Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

 

Lesson: Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover
Subject: Reading	Date/Time Period: 1 Class Period
Objective(s):  1.4 Learning Environments: The learning environments encourage positive social interaction and the curation and creation of knowledge. 3.1 Reading Engagement: Strategies to foster learner motivation to read for learning, personal growth, and enjoyment.
Plan/Procedure: Preparation required ahead of time - pull 20-40 books and wrap them in colored paper hiding any detail of what the book actually is. On the cover of the colored paper, tape or paste a copy of the synopsis from the back of the book, a select few reviews, or even just the first line of the story. As students enter the library, have these books on display throughout several tables. Have a quick mini-lesson/chat with students about missing the opportunity to read a good book just because the cover was not appealing to you. Explain how the old phrase “Don’t Judge a Book by its 0Cover” can actually refer literally to books and not just people.  Allow students about 10-15 minutes to browse the covers and begin making some decisions about what they would want to read. Encourage discussion among the students and float around to help promote more questions about the reviews or the synopsis (help encourage those reluctant readers that like to stick to one genre). After about 15 minutes, have students decide their top picks and begin heading to check out. Allow students to tear off the covers at the check-out counter and watch for reactions. Encourage students to read their checked-out book and offer suggestions to write a review after they read the book.