Sunday, December 5, 2021

Host a Book Tasting This Holiday Season!

What English teacher doesn’t want to expand their students’ appetite with a Buffet of Books? Now you can sharpen their palates by hosting a Book Tasting! This activity has a great ROI with very little out of pocket expense. Your students will love sampling juicy reads in a short amount of time as the critique different authors, genres, and themes.




1) Create a Reading Restaurant: Your Reading Restaurant can be anything from a “red gravy joint” or five-star restaurant. The important thing is to set the stage and have a quiet place for students to taste (or read). Create a simple ambiance with tablecloths and place mats. Kick it up a notch with flower vases, battery-operated votives, a roaring fireplace video, finger snacks, and after-dinner mints. Feeling eccentric? Dress up in an apron and chef’s hat!


2) Pull books. Decide which books you want students to taste. It can be a totally random selection or you can organize by genre, author, theme, diverse characters, award-winners, etc. You’re the literature chef - so you decide the menu.


3) Establish Directions: Allow students about ten minutes to taste their book and take notes on their menu or note-catcher. Ring a bell or chime to let them know they are to rotate books, seats, or tables. Repeat the process as time allows.


4) At the end of the tasting, student rank their top three books, complete Book Tasting activity packet, share their best dish (or book), and check out their favorite, which you can pack up in a To-Go bag!


What a delectable literary feast!  Merry Reading!  



Click for more Book Tasting Ideas and Resources!