Motivating Readers in the Middle Grades

by Joan Collins

Overview

Inspire your middle school readers with these awesome reading motivation programs and proven book recommendations!

• Written by a seasoned middle school librarian who knows what kids love to read
• Step-by-step directions for battle of the books and other sure-fire reading motivation programs
• Chocked full of titles to turn middle-schoolers into avid readers
• Includes bonus reproducibles for your very own reading promotion programs
• Annotated genre bibliographies to motivate middle school readers

Meet the reading needs of a diverse school population, one in transition between elementary and the high school years and learn to have fun while getting serious about promoting Voluntary Free Reading (VFR) in your school. Frustrated librarians and teachers will get excellent examples of reading motivation programs and recommended, sure-to-please reading lists for hard-to-motivate middle grade students. This book is meant to be a resource for the librarian who must respond to the student who asks, "Do you have any good books?"

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781586832971
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/01/2008
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Joan Collins is a teacher and librarian at John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, MA.

Table of Contents

Table of Figures 5

About the Author 7

Acknowledgments 7

Introduction 8

Part 1 Motivating the Reader 8

Part 2 Recommended Collection for Middle School 8

Part 1 Motivating the Reader 9

Chapter 1 Reading = Success 11

Works Cited 13

Chapter 2 Battle of the Books 15

Step By Step 15

Step 1 Collaboration 15

Book Choices 16

Step 2 Preparation 17

Step 3 Big Event 21

Step 4 Weekly Activities: Keep It Going 21

Step 5 Classroom Battles 26

Step 6 Final Battle: Culmination 38

Step 7 Assessment 38

Works Cited 40

Chapter 3 Reading Playoffs (A Tweaked Version of Battle of the Books) 41

Book Choices 41

Bonus Books 42

The Big Event 43

The New Rules 43

Motivational Projects 43

Weekly Incentives 61

Staple Rules 61

Culminating Playoffs 61

Assessment 76

Chapter 4 Booked Conversation 77

Book Choices 78

Timetable 80

Chapter 5 Author Visits 89

Step 1 Search and Find 91

Step 2 Student Preparation 91

Read Works 91

Author Web Quests 94

Step 3 Organize the Day 97

Step 4 PR Opportunities 97

Step 5 Follow Up 97

Additional Resources 98

Chapter 6 Using Technology to Reel in Readers 99

Step 1 Instruction 100

Step 2 Planning 101

Step 3 Rehearsal and Performance 101

Step 4 Evaluation 101

Works Cited 104

Part 2 Recommended Collection for Middle School 105

Criteria for Selection 106

Additional Resources 106

Chapter 7 Adventure Books 107

Chapter 8 Realistic Fiction 111

Chapter 9 Science Fiction and Fantasy 113

Chapter 10 Historical Fiction 117

Chapter 11 Mysteries 119

Chapter 12 Multicultural Fiction 121

Chapter 13 Sports Fiction 123

Chapter 14 Biography and Nonfiction 125

Index of Authors and Titles127

Editorial Reviews

Most appropriate for those brand new to the middle school library, this title offers well-organized planning documents and a prescribed process for reading contests and promotional programs such as the traditional Battle of the Books and author visits. The book includes helpful handouts such as quizzes and answer sheets, reward coupons, and numerous book lists to use when planning and implementing the programs. . . . offers useful tools and helpful tips and handouts for those who need assistance with organizing motivational reading programs for this age group.” —Colorado Association of Libraries

“Joan Collins is an experienced librarian and it shows! Her book is very practical and includes nearly everything needed for a middle school librarian to get students interested in reading. She begins by explaining how she ran a Battle of the Books competition with sixth graders including step-by-step directions, a list of suggested books, letters, handouts, and a timeline. She provides a list of 10 books with questions that can be used for weekly contests and the final battle. Other reading motivation programs are described with book recommendations, handouts, and a timeline. The final chapters detail how to have memorable author visits and ways to use technology to promote reading, complete with handouts. The book ends with annotated sections of recommended books divided into genres. This book is a true time-saver for librarians because everything is included to encourage middle grade students to read. On the other hand, it is versatile enough to easily customize the ideas to fit a particular school or group of students. Highly Recommended.” —Library Media Connection

“Based on 30 years working as a teacher-librarian, Joan Collins has put together a two-part resource for teachers and librarians to motivate and keep middle school students reading. Part 1 is called Motivating the Reader and includes: Reading = Success (studies and research), Battle of the Books, Reading Playoffs (a tweaking of Battle of the Books), Booked Conversation (one-on-one discussions with a faculty member), Author Visits, and Technology (video booktalks). Part 2 is a Recommended Collection with Criteria for Selection and Additional Resources. Based on book discussions from her years of experience, Collins has selected book titles which students respond to positively, have literary merit, enjoy sustained popularity, and are at varied interest and reading levels. These are divided up by genre and include adventure, realistic fiction, science fiction and fantasy, historial fiction, mysteries, multicultural fiction, sports fiction, and biography and nonfiction. The front of the book has a table of figures (activity sheets for use with the various activities). In the back is an index of authors and titles of books listed in the text. This book is worth the price just for the annotated lists of books by genre. Since they are at different reading levels, they are not limited to just middle school students. Even though many are older titles, there were some that were not as well known or that have fallen by the wayside as newer titles are published. If you are planning on starting a Battle of the Books or want to do something different with book reports, this gives you step-by-step instructions. This will be most useful to library students or new librarians/teachers, but everyone can glean some new information from it. Recommended for library students, teachers, and librarians.” —Catholic Library World

From the Publisher