Motivation and engagement are key ingredients in the quest to create lifelong reading habits. Our #IRAchat guest experts for Thursday night have organized and executed book clubs that inspire students and have them clamoring to read. On Thursday, February 13th at 8pm EST, we’ll be joined by Erin O’Leary and Mary Cotillo to discuss ways to use book clubs to motivate and engage your readers.

Erin and Mary (aka The Crazy Reading Ladies) will share tips for increasing student engagement through book clubs. They'll share their triumphs and trials and welcome you to bring your own insight and stories. Participants will explore choosing a book, planning discussions and activities, and involving parents and the school community. If you're on the fence about starting a book club in your school, the Crazy Reading Ladies will push you over the edge. To read a little more about your hosts for the evening, check out their blog and read about their wildly ambitious and successful whole school reading programs.

Please remember, #IRAchat would be nothing without you. We need you to bring your own stories and wisdom to share with your colleagues. To get a better idea what you can expect, check out the summaries to our previous #IRAchats and get ready to dive right in!

Digital Writing in the Classroom 
Invent Your Future on #ILD13 
Informational Reading & Writing
Hacking Your Curriculum
Project Based Learning

How to chat

To join the conversation, you can simply search for the #IRAchat hashtag in Twitter. If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, you can learn how to get started and make the most of your experience by reading “Harnessing the Educational Power of Twitter.”

We look forward to chatting with you on Thursday and please feel free to tweet us with any questions you may have. Just use the #IRAchat hashtag in your tweet and we will do our best to help you with any advice or Twitter troubleshooting.