READING GROUP ACTIVITIES

Junk

Themes: love; addiction; crime; honesty; friendship.

1. Tar is drawing a dandelion, a flower that is generally described as a weed. Ask each member of the group to create an image of a flower they think best represents her/him. It could be a collage made from magazine clippings or other art materials.

2. Start a group discussion on the question: ‘If you slept rough in the city, what three things would you miss most?’
3. Ask the group: ‘What books would you keep with you if you were homeless, and why?’ A longer activity would be to give each member of the group a cardboard square. Onto the square each person pins the names of two books she or he would keep if they became homeless, together with a sentence saying why these books are relevant or precious. In addition, you could ask each person to draw an outline of the possession they would most miss onto the cardboard square, and then cut around the drawing to give a silhouette of the object. Each group member has now shown what object they would most miss as well as the two books they would keep with them. The group could create a small exhibition using these materials.
4. Together with the group, think about the themes shown in this extract. What book would be its perfect partner? Participants could consider books with similar themes or, as a contrast, books with the opposite themes. This activity can be run as group discussion, in pairs, or individually. 
5. ‘What do you think will happen to the characters mentioned in this extract (Tar, Gemma, and Mr Scholl)?’ Get each group member to write some predictions on postcards and pin these to the wall. If the whole book is going to be read, the postcards can stay on display until the group has finished the book and discovered whose prediction is most accurate. You can turn this activity into a contest and award points for the participant who most closely predicts what happens to the characters. 
 

 
Bittersweet

Themes: violence; addiction; excitement; women’s history.

Facilitator’s note: These activities should be based on a collection of poems that you choose for your group. You could use the themes listed above to help you make your selection. Choose four or five different poems for the group to work with.

1. Cut up one of the poems into blocks of one or two lines. Hand each member of the group a couple of these blocks. Ask the group to reassemble the poem. If you have enough participants, create two groups to compete to see who can reassemble the poem most quickly and accurately. If the reassembled poem differs from the original (i.e. the lines run in a different order), ask the group(s) to think about how this changes the sense. Can the group re-arrange the lines to create an entirely new poem?
2. Divide participants into groups, and give each group the same poem. Ask them to think about how it should be read out loud. What actions and stresses on words will give added power to the poem?  After short rehearsals each group should nominate one person to perform that group’s version of the poem. The whole group can then compare the different performances. 
3. Read one of the poems out loud to the group. Each member of the group must then give a quick verbal response to the question: ‘How did you feel when the poem finished?’ Using that response each person must then try to find images to match. Encourage participants to find images from books or the internet. Ask each person to create a ‘mood board’ – a collage of images and words that depicts their response. The mood boards can be displayed and discussed. 
4. Ask each participant to bring in his or her favourite line of poetry (from any poem). Alternatively, you could ask participants to choose favourite lines of poetry based on a theme, such as ‘love’, ‘loss’ or ‘history’. Ask participants to read out their chosen lines, with a brief explanation of why they chose them. Start a group discussion, perhaps answering the questions: ‘What do these lines have in common? How do they differ?’ Each person can also use his or her lines to create a screensaver. 
5. Start a group discussion based on these questions: ‘When did you first become aware of poetry?’ Do these poems offer something that short stories or novels don’t? If so, what?’

6. Using the collection of poems you have chosen, ask the group ‘Where do these poems lead us?’ Ask each member of the group to suggest a poem to read next that is somehow linked to these.

Cold Water 

Themes of the novel: youth; poverty; boredom; being an outsider.

1. Ask each person to write down on a postcard as many ideas as they can about what the title of the book refers to. Gather all the postcards together and display them. Which idea is most popular? Start a discussion on the question: ‘How important are titles when you are choosing a book?’

2. What other books has the group read that deal with poverty? In what ways are they different to Cold Water?

3. Divide the group into pairs. Ask each pair to discuss the question: ‘What are your favourite places to meet friends and why?’ Ask each pair to plot these places on a map, and then discuss: ‘What makes a good meeting place?’ Bringing all the participants back into one group and ask them to compare their choice of meeting places. 

4. Ask each person to write down what book or type of book they are always looking for. Start a group discussion comparing the different types of books.

5. Encourage each member of the group to consider the question: ‘Which books would you take for a walk?’ Get the group to take pictures of themselves with different books all over your town or city. Start a discussion exploring why participants chose a particular book.

6. Start a group discussion based on these questions: ‘Does Cold Water capture what it is like to be young? Would it be possible to live this way at 40? What other books have captured the spirit of what it is like to be young and living in a city?’

The Emperor’s Babe

Themes of the novel: youth; social position; love.

