Book Ballots
Now it is time to choose your first “read” of the collection. On a ballot, everyone writes his/her 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice. This activity will get everyone started in a high-interest book with the expectation that the opportunity to read all of the choices will come along in time. Balloting is best done before a break, as during the break, you, the teacher, can designate titles based on the ballot choices. Choice seems to be a very important factor for maintaining interest and ownership in learning. Everyone in the classroom should now experience a declared time for reading. For longer books, permit a twenty-four hour change-your-mind-time for someone who needs to make another choice. That is an option we all should have. A variation to this may be offering invitations to join a literature circle with a formal invitation. 
Literature Study Contracts
If you are reading a longer book and will have several opportunities to meet with a group to talk about your reading, a “literature study contract” will commit everyone to be prepared by discussion time. Don’t forget to go over “ground rules” for literature discussions.
Discovering Connections
If your group is reading different titles, give a two-minute book-blurb of your story. After everyone has shared, consider all the elements these stories have in common. How do they connect? Invite the group spokesperson to share with the whole class. Choose one of the books presented in the connection circle which interests you (that you haven’t read) and read. Compare and contrast with the first choice. A Venn diagram works well for this one.
Connection Mapping
A variation of “Discovering Connections”, each group is reading the same text and brainstorms connections they made with the book. Other groups are reading similar themed books and do the same. Each group brings their connections to a larger piece of butcher paper and glues it in place with title and author present. The teacher/ facilitator helps the whole group to see what connections each of these books have with each other. This gives students an opportunity to learn about other books in the themed collection, while making connections with the books and the theme.
Grand Champions
Which books deserve to be in the winner’s circle due to popular opinion? In your small groups, appoint a recorder to remove the pencil (a special pencil, pen or marker) from the “consensus cup” and write the title only after the group has reached a consensus.
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