Restart analysis sheet titled Story Analysis, with four sections written in English: Character Development, Conflict and Tension, Symbolism and Key moments, and Foreshadowing — Step 7, analysis: notes in English on how the character changes, the types of conflict, symbolic scenes, and foreshadowing

Restart book review sheet with four of five stars filled in and, under Favorite Part, the scene Chase Helping Brendan with the Video Project and the reason for choosing it, written in English — Step 8, book review: a star rating plus a favorite scene and why, written in English

Book reviews and assignments show how well your child reads

We look at which parts of the book your child points to as evidence when answering questions, and whether they can put their own interpretation into writing.

Book reviews and follow-up assignments are collected in a portfolio, and we send you the instructor's comments and assessment results. See how parents get progress updates