For two years I taught a far below and below basic 7th grade English class. It was my first years in middle school after a long stint of elementary teaching so I felt like a new teacher without a lot of resources. Through the book club the school got a class set of Blizzard's Wake by Phyllis Naylor. It is not a classic by any means but the themes are current. Set in the spring of 1941 when an unexpected blizzard comes down from Canada and hits the upper states, specifically North Dakota (the blizzard really did happen). The story is told from 2 points of view: Zeke, just released from prison for negligent manslaughter of the mother of Kate, the other point of view. I know I go on and on, but after teaching this book to a low class and watching them finally taking risks in discussing the major themes of anger, guilt, forgiveness with the backdrop of WWII beginning made teaching these students, often behavior problems as well, good for me. I read most of it to them and made up discussion questions inspired by the discussions and a final response to literature essay. I did ask them to re-read the sections we read in class on their own and most of them kept reading. This novel took a long time to go through because of where the students are in their instructional level but for the growth they made, it was worth it.
Every student should read Hatchet but it is more of a 6th grade novel. I do teach it in 7th grade because our 6th grade feels tied to the literature text. ---- Andrea Countryman <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear Pat, > > I would suggest "Alabama Moon," one of the "Hatchet" books, "Bud Not Buddy," > "Freak the Mighty," "Surviving the Applewhites," the Percy Jackson series, > "Graveyard Book," and (if it's not too violent for your taste) "Hunger > Games," > which didn't spend longer than 15 minutes on my shelf at any point last year. > > > Annie > > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected] > Sent: Tue, August 10, 2010 6:10:30 AM > Subject: [LIT] Need Book Recommendations Grades 7 & 8 > > I will be teaching students in grades 7 and 8 that are reading below grade > level. These are also students who do not find reading enjoyable. I am > looking for recommendations of books with a lot of adventure and action. > Books > that the kids can't put down. I do a lot of the reading aloud with lots of > discussion so books can be on grade level. Any suggestions? > > > Pat > www.pawsofwood.com > _______________________________________________ > 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 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ 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