1. Ask each person to write out the couplet they liked most from the extract onto a sticker or post-it note and stick it on their chest. The group can then move around reading and comparing couplets. Start a discussion on the questions: ‘What did you most enjoy about a novel written in this style? What didn’t you like?’
2. Ask each member of the group to bring in a book that they think has an extraordinary ending. She or he must tell the group about the ending and why they think the ending is so significant. 
3. Ask the group to imagine that the modern media is interviewing Zuleika. What questions would journalists ask, and how would Zuleika react? Select some participants to be reporters, one to be Zuleika, and one to be her agent. If you have enough participants, divide them into two groups: one group to interview Zuleika, and the other to interview her husband, Felix.
4. Divide participants into small groups. Ask each person or each group to select one piece of music, one short piece of fiction, and one film that will make a perfect partner to The Emperor’s Babe.
5. Give participants an extract from another novel set in the same time period but not in verse. Ask the group to discuss the differences in style and impact. Explore the question: ‘Which writing style best brings the period to life for you?’
6. Ask participants to bring in food for a shared meal. If possible, the group should bring food that the ancient Romans would have eaten. Next to each dish place a quote from an ancient Roman writer. Divide participants into two groups and ask each group to write a short poem in couplets based on the quotes.

The Scholar

Themes of the novel: youth; racism; poverty; crime; escape.

1. In small groups or individually, ask each participant to consider the following: ‘What music should be playing as we read the introduction to the estate, and why?’ 

2. Ask participants to create a new character who lives on the Greenside Estate - who for whatever reason is happy (200-300 words). Each participant should then read out her or his work. You could follow up this activity with a group discussion on the different styles and themes in participants’ writing.

3. Fights are both hard to write and sometimes hard to read. In small groups, participants must find the best fight extracts (verbal or physical) in both fiction and non-fiction. Ask participants to read and compare the various extracts. They must also consider: ‘Which is the best extract, and why?’ 

4. Start a discussion based on these questions: ‘Was there anything in the extract that surprised you? Did you find any bits boring? Which was the most memorable part?’

5. ‘What was the most memorable book from your childhood? What did it mean to you then, and does it mean the same now?’ Divide participants into small groups, and start a discussion.

6. In groups or singly, ask students to search on the internet or elsewhere and find an image that they think would make a better cover for the book. Participants must explain their choices.

The Madolescents

Themes of the novel: being an outsider; mental health; love; sex; youth.

1. Write down the names of storybook characters on stickers (without any of the group seeing them). Write enough stickers for each member of the group. Each character name (for example, Cinderella) is then stuck to one person’s back. Participants can see the character names on other people’s backs, but not their own. To find out which character they are, participants must move around the room, asking questions to which the other participants can only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example: ‘Am I a dragon? Am I a princess? Do I have ugly sisters?’ You can repeat this activity using the names of characters from The Madolescents. The game is over when everybody has discovered which character he or she is.
2. Give participants two minutes to write down something they think will happen to Rowena over the course of the novel. Either wait and see who is right if the group is reading the whole novel, or you as facilitator say which prediction is closest to the truth. 
3. The Madolescents has a particularly vivid cover. This activity is designed to get participants thinking about how well the image matches the ‘blurb’ – the description of the book on the cover. Copy 6-12 different book covers, together with a part of the blurb for each one. Give each group member a book cover and ask her or him to write two fake blurbs for each cover. The fake blurbs should be short  – three or four lines. Call the group together. Each participant should hold up each book cover in turn, and read the three blurbs. Participants have to guess which blurb matches which cover. 
4. ‘What other books have you read that deal with mental health?’ Working in small groups, participants should select an extract from one of their chosen books. Ask them to read out each extract and compare it to The Madolescents. Start a discussion asking participants: ‘How did you feel at the end of the extract? What questions were in your mind?’ 
5. Start a discussion on the topic: ‘Which books have cheered you up or got you through a tough time? How does reading help?’ 
6. With the group working singly or in pairs, ask participants to consider: ‘Did you enjoy reading The Madolescents? If you had to recommend it to someone, who would you recommend it to and why?’

Sorrelle 

Themes of the novel: friendships; secrets; anger.

1. Start a discussion on these questions: ‘Which books have you shared with a friend? Did you both enjoy the book? If yes, was this for the same reasons?’ 

2. Ask the group to discuss the character of Priya. Based on this discussion, the group then creates a monologue for Priya that gives her reasons for treating Sorrelle as she does, and giving some idea of what she feels about her relationship with Arun. 

3. Each participant must share with the group a quote or a poem that relates to anger in some way. Working in small groups, participants should be encouraged to read out their choices. Each group then votes for its favourite quote or poem. 

4. Focusing on the character of Sorrelle, divide participants into two teams and ask them to debate the sentence: ‘Sorrelle was right to express her anger with Priya.’ One team should argue for the sentence; the other team should argue against it.

