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Should I Use Book Clubs in the Science Classroom?

When I think of book clubs, I more often than not think of language arts classes exclusively reading classic literature such as The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men. When it comes to science classrooms I never think of reading as a part of the curriculum unless it has to do with textbooks, lab reports, or other traditional sources used in science classrooms. It wasn’t until this month that I realized that reading fiction (not science fiction) books that have strong elements of science would be incredibly beneficial for my classroom to build literacy skills, science skills, and potentially interest in both subjects. This got me thinking about what books would be good in the classroom that is both interesting for the students and informational with accurate scientific content. I found this list of books created by the American Library Association for elementary and middle school classrooms that are broken down by content areas within science as well as appropriate grade levels to help give me an idea of what I could assign my future students. Subjects range from earth science to chemistry to medicine and showcase a lot of common science curriculum nationwide. Each recommended book also has a short synopsis to explain how it relates to its categorizes content area as well as briefly explains the plot - though I would obviously read it before assigning it. I think it would be really beneficial for new teachers to pull science-related literature from as well as offer a starting point for what constitutes good literature in a science classroom. (word count: 261)

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