At the end of the school year, I desire for 100% of my students to be college and career ready, and to do so they need to first build a foundation in reading and foster a love for it. I teach seventh grade advanced and regular language arts with special education inclusion at one of the largest schools in the county.
Let’s be honest, seventh grade is a unique year in a child’s (and a teacher’s) life.
They read so much in elementary school and dressed up as characters as they had parades, celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday, and created book reports to share with the class. In middle school, that kind of dissipates with some teachers and we are stuck with teaching to the test. However, I have always required my students to read a book each quarter outside of school. They have to take an AR test on the computer and write an essay. One quarter they do have a project they have to create and share with the class.
The school I teach at has 1500 students and is one of the largest in the state. We recently received an 83 on our state report.
My Project
My students would love to check these books out from my classroom first quarter. They are required to read a book every quarter and Maximum Ride by James Patterson is their first book. I teach 140 students, but only my Advanced class is required to read. I never know how many advanced classes I will have prior to mid August, so 30 seems fair. I will have a book drawing. The rest of the students purchase their own book or check out from the library. They can also download it online. Many students simply love holding the hard copy as do I!
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