Bookspark was created by BookTrust to support shared reading sessions that boost students’ enjoyment of books. We spoke to Dónall, a secondary school Senior Teacher, about the impact he’s seen it have on students, and how he uses it with Bookbuzz.
Dónall Dochartaigh is a Senior Teacher atGaelcholáiste Dhoire school in the town of Dungiven, Northern Ireland.
He is passionate about nurturing the school’s culture of reading for pleasure and ensuring students have access to a variety of books to choose from.
“The challenge is, we’re a new school,” he says. “We don’t have a school library. If we ask students to bring in a book to read, some of them aren’t going to – because they either don’t have one, can’t afford one, or don’t want to bring one.
Several times each week, a teacher at Gaelcholáiste Dhoire hosts out-of-classroom lessons for students identified as needing extra support with literacy.
“When Bookspark came along, we saw an opportunity to use the programme as part of our literacy support – we purchased it primarily with those students in mind,” says Dónall. “The programme lends itself perfectly to this smaller group reading format, with the class sets of six books and resources to go with them.”
Bookspark: relevant books that students will enjoy reading out loud together
Bookspark is a programme of 40 books and supporting resources created by BookTrust to help schools inspire their Key Stage 3 students to build their enjoyment of books through shared reading experiences.
Five of the expertly chosen Bookspark books (with a new selection each school year) are packaged up as group reading sets, with lots of scope for discussion and activities, led by the guidance in the supporting resources.
Also included are ten additional Bookspark titles – relevant, modern fiction and non-fiction reads that will appeal to a wide range of interests and reading levels – all ideal for paired reading and reading aloud, as well as for engaging reluctant readers.
“One of our students is really enjoying his Bookspark book, Echostar by Melinda Salisbury,” says Dónall. “He said it took him a while to find a book he actually wanted to read. Before, he didn’t ever read at home, but now, he does.
“He also says he enjoys coming into school just to read that book. And he’s enjoying being given the opportunity to read out loud – he likes that he gets to do that.”
A reading area at Dónall’s school
Opening up conversations and introducing new perspectives through books
Paired with an intimate group reading format, Dónall and his team have found the Bookspark books have helped to kickstart some conversations where students have felt safe to share more about their own experiences, and how they relate to certain characters.
He says:“There are two boys who have had difficult home lives. They have opened up a bit to the support teacher and explored some of their personal issues through reading King Of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore.”
Introducing diversity to students through the selection of Bookspark books is also important to Dónall and his team.
“The demographic in the school is, for the most part, White Irish students,” he says. “A lot of them just do not have any exposure to anything else other than that.
“When you understand a character in a book and their motivations, and it gives you a better sense of empathy – and Bookspark really helps students get an insight into this.”
Dónall Dochartaigh
Bookspark: helping less confident readers find enjoyment through the right book
Dónall explains how the school uses Bookspark to complement Bookbuzz – BookTrust’s programme to get Year 7 and 8 students excited about reading, with the chance to choose and keep a book they’ll love.
“Bookspark works so well as an addition to Bookbuzz,” he says. “It helps us target those children who struggle with choosing the right book, and then we help them take the next step with extra support.
“One of our students in particular has responded really well to being able to choose her own Bookbuzz book at the start of the year, then being able to choose her Bookspark book in class.
“She feels like she’s kind of one-upping everyone, because she’s got two books. She has said she didn’t really enjoy reading before this year, but now she really does.”
Find out more about Bookspark
Learn how Bookspark can help to spark a love of reading in your Key Stage 3 students with a hand-picked collection of books and expert-created shared reading resources.
