Lone Pine Starbooks Cafe

Media center specialist Denise Brandt and paraprofessional Marla Mellon transformed the Lone Pine Media Center into the “Starbooks Cafe” as students in grade 5 were introduced to books from many different genres. Brandt said, “We started this activity to encourage students to experience books outside of their comfort zone.” The media center hosted “book tasting” stations for five literary genres: adventure, fantasy, historical fiction, humor, and realistic fiction. Hot cocoa with marshmallows and a snack brought the Starbooks Cafe to life for the students. In the coming weeks, students will explore five additional genres: animals, non-fiction, science fiction, sports, and suspense. 

A majority of the books students explored are brand new to Lone Pine. Bloomfield Hills Schools allocated funds to acquire new books for schools as the elementary schools transitioned to K-5 buildings.

To assist students in choosing their books, Mellon created a goal-sheet picturing a cute Croc shoe with genre jibbitz (charms for shoes). As the kids read different titles, they will put one of the jibbitz on the Croc. At the conclusion of the program, all completed Crocs will be entered into a raffle to win a free book of their choosing. 

At the respective genre tables, students intently examined the books, looking over the back cover synopsis, reading a few lines aloud to their tablemates, and writing down the titles that they hope to read. Students also recommended books to their classmates. Exclamations of, “I love fantasy,” “I’ve read this one!” and, “This is fun!” echoed throughout the media center. Students had a great time at Starbooks!