the rest i will be adding to my library queue!

Then I’d pick some YA books that re-imagine themes from classic literature in pretty cool ways:
- GONE by Michael Grant (which one reviewer said is like “If Stephen King had written Lord of the Flies).
- King Dork for sure. (Actually this book made me love that I don’t have to feel guilty about not going back to re-read Catcher as an adult when I’ll “understand” it… and it made me laugh a ton.)
- Troy High by Shana Harris (because who understands Homer for real? and I want to give something “girly” on the list).
- Something Rotten or Something Wicked by Alan Gratz (although by putting that as an “or” then I really earn an extra book on the list).

I’d also maybe throw in Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford for the sheer fact that I have never read anything half as funny as this (although David Yoo’s books come really close). This book alone could restore any reluctant reader’s hope that there are good books that are entertaining (and have a little ability to “teach” at the same time). Hilarious!

(Sadly, this doesn’t include Disreputable History…, Looking for Alaska or Abundance of Katherines, anything by the great Chris Crutcher. Too many great YA books, not enough time.)

and, to everything you said, i reply: double true. and also, amen! which is like, a super endorsement.

First of all, I had to laugh that the assistant education secretary wondered what would happen to Moby Dick, and even admitted that no one would voluntarily pick it up. Why then, oh sage one, should we then force children to read it? I never had to read Moby Dick (although there was an unfortunate encounter with one of his short stories called Billy Budd: Sailor) and I feel that my education was still a solid one.

Secondly, I guess that I don’t agree that everyone should suffer through torture via an outdated literary canon. That said, certainly it takes a highly-qualified and well-read teacher to run a reading workshop classroom. Kids are like sponges-if they see their teacher reading, are read to by their teacher, have books recommended to them by their teachers, then they will read and read a lot. I see it all the time in the library. I can tell exactly who a student’s teacher is based on the books he/she asks for and how excited he/she is about coming to get more books.

I am also totally jealous that the teacher in the article got to meet and work with Nancie Atwell. Her book, In the Middle, completely changed how I taught writing. It is amazing how well kids can and will write when you give them choice.

I believe the same goes for reading. A lot of the issue behind giving students choice really doesn’t lie with classics-should we or shouldn’t we-or even test scores. It lies with giving students control. By giving a student control, the teacher becomes a facilitator as opposed to a disseminater of knowledge. And I’ll be honest-the thought of giving control over to a bunch of 7th graders made me break out in a cold sweat more than a few times.

But when the teacher becomes a mentor-modeling, nudging, encouraging-and takes the time up front to establish the procedures necessary for success-I think the workshop approach is best.

I am super excited about this blog and all the discussion it will generate.

I like this idea as long as it is supported with a core of required cirriculum, much like in Meredith’s school. I am an avowed bibliophile, but there are some required books which threatened to change that (I’m looking at you, Moby Dick). But the fact that everyone has had to suffer through some form of literary torture unites us, and it gives us a common language. I may hate Moby Dick, but at least I and everyone else I meet knows what a “white whale” is.

meredith, bell jar?! oh man… i love you.

I am fortunate to work at a school where reading workshop allows for independent reading and independent choice. However, some teachers still manage to take things like reading levels out of context and make them the end all be all. Choice in reading is what the real world is all about. If you go to Barnes and Noble, the cashier does not force you to prove that you can read the first page of the book before she lets you purchase it. If you go to the public library, the librarians do not follow you around telling you that a book is not on your reading level. So why then do some teachers create such unrealistic reading scenarios in the classroom?

And the truth is, children’s and YA lit is much more prolific and brimming with well written text that rivals, and often times, outshines the “classics” that so many people are die hard about (and don’t even get me started about how we usually give these “classics” to kids way before they have the life experience to understand or enjoy them).

The beauty of my job is that I can let kids check out what they want, when they want and how they want.

(and now I’m re-reading and seeing that this is a very disjointed post, but I think you’ll get my drift)

Katie