Mrs. Whalen hosted her first Book Tasting Party on Wednesday, February 14. Students in her language arts class, grades 5 and 6, engaged in “tasting” new novels. Each student has the opportunity to read and familiarize themselves with new books across a variety of genres.
The classroom was transformed into a small Paris cafe. Students were given menus so that they could record their observations, and to also make comments about the books. After ten minutes at a table the students rotated to the next table and “tasted” more selections.
Please enjoy some of the students reflections.
“What I enjoyed about the book tasting was that we got to try so many books and learn more about everything. It was also very fun. I liked a lot of the books I tasted. I loved being introduced to new books and now I can read them.” -Aishwarya, grade 5
“I enjoyed going table to table tasting different books. I liked the book, A Night Divided. The Who, What, Where series surprised me. I really liked it because I found out I like a lot of new series.”
– Riddhima, grade 5
“ I enjoyed the books and the heart candies. I thought the book, The Other Side of the Island, was something I would not like, but I did. Another book that surprised me was, Pugs and Kisses.”
Venisha, grade 5
“ I enjoyed reading the book, Ugly. When I saw the book, I didn’t like the cover. I read the last page and got interested.”
– James, grade 5
“It was fun and interesting to take a “taste” of the books which helped me find some books I might want to read. I also enjoyed discussing the books as a group.”
– Vivaan, grade 6
“ I enjoyed the fact that we could learn about books before reading them, so we could evaluate them. I think the book, A Night Divided surprised me, because I loved it. I like being introduced to new books in this book cafe way.”
– Arnav, grade 6
“What I enjoyed about the book tasting is that I got to know that I do like many types of books. Some of the books I didn’t expect to like , I liked. The book that was interesting to me was Perfect Score. I really liked the idea of being introduced to new books.”
– Sunay, grade 6
“I enjoyed the many different books and the style of reading and tasting them. I liked many realistic fiction books I have never liked before. The most surprising and interesting thing was going through the many books. It made me think about all the choices that I have.”
– Berika, grade 6
