Education Commons^™

Building Excitement For Reading And Building New Friendships: Using Book Bistro With Pre-Service Teachers And Middle School Students, Erinn Bentley

Georgia Journal of Literacy

This article describes a collaborative Book Bistro event between middle school students and pre-service English educators. Book Bistro is a strategy that promotes independent reading by gathering students in a café-like setting to discuss texts and perceptions through casual conversations. The purpose of this collaborative Bistro was two-fold: 1) To spark middle school students’ interest in self-selecting texts and engaging in independent reading, and 2) To allow pre-service teachers the opportunity to practice this strategy within an actual classroom. Responses from both the students and pre-service teachers indicated that this event positively impacted their interest toward reading and their relationships …