This is the third of four book lists: “Ten Books Loved by 7th Grade Readers.” I asked my 7th-grade readers to tell me about a book they read this school year — a book they “loved” and worthy of recommending to other teen readers. The …
Ten Books Loved by 7th Grade Readers (List 2)
This is the second of four lists of “Ten Books Loved by 7th Grade Readers.” We began the school year in mid-August with a quest to uncover all the books can do for our lives with daily choice reading. In mid-November, I asked students to tell …
Ten Books Loved by 7th Grade Readers (List 1)
In the last week, I’ve had texts, emails, and social media posts asking for book recommendations. My sister was looking for book ideas for a teen girl in a family she’s sponsoring for Christmas. A colleague was looking for ideas for her junior high daughter’s …
Writers’ Workshop: The Symbolism in the First Snow
“I would like to compliment Johnny on an unexpected phrase that was, actually, kind of dark. When your narrator said, ‘I had this desire to kill,’ I was like disturbed but intrigued,” said Paul. “Yeah, I know. Dark. I like exploring the dark side in …
Interpreting and/or Analyzing Language Demands with “Friends”
It’s 5:35 on Tuesday night. I am in a room of pre-service English teachers — some a semester from student teaching, some two. The class is the teaching of English: methods. I start class with a mid-term Google survey. I ask students to take a …
Nurturing the Being and Becoming of a Reading Life
On September 30th, Kylene Beers posted a memo to teachers on Facebook with advice on how we can talk to administrators about the value of independent reading programs. She includes three research articles that teachers could share with principals. Then, she goes on to say …
Student-Led Text-Based Discussions
Silence. Seven seventh grade readers are sitting together at the center of the classroom revisiting the scene in The Outsiders where the greasers are getting ready for the rumble. It’s their first fishbowl, and they are the fishes. As the fishes reread and formulate their responses, twenty-two …
Writing Assessment is a Personal Process
“Hi, how are you?” I ask as a student takes a seat beside me. “Fine. You?” he says averting my eyes and looking at his biography narrative lit brightly on my computer screen. We’re sitting in a dark corner of the classroom to discuss the …
Conversations Made Possible: Classism
“Why are the socs so mean to the greasers?” one student asks. We just finished chapter two of The Outsiders. This is the required whole-class text for seventh grade at our school. We listened to chapter one together to hear the southern voice of Ponyboy, to listen …
Small Group Discussions and Self-Assessment
I try to keep Fridays a low-tech, relaxed, community day in our class. In reading, that means time to get into groups to discuss books. It’s our third week together, and I want to know how students think, talk, and behave in small groups. I …