Engaging Reluctant Readers in the Secondary Classroom

Are you looking for ways to incorporate diverse and contemporary literature into your classes while also teaching the “classics”? Do you want to engage your students with books that they find interesting, relatable, and current?Recent studies have shown that the books that teachers are assigning to their students have not changed much in the past few decades, and in the same vein, 70% of 12th-grade students are reading at the lowest levels while overall high school students are just reading less. Engaging Reluctant Readers in the Secondary Classroom responds to these issues, putting forth rich, rigorous units of study centered on diverse books, classic books, contemporary books, banned books, books studied in translation, and just plain weird books, curated to help you in diversifying the curriculum and captivating your students. As a teacher, you can use the same books, or can apply the skills and assessments of the units to other titles of your choosing. The chapters include student opportunities for research, for critical thinking and discussion, ample opportunities for writing, formative and summative assessments, plus samples of student work. Full of teaching ideas, tips, lesson plans, and activities this is an ideal resource for middle and high school ELA teachers.