Book Talk: Creating Excitement About Reading

A book talk is a fun and interactive way to introduce new books to your class and generate enthusiastic discussion. A book talk is a great activity not only for the student who is presenting but also for their peers who are listening and learning about a variety of books. Introduce book talk in your classroom and get your students excited about reading!

Table of Contents

• What is a book talk?
• Benefits of a book talk for your class
• How to introduce a book talk into your classroom
• steps to introduce book talk to your class
• Guidelines for Students
• Presentation tips
• Book Talk FAQs

What is a book talk?

A book talk is an activity used in many classrooms of all ages to generate excitement and discussion around books. It involves students giving a short (2-3 minute) presentation to the class about a book they have enjoyed. 

A book talk is not designed to be a formal book report but is a more relaxed presentation. The idea is to ignite interest in the book amongst other students, by describing what they enjoyed most about the book. A good book talk should encourage other students to read the book in question.

Benefits of a book talk for your class

The great thing about a book talk is that it benefits the entire class, not only the student who is presenting at the time. It exposes the students to a wide variety of genres and authors that they may not previously have been familiar with. A book talk can be the equivalent of a movie trailer, inspiring students to try an unfamiliar category of book. 

The whole process of discussing books will also generate excitement for reading within the classroom. As Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer said “Readers enjoy talking about books almost as much as they like reading.” 

The informal nature of the book talk will increase literacy skills without students even realizing it, and they will find this much less daunting than being sent to the library to choose a book from the hundreds available to them. 

Several transferable skills will also be developed during this activity, including speaking skills when presenting, and listening skills when others are talking. 

How to introduce a book talk into your classroom

If you have never done a book talk before with your class, the best way to introduce it will be to demonstrate one yourself based on a book you enjoy.  This way, the students will be able to easily understand the format and replicate it with their own books. 

Watch this example from Ashley Strausser for inspiration, or share it with your class.

Try This Fun Twist

For something a bit different which will amuse your class, as well as help them to think critically, why not try demonstrating a bad example of a book talk? Show no enthusiasm, mumble while staring at the ground, and of course, make sure to give away the ending!  Pupils can write a critique of your ‘terrible talk’ and you could even use this to come up with a class set of guidelines like the ones below.

steps to introduce book talk to your class

1. Provide the class with a suggested reading list, such as this one from readbrightly.com. Don’t limit them to the provided list though, if they have a book of their own that they are passionate about, allow them to choose their own. 
   
   
2. If you wish, you could set a theme for one of the book talks. You could choose a seasonal theme such as summer or celebrate a particular event you are discussing in class. This will encourage students to move even further out of their comfort zone when choosing a book.
   
   
3. As well as demonstrating a book talk yourself, you may wish to invite a guest in to talk about their favorite book. Having another member of staff give a different perspective may help the students to prepare their own presentations.
   
   
4. As a starter activity, you could ask students to work in groups and suggest books to their peers that they have read in the past and have enjoyed. Pupils are more likely to respond to recommendations from their peers than their teachers and this will lead to them feeling validated when their classmates take notice of their suggestions.
   

Guidelines for Students

Choose a book that you really love. Your passion for your book will come across in your presentation and keep the audience engaged.

Your book talk should consist of three main sections:

Hook – Grab the audience’s attention! Make sure they are hooked from the start by including a quote or fact that will generate interest and make them want to keep listening for more! Have a look at the blurb on the back cover of your book; this is used to encourage people to buy the book, so it may give you some ideas.

Content – Share the content of the book. Provide information about the plot of the book, but be sure not to spoil the main points! Share the most compelling points of the story and what makes you like the story so much. Can you think of any other books which are similar that your classmates may have read?

Show them the book. Bring along a copy of the book to show the class. You could also use any other props which may be appropriate to help convey the storyline. 

Cliffhanger – Keep them wanting more! End your book talk with a cliffhanger which will make the rest of the students want to find out more by reading the book themselves. Make sure you don’t spoil the ending though!

Presentation tips

Give your class tips on making their presentation as engaging as possible. These could include:

• Keep it short and sweet! The idea is to give a quick snapshot of the book and leave them wanting more!
• Try to encourage pupils not to read directly from a card or memorize their talk. If they know their book well, they can talk from the heart, using their notes as a prompt. Other students are more likely to be engaged in this way. 
• Pupils should try to ask questions of other pupils in the class to encourage an interactive discussion. They could start their talk by asking if anyone else has read their book. 

To make organizing a book talk with your class much easier, we have the perfect resource for you. Download our Book Talk Presentation Guide to take the hassle out of planning your book talk. It contains step-by-step instructions for pupils to follow, a self/peer assessment activity to help them plan, and a teacher’s marking rubric if you wish to assess the talks.

Join teachsimple.com for free today to gain access to this and thousands of other fantastic teaching resources.

Book Talk FAQs