Students who participated in the Fudge Book Club read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, by Judy Blume. This is the first in a series of books featuring Fudge, a toddler, and his older brother, Peter. Fudge’s mischief-making always causes problems for Peter.

Students prepared for each week’s book discussion by reading the assigned chapter and taking some notes about it. Their notes consisted of listing any new characters, changes in the setting, and at least a couple of interesting words from the chapter. The words might be new to the student, relate specifically to an event in the chapter, or they might just be words the student likes. Students also prepared a discussion question for each chapter. When we met to discuss a chapter, their notes became helpful prompts as needed.

After finishing reading the book, the students each wrote a paragraph telling about their favorite part of the book. They also told something they learned from the book.