In the Classroom: Father-Son Book Club

I’m a library teacher at Brambleton Middle School in Virginia, USA. I began a Father-Son Book Club in an effort to get more dads involved in school activities. I wanted to provide opportunities for dads to serve as reading role models for our male students.

After discussing the book ‘Scar Island’ by Dan Gemeinhart, the boys and their fathers were challenged to use Makedo to create a cardboard model of Slab Henge, the Reformatory School on 'Scar Island'.

The boys started with their base box and gradually added features, talking through their ideas as they built. I wanted to provide an activity that would allow the fathers and sons to be active while connecting with and thinking about the book in a tangible way.

The boys worked collaboratively and creatively, and engaged with their fathers. Everyone enjoyed this activity immensely. Everyone was very proud of their creation and enjoyed sharing it with the author in a skype session later in the school year.