Don Graves, legendary writing teacher, reminded us long ago that teenagers want to read - if we let them.
My students are brilliant, but most are dormant readers; my students are hungry for knowledge, but have have been convinced that the only purpose for reading is to achieve a score on a test.
They are curious and funny, they are empathetic and savvy. They challenge me when they don't want to challenge themselves, and they have high expectations that I will guide them in becoming stronger readers, writers, thinkers.
My Project
I want to grow student's reading stamina, interest, and volume, but this is only possible by helping them discover the wide arrange of books that are available to them. So many of my students think reading is just a task assigned by some adult in some school room. Read (or pretend to read), prove your read on a quiz, rinse, repeat.
But I want more for them.
I want to them to identify with characters. To uncover truths. To develop habits of deep thinking. To internalize the moves of powerful writers, to use those moves, too. To lose themselves in books. To develop a lifelong love of reading.
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