I don't think there are any "mandatory" books. There are some books that I think most middle schoolers do like in general, but really each class you have is so different and region, socio-economics, gender, reading level, etc. all play such a huge factor. I always liked to get to know my individual classes and then purchase specific books I know they would like. The books I had when I taught in an inner city school were much different from the books I added to my collection when I taught in the suburbs. They all liked some of the same books, but there were major differences as well. I don't think you can ever have enough books and you will definitely not have every book someone wants to read :) But I think having a diverse library with many genres, many different types and reading levels helps. As well as knowing your books, and more importantly, knowing your kids! If you know your students well, you can pick books for them and be successful with it.
That being said, some of my favorites include: Touching Spirit Bear The Afterlife Uglies (and the rest of the series) Stuck in Neutral Bluford Series Speak all of the diary type books- Go Ask Alice, It Happened to Nancy, etc. but you do have to be careful w/ these- they are more controversial so you have to know your parents and students On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 7:51 AM, Christine Toribio < [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello everyone! > > I am a student studying to be a teacher and was curious about what > opinions were on what books are mandatory to have a comprehensive > basic classroom library. I wanted to know the classics! I know of > quite a few, however, I am worried I will miss that one book that one > child would be interested in. > > Any ideas? > > Thanks, > Christine > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > -- - Heather "DIBELS is the worst thing to happen to the teaching of reading since the development of flash cards." - P. David Pearson" "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ 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
