Andrea, I have been there too-I was just as frustrated as the kids. I tried the high interest/low readability books and the non-fiction, gross, scary stories got their attention first. I soon found that newspaper articles really hit home with all of them. We read a lot of articles on teens in the news, advertising for teens, and controversial things going on in our city and state. We text coded, debated, talked in groups, etc. Finally, I found the hook for my kids.! They would read about things that mattered to them and affected their world. That hook allowed me to go into young adult literature that was real-to the point- and sometimes very much like the lives they lead-books became powerful tools to them, but I had to find the books they could relate to. I had an awesome principal who didn't make me teach from a program or basal-I chose the literature and it became a success for them. I am not saying it was perfect-but it started to work and reading became a class they looked forward to rather than hating :) Hope you find your way into their hearts-don't give up! Bretta Literacy Instructor <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com. _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
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