For my first 5 years of teaching, I taught 6th and 7th grade Language Arts; however, a year ago I switched to teaching 6th and 7th grade Intensive Reading for the students in my school who had not passed the state assessment. When I moved to primarily teaching struggling readers, I knew I had to exam more deeply which books would truly grab these students' attention and help me make them identify themselves as readers. After a year in this position, I have some go-to books that I find have become great foundations for my students to grow into just plain readers, not struggling or reluctant.
For the lists, I did break them up by genders, but they are definitely not concrete. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is loved by all kids, but I put it under boys. Same thing with Sharon Creech's Love that Dog and Brian Selznick but vice versa. This is just a guideline for books I have found to be successful.
Top 10 Books for Struggling and Reluctant Middle School Boys
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series) by Jeff Kinney
Big Nate (series) by Lincoln Peirce
Amulet (series) by Kazu Kibuishi
Bone (series) by Jeff Smith
Knights of the Lunch Table (series) by Frank Cammuso
Graphic Novels Bad Island, Ghostopolis, and I'm sure Cardboard by Doug TenNapel
Sidekicks by Dan Santat
I Survived... (series) by Lauren Tarshis
Maximum Ride: The Manga (series) by James Patterson
Any nonfiction book by Seymour Simon
Top 10 Books for Struggling and Reluctant Middle School Girls
Dork Diaries (series) by Rachel Renee Russell
Smile and I'm sure Drama
Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton
Love that Dog & Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech
Bluford (series) by various
Surviving Southside (series) by various
Popularity Papers (series) by Amy Ignatow
Any novel in verse, specifically Lisa Schroeder
and Sonya Sones
I am looking forward to sharing these books with students again this year
and I hope you find success with them as well.
Happy reading and sharing! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment