At the end of March 2021 I gave a talk at ELT Ireland’s ELTed (Education and Development) event. I discussed using book clubs for young learners in classes as a way of getting them to experience and feel the language through something that was much more enjoyable than coursebooks – we started a book club.

Below I have provided the video of the recording from ELT Ireland.

You can view the other talks at this link.

Talk abstract –

In the private English language sector, washback is a prevalent and sometimes very negative aspect of teaching – teachers can be required to teach to exams rather than the language. The creation of book clubs for Young Learners, in this case 8-12 year olds, using graded readers after introducing storytelling sections of classes has been tried and tested. It has been found through extensive reading, not only has the revision of grammar, vocabulary and use of the language become much more natural for students, it has also skyrocketed their enjoyment and excitement for the language itself.

I would highly recommend book clubs with graded readers for young learners, please do let me know if you use them and how you get on!