How to Host a Book Tasting in Your Classroom

With Read Across America Day coming up, it’s a great time to think about fun reading related activities to do in the classroom. Getting kids to read more and encouraging them to find new books to love is so important, and a book tasting is a fun and easy way to encourage kids to learn more about books they might not otherwise know about.

A book tasting can be done in a lot of different ways. My daughter’s class once did one where each group of kids read a “Who Was?” book and did a little report about it, so each table had biographical information about the person they learned about as well as the book they read.

You could have kids do “reports” on their favorite books, or have them choose a book from the library in a preferred genre that they haven’t read before to read and do a report on.

Or you can do genre tables and have kids (and/or the librarian if you don’t have a bunch of books in the classroom) bring in books they can then sort by genre and explore options they might not have heard of before.

Check out this post at Alyssa Teaches all about how to design a book tasting and how you can use it to teach kids how to determine if they’d like to read a book by scanning the cover, flipping through and reading a little. She also has printables you can use for your own book tasting.

[Photo: Alyssa Teaches.]

Remembrance Day (marked as Veterans Day in the United States) is Nov. 11, and it marks the end of hostilities in World War I. Poppies are a traditional symbol of the day because it is said they were the first flower to grow again on the battlefields, which inspired a famous poem. Let’s check out some poppy crafts you can make with your kids as part of a World War I unit or for Remembrance Day.

This pretty poppy craft from Krokotak just requires the printable, some crayons, scissors and glue. The printable includes the center of the flower and kids can draw the outside as well as adding stem.

Glued to My Crafts has a printable for a torn paper poppy, or you could color or paint this one as well.

Use torn or cut pieces of paper to make these poppy suncatchers from Red Ted Art.

Happy Hooligans has a bunch of great poppy crafts but I particularly like the painted rocks and easy paper plate poppy.

Crafty Morning has a cute poppy craft made with fingerprints, which is quick and easy to do with kids of any age.

Older kids and adults can make these folded paper poppies from Chica and Jo, but they do involve hot glue and floral wire, which can be sharp, so it’s not for young kids. An easier paper poppy that only calls for regular craft glue can be found at Sugar Spice and Glitter. This one also has a printable template to make it easier.

These felt poppies from One Little Project also use a glue gun and a sewing needle, but they’re so pretty I couldn’t resist sharing them for older kids. Add a pipe cleaner stem or turn them into pins to wear for remembrance events. Check out their coffee filter poppy craft for a great option for younger kids.

Have you read?

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