Book Club at Sit Beside
A learning experience for 3rd-5th grade readers to apply reading strategies, make connections to themselves, their world, and other texts through lively and thoughtful discussion.
Ready to see your child’s eyes light up when you ask them about what they’re reading?
Maybe one of these sounds familiar…
Your child LOVES to read, and you know they would flourish in a community with other learners who share the same passion.
Reading doesn’t necessarily excite your child but an environment that’s geared toward creativity and exploration could pique their interest and spark their curiosity.
Your child loves collaborating with others and would enjoy the opportunity to read a book collectively alongside their peers.
Fostering your child's passion for reading is more than a daily reading routine or meeting a page number requirement.
If readers are going to be invested in the world of knowledge that’s waiting for them between the covers of a book, they need…
👉🏼 A purpose to read that captivates their attention and activates critical thinking
👉🏼 A structure to help them make deeper connections and champion their reading development
👉🏼 A community with other learners where they can have a shared reading experience
Here’s where we come in to support your child at Sit Beside…
Book Club focuses on nurturing a love of reading while providing opportunities to apply and develop reading comprehension skills.
Building a community of readers who share book recommendations and highlight authors or series they love is a goal of Book Club. Through lively conversation readers practice summarizing, formulating questions and constructing answers for an authentic audience, their peers!
Our reading instruction is informed by Science of Reading research. We recognize the role phonemic awareness, phonics instruction and decoding plays when growing a reader’s skills and abilities. Likewise, building oral reading fluency, expanding vocabulary knowledge, and practicing reading comprehension across genres are all components of our reading support.
To round out our Book Club experience, readers engage in a shared reading experience that provides practice opportunities for reading comprehension. Individuals apply reading comprehension skills with engaging texts ranging from cultural short stories to nonfiction to chapters from beloved books.
Book Club at Sit Beside emphasizes…
Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
We will engage our phonemic awareness and phonics knowledge while manipulating sounds and letters as we complete Word Ladders, a learning task requiring us to replace, omit, and substitute letter sounds to transform one word into another.
Comprehension Monitoring Strategies
Readers will practice activating prior knowledge, generating questions to check for understanding, and referring back to the text to clarify their understanding and gather evidence to support their thinking.
Building a Community of Readers
Time is set aside each meeting to engage in sharing with the group about our current reads. Readers summarize, ask questions, draw similarities between story lines, and recommend new series to their peers to help foster a community of readers.
Fluency Practice
Readers will have the opportunity to develop their reading fluency by hearing fluent reading modeled by Ms.Hannah, engaging in repeated readings and instruction on fluent reading strategies.
“Ms. Hannah thinks outside the box and provides lots of opportunities for intellectual exploration.”
“More than anything, we wanted to help our son nurture a love of learning. We knew our son would need a teacher who thinks outside the box and provided lots of opportunities for intellectual exploration. And that’s exactly what we got when we started working with Ms. Hannah. She created an environment where kids felt safe to stretch and grow and tumble and fall and get up and keep on going. Bo came home excited every day and could not wait to tell us about what he’d learned. Our son’s confidence in his learning has only increased, thanks to Ms. Hannah.”
- Tyler Crumley, Parent
Each Book Club includes...
Weekly Meetings
Each of our meetings will incorporate phonics skills, vocabulary development, fluency practice, and a shared reading experience.
A Science of Reading Approach
Each meeting incorporates learning activities that apply phonics skills, develop reading fluency, expand vocabulary knowledge, and practice reading comprehension.
Immediate Feedback on Reading
Opportunities for your child to hear fluent reading modeled by Ms. Hannah and a safe environment to practice their oral reading skills while receiving immediate feedback and support with their decoding and phrasing.
Weekly Updates About What Your Child Is Learning
Get weekly updates from Ms. Hannah about what your child learned that week and suggestions for how they can use the strategies we’re practicing to support their independent reading.
Summer 2024 Schedule
Book Club
When: June 5 - August 14
Schedule: Wednesdays 10:15-11:15
Ages: 3rd and 4th Grades
Location: R&R @ Homestead
Address: 5001 Byers Ave Fort Worth, TX 76107
“I knew my daughter was getting everything she needed academically to challenge her and encourage her creativity and curiosity.”
