McClellan
5th Grade Book Club Promotes
Reading in Fun, Interesting Way
est Jefferson Hills
WE ST J E FFE RS ON H IL L S S C HO OL D I ST RIC T NE WS – M CCLE LLAN E LE M E N TARY SC HOOL
BY CELESTE FARISON, FIFTH GRADE TEACHER,
AND LISA MARCHELETA, SECOND GRADE TEACHER,
MCCLELLAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Mrs.
Marcheleta’s
second
grade class
discusses
“The One
and Only
Ivan” in class
A new tradition has begun at McClellan
Elementary School — the 5th Grade Book Club.
This concept was conceived last year by second
grade teacher, Mrs. Lisa Marcheleta. Marcheleta
was looking for a way to reconnect with some of
her former students before they left to go to the
middle school. As an avid reader, she decided to
form a book club for interested fifth graders.
Mrs. Marcheleta collaborated with the fifth
grade reading teacher, Mrs. Celeste Farison,
and Mrs. Laura Gilchrist, the school librarian,
for book suggestions. The first selection was a
moving best-seller: “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio. This
is the story of a 10-year-old boy born with facial
deformities who enrolls in a public school for the
first time. After giving students several weeks to
read the book, Mrs. Marcheleta and Mrs. Farison
held their first book club meeting. There were
about thirty students who had read and
enjoyed the book, and the discussion was
insightful and lively.
During the second semester of the 2012-2013
school year, the teachers decided to choose a
new genre for their growing book club: science
fiction and fantasy. Jeanne DuPrau’s “The City of
Ember” was a perfect selection. Mrs. Marcheleta
and Mrs. Farison wanted to choose a book that
was part of a series so that the students could get
started on their Pleasant Hills Middle School’s 25
44 West Jefferson Hills
Book Challenge over the summer. The book club
meeting for this book also had an added surprise,
where students got to view the movie adaptation
of the book. After a comparison between the
book and movie, the students were encouraged
to continue reading the remaining three books in
the series, which many of them did.
Over the summer, the McClellan 5th Grade
Book Club was very fortunate to receive a
generous donation to help purchase new
books over the next few years to add to their
lending library. Thanks to the 5th grade class of
2013, the teachers have been able to purchase
several copies of this year’s selections, Katherine
Applegate’s “The One and Only Ivan” and Sharon
Draper’s “Out of My Mind.”
The students recently completed the book
talk for “The One and Only Ivan.” This Newbery
Medal winning book was chosen for its simple
and moving story which is told through the
perspective of a captive gorilla.“I liked how the
author allowed the reader to really picture the
settings and feel the emotions of the characters,”
said fifth grader, Grant Gonot.
Both Mrs. Marcheleta and Mrs. Farison hope to
continue the book club for many years to come.
They encourage everyone to add these novels to
their summer reading lists. Some of the very best
books out there are actually written for children.