What is the difference between standards and curriculum? Standards are one part of my curriculum. I’ve written about standards-based learning. This year in my 7th grade composition class, the writing standards –features of a narrative, argument, and informational essay — guided my instruction for the first …
In the beginning, we were learning how to talk about learning without numbers or letters. Now, we are just talking about evidence and learning. I think I have worked out some effective and efficient routines to confer for final reading grades, so I thought I would share five routines that have helped make this final conference with my seventh graders the most honest, positive conversation we’ve had about learning.
If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser My rating: 3 of 5 stars For upper middle and high schoolers. It’s about gang life in the projects, family, hopelessness, poverty, and growing up. but it is really about surviving. Strasser did his research to imagine DeShawn’s …
The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky by Farah Ahmedi My rating: 4 of 5 stars For middle and high school readers. A memoir of one girl’s story from Kabul to Wheaton with the help of World …
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk My rating: 4 of 5 stars A familiar read. I felt like I was hearing a hint of Scout’s voice in the narration and that Toby, a WWI vet, was a cross between Boo Radley and Tom. Annabelle ‘ s …
As readers discovered favorite authors—Woodson, Sones, Myers, Halse-Anderson, Lupica—and favorite genres—memoir, historical fiction, sports fiction—and talked more about books with their friends, I would find notes on my desk on Fridays, “Mrs. R, If you are going to the bookstore this weekend, we would like ….” The classroom library truly became the students’ library filled with books they cared about and valued—and read.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown My rating: 3 of 5 stars The audience for this book is upper elementary, but I can see middle schoolers enjoying this book. It is very much a storytelling experience; the narrator speaks directly to the reader, asking patience …
Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung My rating: 3 of 5 stars So this one is mostly a realistic ya novel of a girl trying to connect with her Korean heritage while her parents resist saying it’s “too hard” or “too painful” to think about …
Because most of my 20 published books show war or genocide through the eyes of a young person, some of my author colleagues affectionately call me the Genocide Queen. I didn’t consciously choose to write about genocide, but I have a compulsion to give a voice to people whose stories are not told.
I’ve read over one hundred books in search of that just-right book for each student, but I just cannot keep up with all the recommendations I’ve been getting from We Need Diverse Books, Nerdy Book Club, Goodreads, and Facebook friends. So this summer’s reading list is 25 books that I have NOT read but have been recommended, and I am inviting my junior high readers to vet these books with me.