Make a book table with a wide selection of suitable reading material. Include fiction as well as non-fiction. Change the reading material often to encourage students to visit the book table. Peruse books that are at the comfort or independent reading levels.
Use a notebook to make a wish book, where students can make suggestions for reading material and themes. Decorate the notebook with pictures of students reading books. Alternatively, take photos of the students when they are reading and glue the pictures onto the notebook cover.
Display the notebook on the book table.
Organize the classroom so that it suitable for small groups, approximately four to five students in each group.
Explain the idea to the students and discuss behavior rules. Include rules for making sure that everyone listens and respects other students' opinions.
Discuss different ways to read books in a group. Students can read the same book or each student can read a different book. Reading groups can read different books written by one author or students can select themes with subjects that interest them or are related to other classroom activities
Let students suggest different ways to deal with someone not having read the material. Students can either read all the material in the classroom or take home and read the material. If someone turns up unprepared, he or she could be given time in the classroom to read the material before joining the group.
Model a group discussion by letting some children discuss a section that everyone has read.
Prompt the students in the group by asking questions to help their discussion. Let one student lead the discussion, and help with prompts to move the discussion forwards, such as, "Does anyone have anything to add?"
Discuss what worked in the group, and let students suggest new ways of discussing.
Let another group/s have a discussion in front of the class.
Ask students to make a book journal where they can write about their reading experiences and discussions. Use a notepad and let students decorate the first page with pencils and markers.
Suggest different ways to ask questions about reading material. Talk about different questions that can be discussed when you are reading fiction vs non-fiction.
Let students write their own questions for their first group discussion.
Divide the students into groups of four or five students and let them choose reading material. Alternatively, choose material and let everyone discuss the same material.
Support students during the first group discussion and help them conduct the discussion following the rules and guidelines that you have discussed. Rules could be displayed on a whiteboard or written down on a large tag board. Alternatively, each group could have a set of rules and guideline to help them.