Margie, Independent reading is certainly appropriate for high school, unless you have a required "core" set of novels that must be taught (and as an addition then). I think it is AWESOME that you are doing this with your ninth and tenth graders. Isn't the point of reading class to make our students independent readers throughout life? I know that, though I was an avid reader, my eleventh grade class spent HALF of the year on Huck Finn. Yuck! This certainly did nothing to encourage me to become a life-long reader. If I had been able to read independently, on the other hand, I probably would have read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, the Fountainhead, Brave New World, etc. These are the books that my friends and I were reading at home, and we would have been able to share our excitement about them with our classmates.
I think it sounds like you are making great choices about the use of time in Literature class. Keep it up:) May Mary-- > I was so heartened to read your review. This is my first year > teaching > high school (9th and 10th grades) and I have made independent reading a > cornerstone of these courses, but I have been nagged by my own doubts > about > whether it is still appropriate in high school, as well as parent > complaints > that I am not challenging the students enough. I guess I need to get my > hands on this new Atwell book and add it to the bibliography on > self-selected reading that I now include with my packets explaining > reading > workshop. --Margie _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
