Book Speed Dating

I typically start the school year with a whole class read, but after reading 180 Days by Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle I decided to establish our independent reading for the first few weeks and then jump into the whole class novel later. That left me wondering what I can do to get the kids not just reading but excited about reading.

I had seen the blog posts about book tastings and book speed dating, so I decided to try it on my own. I headed to the local Dollar Tree and got some supplies to make it fancy and fun for cheap and got it set up. I got a vase and a fake flower bunch for each table along with a tablecloth. When I got to school and started setting up, I realized I could write the genre or format for each table on a note card and then paperclip it to the vase. As soon as the kids walked in the room, they were already excited for something different.

Set Up Tips

• Group books by genre or format. I had: verse novels, graphic novels, creative nonfiction, realistic fiction, historical fiction, dystopia, and mystery/thriller.
• Have more books at each table than chairs.
• Make sure there is plenty of variety in titles and authors.

In the classroom

We ran the speed dating in three phases.

1. First Impressions: Students had one minute to flip through all the books at the table, look at the covers, read the dust jackets, check out font size/white space, etc. I also asked students for a favorite love song and played one minute of it. (You’ll find out some interesting music preferences.) When the music stopped, they had to choose one book to take to the next phase.
2. The “Talking” Phase: My students are always talking about who is “talking” to who. It’s a newer dating phenomenon where you’re not actually dating, but you’re trying to figure out if dating would work… so we used this as the second phase of book speed dating. You had to choose one book from the table to read for 3 minutes. You could only read that book and you had to stick with it for 3 minutes to find out if it was “the one.” The irony of the “talking” phase in book speed dating is that it’s silent during those three minutes.
3. Match: If after the three minutes are up, they want to continue reading the book then it’s a match! Students write it on their list of books to read someday and then they find a new table to sit at. The process then starts over.

I created a presentation to go over these phases with the kids that is available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Odds and Ends

1. Students were not allowed to take books with them at the end of each period. They were allowed to email me or send me a message on Google Classroom to claim a book. I had a few request the same book, but I was able to find copies from other teachers or the school library for them.
2. I gave each student a Hershey kiss at the end of the period, so everyone’s date ended in a “kiss.” That got some awkward middle school laughs.
3. At the end of the day, I went through my emails and put a post-it with the name of the student who had claimed the book on the cover. I then stacked all the claimed books in one space and the unclaimed books in another. That allowed students who hadn’t taken the initiative to claim a book through email to have a space in the room to find a book they liked from the day before.

So far, it’s been the best start to independent reading in my classroom. There have been minimal moans and groans when it’s time to read because most students are reading something they love!