Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

I found a Lesson Plan on getting kids to read during the summer called Authentic Persuasive Writing to Promote Summer Reading. I was interested in this because I always read during the summer months and picked out my own books. This lesson plan though was different; students compiled a list of books from various genres that they thought would be interesting. The students were first given list, in groups, of Books that were annotated by the teacher; they would look through the list and get ideas on books that might sound interesting to them. The teacher would then take them to the library and let them search for books that might interest them. Each group chose a genre that they researched and found books on. They would use sites like ALA and Amazon Listamania to pick out books that would be an interest to them. I looked at the ALA website and found many different lists for students. The one I like best was 2010 Best Books. It gave a short sentence on the theme of the book so students could get a feel for it right away. Once the students chose books they liked they made brochures, booklets or flyers that told others what the book was about try to persuade others to read it. I really liked this idea because many students do not read over the summer, some because they feel that they should be able to get away from school others because they don’t know where to start. Finding the right book can take a lot of time and with help and summaries from other students it might encourage other students to read. I would add to this Lesson. If I wanted to promote reading in the summer I would want them to try and read something that would relate to the next year of school. Such as if they were going into English World Lit then I would suggest the students look more at young adult literature that examines what is going on in other parts of the world. I can think of several books that have world issues that are written for young adult. I wouldn’t want the students to stick strictly to finding those books but I would push that they find several that would be of some help to them. Another issue I would have to look at is how well is the local library stocked for these books. If students do research to find all these books and the local library doesn’t house a majority of them then it was a useless lesson. I would ask students to make sure to include at least half the books on the list be found at a local library that is accessible to most students. All in all this lesson is a good idea because when we return from summer so many students are out of the mind set of reading that giving them just a few good books to maybe pick up over the summer would be helpful to teachers.

I really like this lesson plan because it gives the students a sense of autonomy with their reading. While I enjoyed many of the books I read in high school, I also disliked a lot of them as well. I really like how the students are allowed to choose, within reason, which books that appeal to them. I feel that the reason why many people don't like to read is because somewhere along the way in their school, an English teacher has made reading a chore instead of a fun activity. This activity promotes reading for fun and because of it, I can bet that many students will love their teacher for allowing them to have some freedom with regards to choosing the book they want to read.

I agree with Hap. This is a great way to encourage students to read without forcing them into reading books in which they have no interest. I was one of those kids in high school (and sometimes college as well) that just read spark notes about a book before a test or writing a paper..If I had had the option of picking a book that I was interested in, I would have been more excited about digging in and reading it and analyzing it in papers or tests. This is a great way to encourage students to learn to love reading and start thinking of it not as a chore, but as an adventure and fun!

When I began the anticipation guide I really didn’t have to think about my responses. It did though make me think about my responses as I was reading the article. I liked that it gave a sort of preview to what I was about to read so my mind so was on that topic and focused. While reading I noticed the questions in the article being answered and I compared my answers in my mind. Once I was done and went back to the anticipation grade, I kept a few of my answers the same and didn’t agree completely with the article but did change some because the article stated the answer from a survey. I enjoyed this because it gave certain points or ideas to be looking for when reading the article instead of reading then trying to find them later.

I really like the idea behind this lesson plan. I am constantly wondering how I am going to encourage my students to read. I think this activity is a great way to show your students that books can be fun and interesting. Summer reading is always hard so letting students read genre's they are interested in is a great way to make sure they are actually reading and not just skimming. I think this lesson plan would be good for any grade level, and is a great starter activity for an English class.