Tried the M & M Book discussion cards today during Daily 5 time. Wow! Not only was I able to have 10 book conferences in less than one hour, but I could really tell how deeply those books had been read.
Worked with two multi-level groups of 5 each. Students randomly selected an M&M from their Halloween-sized bags (perfect time of year to try this), and told the group about their book as the prompt directed.
Did not hear one "I pass." or one "I don't know." The conversation flowed, and the students were thrilled to keep their cute laminated M & M bookmarks to prepare for their next discussion. Eight more students signed up for conferences for tomorrow, and several were heard as they packed to go home that they couldn't wait to get back into their independent reading books tonight.
A fun day interacting with my readers!