5. Every participant writes (anonymously, on a blank postcard) the name of a book that they are embarrassed to admit reading. Collect the cards, shuffle them, and read them out. If the group is comfortable with the activity, you can start a discussion matching postcards to individuals. 
Facilitator’s note: This activity is best done with an established group in which participants feel confident with each other.

Brick Lane 

Themes of the novel: marriage; racism; community; and love.

1. Divide participants into small groups, and ask each one to create its own ‘wishing room’. Groups should describe what the room looks like, what is in it and how it makes wishes come true. 

2. Tattoos say something about the individual who wears them. Ask each participant to design a tattoo for themselves, using images or words, or both. The designs will be shared with the group. Encourage each participant to explain his or her design. Why have they chosen a particular image or phrase?
3. Create a display featuring the first lines of books from many different parts of the world. You will need a list of the books from which the opening lines are taken. Participants must match the opening lines with the correct books. 

4. Working in small groups, ask participants to write a short story (up to 250 words) about the Tattoo Lady. What is her history? Where does she come from? Why is she living in Tower Hamlets? What are her hopes and dreams?

5. On postcards, each participant writes down the kindest thing someone has done for them, and the kindest thing they have done for someone else. Collect the cards, read them out and start a discussion on ‘kindness’.
Facilitator’s note: Participants need to be given time to think carefully about this activity.

Kin

Themes of the story: introductions; endings; twins.

1. With participants working in small groups, ask them to create an advertisement for the funeral director in the extract. They should consider: ‘What phrases best describe the job and the person needed to fill it?’ Each group should read out its advertisement and compare it with the others. 

2. Ask each participant to describe the area that they live in, and a book or a type of book that would fit that description.
3. Participants each introduce a book they are reading at present (give each person two minutes). When all participants have presented, ask the group to vote on which book(s) it would most like to know more about or read.  

4. Ask each participant to find a ‘twin’ for this extract – another piece of short fiction. Participants must be able to tell the group why they chose a particular piece. 

5. Start a discussion based on this question: ‘What makes a good ending to a story?’ Follow up the discussion by asking participants to bring in and describe an example of a book or story with an ending they especially enjoyed. Follow up with another discussion on the different types of endings or genres.

6. Working in pairs, ask participants to draw or write about an imaginary twin. Each pair should consider: ‘What would this twin be like? What kind of relationship would you have with your imaginary twin?’

 TWOC

Themes of the novel: tragedy, crime, mystery, guilt   

1. After participants have read the extract, ask them to write down what their parents say to them that would be in capital letters, just as in the extract. 
2. Compare this extract with the extract from Junk. Participants should consider: ‘What is the difference in mood?’ How do the group feel the different stories will end? What do participants feel the two extracts have in common? 
3. Divide participants into two groups. Ask each group to create its own video game narrative which it then performs. Participants from the other group can take it in turns to take the role of ‘player of the game’. 
4. What other crime narratives have the group read? Start a discussion exploring: ‘Why do we love to read about crime so much? Do writers always prove that crime doesn’t pay?’ 
5. Using images from the internet, magazines or drawn by participants, ask each group to design a poster for a film of TWOC, complete with a one-sentence strapline.

Everything Used To Be Black and White

Themes of the novel: mysteries; people who are not what they seem; good versus evil.

1. Divide the group into pairs or two groups if there are enough participants. Each pair or group should choose a page (for example, page 340: ‘Alright you lot have been enough trouble …’). After carefully reading the page, participants re-write the story based on what they think happened just before their chosen page, and what happened immediately afterwards. Each pair or group then reads out the new stories.

2. The hero, Jack Staff, is supposed to represent a type of English hero. Start a discussion considering these questions: ‘What characteristics does Jack Staff have? How are these characteristics related to “Englishness”? What characteristics does our country’s superhero have?’

3. Ask each member of the group to create a superhero – female or male. What characteristics does this superhero have? Why?

4. Select a dramatic scene from another novel (not a graphic novel). Divide participants into small groups and ask each one to discuss and sketch out how the extract could be turned into a piece of comic art. Would the extract lose or gain anything in this process?

5. Do we need heroes? Ask each participant to choose two heroes from film, television, the web or literature. Next to each name each person should write two sentences explaining why they have chosen these heroes or heroines. Collect the results and discuss with the group. Consider these questions: ‘What do your choices tell us about our different needs for heroes? Have these needs changed over time?’

6. Start a discussion about comics and graphic novels: ‘How many participants read or have read them? What kind of graphic novels or comics do they/did they read? What are their favourite comics? Why?’

7. Are comics and graphic novels real ‘literature’? Start a group discussion.