Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Successful Reader

I got an e mail today from one of my students' grandparents. It was a pleasant correspondence.  This grandmother was concerned over her grand child's choice in reading material. The material she was reading was not any different than anyone else her age...The Vampire Diaries, but her grandmother was concerned that she was not reading enough "good literature".  She asked me to gather a book list so that she could gently nudge her grand daughter towards other authors and content.

I guess I have a small issue with the term "good literature". As a reading teacher, I am thrilled to death to see my students voraciously reading...period. This young lady is in the gifted program and reads a bit higher than most of my students.  I can see the point of the grandmother being worried about some explicit content. Now, I can not say how explicit the content is, it has been a long time since I have read this series, but I don't recall it being to offensive.

So I went on a quest in search of some "good literature" for some enjoyable summer reading for my student. I went to Good Reads, the MSAL website ( missouri state association oflibrarians) to check on the Truman nominees for next school year, Barnes and Noble site, and a few others. Well, I found a lot of great book ideas, and compiled a list. I then decided to look at some excerpts of a few of my choices, and a few were not going to be smiled on by the grandmother.

But I did offer a few ideas and included some of the classics that my student might enjoy, and appease Grandma. It was harder than I thought to find non-explicit reading material for a gifted thirteen year old girl.  If anyone has any great reads for this age group let me know. Reading level much higher than emotional level. Sometimes, this is a bigger issue than a reluctant reader.



Monday, May 26, 2014

Thank You For Your Service

I know that when writing a blog, one should keep to the content and audience it was meant to reach. However, I want to take just a minute to remember and thank all those who served in our military and gave their lives for the cause of American freedoms and rights. Thank you, you are remembered today, and everyday.