Get Them Talking! Using Student-Led Book Talks in the Primary Grades

This teaching tip details one teacher's implementation of student-led book talks in her primary-grade classroom. The author describes a simple gradual-release method that she has successfully used with her students in order to get them talking about the books that they are reading independently. She found that when used in the readers' workshop model, student-led book talks not only help to create a vibrant reading community in which students discuss books and recommend them to one another but also help to develop students' oral language skills, which correlates well with the Common Core language arts standards for listening and speaking.