Book Talk: Teaching Resources- Lesson Plan, Slideshow and Fun Activity Cards

A fun, teacher-led reading-for-pleasure session where pupils share, explore, and enjoy books together. Using an eight-stage structure, the teacher models reading aloud while pupils respond with predictions, thoughts, and connections.

At the heart of the session are the Reading Sparks cards — creative prompts that get children talking about books through drama, drawing, debate, and playful questions. It’s an engaging way to build reading confidence, celebrate stories, and make book talk fun.
Detailed Description:

This resource provides a structured, whole-class approach to promoting reading for pleasure, based on guidance from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and DfE Reading Framework (2023). It aligns with research which shows that book talk, teacher modelling, and shared reading experiences are powerful tools for building lifelong reading habits.

The session follows a repeatable eight-stage model:

Flint – Lightning Spark: Build curiosity through predictions
Kara – Kindling Spark: Explore covers, blurbs, and themes
Ember Spark: Make links to self, text, and world
Lumi – Flaming Spark: Model fluency and expressive reading
Blaze – Blazing Spark: Browse and explore texts freely
Book Talk (Main Event): Use Reading Sparks cards for creative discussion
Torch Spark: Share recommendations and shout-outs
Gloria – Glow Spark: Reflect on the experience

Teachers begin by sharing and reading aloud from a chosen book, inviting predictions, reactions, and discussion. Pupils are encouraged to build on the teacher’s reading through structured talk and light-touch creative tasks.

The Reading Sparks cards are a key feature of the session, offering a wide range of open-ended prompts across themes like:

Action Sparks (roleplay, re-enactment)
Feeling Sparks (empathy and reflection)
Sketch Sparks (draw a scene or character)
Debate Sparks (make a case, challenge an idea)
Wildcard Sparks (fun, surprising, often hilarious prompts)

The session promotes:

Reading for pleasure
Oracy and group discussion
Reading fluency through modelling
Book choice and exploration
Reading confidence and motivation

Tags / Keywords for Search Optimisation:

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