Students in my 7th and 8th grade Language Arts classes are developing their reading stamina in order to be able to engage with increasingly longer and more complex texts. This can only be accomplished through regular and continual reading. High interest, engaging stories are the best way to encourage middle school students to read.
Students at my school converge in the 6th grade from four different and socioeconomically distinct elementary schools of approximately 300 students, to a single middle school of about 1,000 students.
The variety of income levels, nationalities, home languages and cultures provides a rich daily dynamic within our student body.
My Project
Students in my 7th and 8th grade language arts classes love to read current young adult fiction Using the titles in this project - Speak, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, Children of Blood and Bone, This Mortal Coil, The Goliath Code, Greyson Gray: Camp Legend, Dregs Island, Nyxia, Dry, Scythe, #MurderTrending and Patron Saints of Nothing - students will participate in a book speed dating activity to self-select titles that left a strong first impression, the books they are most interested in going on a longer "real date" with. Students rank their choices and I match them with books based upon the rankings. In most instances, students are given one of their top three choices for their first date. After finishing their first book, students select a second title from their ranked speed dating list that they "clicked" with.
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