Procedure:
- A stack of books is distributed in class, so that every student (or group of 2–3 students) has three to four books each in front of them. The age of the students must of course be considered when distributing the books, and beginners must naturally be supported. They all have five minutes to become acquainted with the books. They look closely at the cover, read the blurb, and browse through the text. Maybe there are illustrations, an index, chapter divisions, or there is a short portrait of the author, etc. The goal in this phase is that students acquire the knowledge of characteristics for the books which they can later use in the game.
- The teacher then describes a book by way of the recognized characteristics, i.e., s/he could state “it is a picture book, it is colorful, the theme is nature in our country of origin”. Pursuant to that, a matching “stone” is placed next to it as in the traditional game of domino, i. e. a second book with one or more matching characteristics (see below). The person who wants to add a book next to it, explains why it belongs there. The choice must be justified by an identical characteristic; the group decides whether the criterion matches. It is permissible to use simple characteristics (e.g. the cover is also blue, it also was written by a woman, the title also begins with “The…”) to more complicated, perhaps content-related reasons (such as: the book is also a thriller, the main characters are also sisters, the story also takes place in Turkey).
- The game either lasts until all books are integrated into the domino, or it will be cancelled after 10–15 minutes. It can be followed by a short discussion with the question “which ones of the books that were placed on the table would you particularly like to read”?
