This spring, students in grades 4-7 participated in a book club for The Emerald Atlas(Books of Beginning) by John Stephens.  We began this class by creating group discussion rules that were agreed upon by all students that revolved around respecting others. After our initial meeting, one discussion leader was assigned (with student volunteers) per class meeting to help guide and ultimately lead the discussion for that day.  As we focused on reading the book, students were then asked to reflect upon each chapter by asking a question, highlighting an important event that occurred, or making a prediction. Students were very enthusiastic about sharing their ideas during group discussions and often built upon each other’s ideas. This was a student-based and student taught class that worked successfully with open discussions opposed to raising hands. As a finishing up activity, students shared their reflections from the book along with self-reflections about what they learned and what skills they mastered from our book club.