I was concerned whether my daughter’s struggles with social-emotional growth would hinder her academic growth and achievement. Ms. Hannah provided much-needed support to help me in identifying my child’s biggest challenges and help her navigate those challenges toward opportunities for success. I knew my daughter was getting everything she needed academically to challenge her and encourage her creativity and curiosity - but equally important - I knew she had someone in her corner, someone who wanted her to shine and be the best version of herself. Ms. Hannah has this perfect balance of fairness, firmness, and joyfulness. She changed our lives for the better - the impact goes way beyond one year - it will be lifelong.
- Autumn Radle, Parent
I’ve watched readers grow in confidence and in their love of reading and begin to view the world with new eyes.
That is my goal for Sit Beside Book Clubs - to create a reading community where learners experience intrigue and curiosity as they befriend new characters and make connections with the world around them. Whether your child is an avid reader and devours every book they come in contact with or only really reads for school-related assignments, there’s a place for them to have fun and grow in our book clubs.
Hi, I’m Jennifer!
Learning Support Specialist and Owner of Sit Beside
Growing up, reading was something I did in class to answer questions, not ever for enjoyment. It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned how much fun it was to get lost in a book and discover new worlds.
I’ve had the privilege of leading book clubs in my 3rd-5th grade multi-age classrooms for over a decade of my teaching career. It has always been a cherished moment of the day for my students to explore a different world and interact with the characters we’d come to know as friends.
“Ms. Hannah will give your child an experience that will make them want to learn and grow and come back for more!”
After only a few weeks of teaching our son, Jennifer realized that something was holding him back from getting his work done, and he was easily distracted. After getting our son tested for ADHD, Jennifer was more than willing to try new teaching methods and accommodate his needs as we learned them. She has the innate ability to see a child’s strengths and weaknesses, but she doesn’t let those weaknesses hold a child back. She cares deeply about children and their education and will give your child an experience that will make them want to learn and grow and come back for more!
- Sarah Klaus, Parent
Frequently Asked Questions about Book Club
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Book Club is for the reader who hasn’t yet fallen in love with reading. For the reader who is still finding their way through more complex text structures, and for the reader who is needs support building the fluency and comprehension skills when reading on grade level books.
It’s also for the reader who would benefit from additional word study and vocabulary development in an engaging and purposeful way, and for the reader who is looking to expand their reading genres.
It’s for the reader who enjoys reading about different people, cultures, and ways of being in the world, and for the reader who is curious about the world around them!
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Book club is designed for 3rd-5th graders who have an independent reading level of third grade or higher.
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Book clubs offer a context for learners to
👉🏼 build confidence in their reading ability,
👉🏼 practice social-emotional skills as they learn alongside their peers, and
👉🏼 develop their ability to empathize with others as they learn from the perspectives of book characters.
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This program is designed to serve all unique learning profiles including learners with dyscalculia, dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, Auditory Processing Disorder, etc. It’s also led by Jennifer Hannah, owner and learning support specialist at Sit Beside, who has extensive experience through both her graduate work and teaching background in working with children who have learning differences.
Every session is provided in a small group setting and includes flexible pacing combined with a structured routine. Your child will get the accommodations they need so that they are able to make progress and have fun at the same time. We want all learners to feel supported and set up for success! If you have any questions, contact Jennifer to find out if this program would be a good fit for your child.
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When you sign up for this program, you are committing to attend the full duration. However, if you feel that this program is not a good fit, please reach out to Ms. Hannah at jennifer@sitbeside.com.
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Yes! Readers usually reread beloved books. There is always something more to learn when you are reading a book a second time. Also, the group dynamic will bring out new ideas for your child. It will be as if they are reading the book for the first time.
Want more information about Book Club at Sit Beside?
Schedule a free consultation call to get more information and find out if this program would be a good fit for your child.
Ready to invest in your child’s passion for reading?
Sign your child up for Book Club today!