[LIT] Young Adult books-a compilation of responses

[May Dartez]

Margie,

Independent reading is certainly appropriate for high school, unless 
you have a required "core" set of
novels that must be taught (and as an addition then). I think it is 
AWESOME that you are doing this with
your ninth and tenth graders. Isn't the point of reading class to make 
our students independent readers
throughout life? I know that, though I was an avid reader, my eleventh 
grade class spent HALF of the
year on Huck Finn. Yuck! This certainly did nothing to encourage me to 
become a life-long reader. If I had
been able to read independently, on the other hand, I probably would 
have read The Unbearable Lightness of Being,
the Fountainhead, Brave New World, etc. These are the books that my 
friends and I were reading at home, and we
would have been able to share our excitement about them with our 
classmates.

I think it sounds like you are making great choices about the use of 
time in Literature class. Keep it up:)

May




Mary--
>    I was so heartened to read your review. This is my first year 
> teaching
> high school (9th and 10th grades) and I have made independent reading a
> cornerstone of these courses, but I have been nagged by my own doubts 
> about
> whether it is still appropriate in high school, as well as parent 
> complaints
> that I am not challenging the students enough. I guess I need to get my
> hands on this new Atwell book and add it to the bibliography on
> self-selected reading that I now include with my packets explaining 
> reading
> workshop. --Margie