Join educators from all over the state in the online Winter 2024 IRC Book Club!  Choose one, two, or all three book clubs!

 Beginning January 21, participants will be reading, reflecting on, and responding in the Shifting the Balance book club, the Illinois Reads book club, and/or the La enseñanza en el aula bilingüe book club during the seven-weeks of online discussions.   Participants who complete all assignments will be eligible to receive 15 PD clock hours for each book club.  Please note that all three book clubs will also be repeated during the Spring 2024 session.

For the Shifting the Balance book club, participants can choose either the K-2 or the 3-5 version. Shifting the Balance:  6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom (K-2) was written by Jan Burkins and Kari Yates and Shifting the Balance:  6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Upper Elementary Classroom (3-5) was written by Katie Egan Cunningham, Jan Burkins, and Kari Yates.  For the Illinois Reads book club, participants will be selecting books from one of the age bands of the 2024 Illinois Reads list to prepare lessons plans and activities. For Birth to 2nd Grade, participants will select a new book each week for a total of seven books; for 3rd to 5th Grade, participants will select three books; for 6th to 8th Grade, participants will select two books; and for 9th to 12th Grade or the Adult age band, participants will select one book.  For the La enseñanza en el aula bilingüe: Content, Language, and Biliteracy book club, the book was written in Spanish (and not translated to English) by Sandra Mercuri, Sandra Musanti, and Alma Rodriguez.  Thisbook club will be held completely in Spanish and provide a ton of ideas for bilingual teachers.

Required for participation:

• Gmail address (free at https://mail.google.com/).  The Book Club uses Google Classroom, which does not work with Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc.  
• Texts:  Books can be purchased from the bookseller of your choice.  

Register by January 15, 2024, to participate in the book clubs.  Registration is FREE for IRC Members.  The cost for non-members is $50, which includes IRC membership for one year.  PLEASE NOTE:  The cost of the books is not included.