Re: IR -- and reluctant readers

[SommerWind410@aol.com]

Nancy,
I laughed when I read about your stuffing papers into books.  I might  be 
<ahem> guilty of that on occasion myself.  I think I should've put  in my PIP for 
this year that I'm going to file more often!
 
Anyway, how cool that you're teaching some of the kids you had in 7th  grade! 
 What a great opportunity.  
 
You read a lot, so I'm sure you know most - if not all - of  the following 
titles, but off the top of my head, these are the ones  that have sucked in my 
reluctant readers:  (Apologies in advance that  I can't use italics!)
 
-Tears of a Tiger series by Sharon Draper
-Breathing Underwater by Alex Flinn
-Last Chance Texaco by Brett Hartinger
-Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
-Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
-The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
-The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler
-The Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper
-The Afterlife by Gary Soto
-Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman
-What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
-Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
-Monster by Walter Dean Myers
 
-cathy
 
 
 
In a message dated 8/6/2006 10:11:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,  
vait3@yahoo.com writes:

Cindy,  I'm glad you're lurking and that you wrote in! 
I returned to this list  early this summer after a long
hiatus while I was studying for an Art  Praxis test,
which I DID pass, but which took way more time and
energy  than I ever anticipated.  I love this list and
over the years have  gotten such support and most
excellent ideas to take back into my  classroom.

I wish I had a great response to your  organization
question, but it's never been my strong suit.   (I
laugh, in fact.  Ask anyone who knows me!)  Someone on
this  list should have some good ideas -- but I usually
stick loose paper or  articles into notebooks or a few
of my reliable resource books, like Kylene  Beers, and
then stumble upon them on occasion. 

However, a few more  thoughts about independent
reading: I agree with the changes you're making  to
simplify.  We want to keep kids reading who already
are,  encourage those who are reluctant, yet keep them
accountable.  Having  moved to an alternative high
school last year, I'm again teaching students  I had
when they were in my 7th LA class.  Many are still
reluctant  readers, though some say the last book they
honestly read and remember was  from 7th grade.  Some
admit to having fake read through 7th LA and I  ask
them, "You think I didn't know???"  I'm glad for  the
opportunity to immerse them in reading again, so
finding books for  IR that will "snare" them is high on
my list.  I'm always reading  books and checking for
recommendations from other students, NCTE's middle  and
high school journals, and online sites.  I look for
titles  which fit certain readers -- and when I see
some of our 16 and 17 year olds  curled up in a reading
chair, immersed in a book, unaware of the world  around
them, I know we're making headway.  For some reason I
don't  entirely understand, the research seems to be
out on whether IR attributes  to reading gains, but the
longer I teach, the more I absolutely believe  that
students get better at reading by READING, losing
themselves in  books, talking about those books with
others, and in the process  strengthening the
strategies which Krashen and others have  published.

I know this question has come up on this list before,
but  what titles have you found which especially hook
reluctant middle school  readers?

Nancy/AK