Their first question is. "How many pages do we have to read every night?" This, of course, varies with each book and each student's reading ability. That's why I prefer to have them read for 30 minutes. To give them an idea of the intensity I expect them to read, however, I have them read for 10 minutes in a book of their choice. This number is noted in their journals. We then count pages and multiply the number by three. This gives us both an idea of their capabilities and my expectations for their nightly homework.
In order to keep track of their reading, keep a reflective journal while they read. They keep a log in the back of their journals of the books they have read and abandoned. At the top of each page in the journal, they note the date, the times they start and stop reading, as well as the page numbers where they start and stop. In about 5 or 6 lines, I ask them to summarize what they have read.
Before they can do this, we practice summarizing in class, because many of them think that summarizing means copying directly from their books. After the summary, I ask that they reflect on their reading. Of course we also must practice this, and I use the five strategies for active reading defined in our literature text: predicting, connecting, questioning, clarifying, and evaluating.
To provide a scaffold or a structure for their reflections, I provide sentence starters for the type of reflection I would like to see in their journals. Some of these include "I think that ___________ is going to happen because â€¦"; "This character reminds me of myself because... "; "I wonder what _______________ meant when he said______________. Maybe he thought ____________."
Students are expected to write in their journals every day while they read or immediately afterward. Journal writing should take them no more than 10 or 15 minutes.
Every Friday, the students bring their novels and completed journals to class. They read silently all period. Of course, few students in class are able to sustain their reading more than 10 minutes when we first start the program, so we discuss avoidance behaviors, such as falling asleep, needing to go to the bathroom or to get a drink of water, making noise, writing notes, daydreaming, and so forth.
We also compare reading with athletics, how when training to run a mile for the first time, we often want to stop; we get pains in our sides or are too out of breath to continue. If we give up, we never get into shape. We know that to get into shape, we should not stop, but should slow down, walk for a while and then continue running. If we do this every day, we will get a little better. We discuss how developing physically is just like developing habits of the mind. They both take practice and self-discipline.
I tell them that if they find themselves engaging in avoidance behaviors, to recognize them for that they are, look away from the book for a few minutes, and then continue reading. It's the best way to get their flabby brains in shape and to improve their reading.
To motivate them even more, I share their previous year's standardized test scores in reading and language and discuss with them what the scores mean. Most are discouraged, but I promise them a marked improvement if they will follow the program for just this school year. Those who do the program for the entire year have always shown great improvement.
While the students read silently on Fridays, I read and grade their journals. I usually have time to conference with them about their books and journal entries. In addition, I can spend time with the most reluctant readers, discussing their interests and their past histories with reading, and recommending books they might enjoy.
At the beginning of the year, I ask the students to estimate how many books they think they can read during the school year if they read 30 minutes every night. Their estimates range between one and ten. By the end of the first semester they have all surpassed their estimates, reading between 15 and 36 books by June. This reading program is merely a supplement to the regular curriculum. We still read stories from our anthology and novels on the recommended core, as well as Romeo and Juliet. The students are still responsible for other homework in my class, mostly writing, comprehension, and research assignments.
The types of literature from which my students can select is important to their success. I make a concerted effort to buy as many novels and biographies by and about Latinos as I can find. These, for my students, are not more "boring stuff". If I can hook reluctant readers with these books and they can read enough to become fluent readers, then they usually expand their selections beyond books that reflect their own lives.
Most of my students have seldom encountered Latinos with lives similar to theirs in the literature that they read at school. Latino students are not invisible in school; they should not be invisible in the literature to which we expose them. When students find themselves and their lives reflected in the books they are reading, their own lives become validated…When given the power of choice over their reading selections, along with rich literature that reflects their own experiences, and support in achieving success, these students continue to surpass everyone's expectations of them.
Bobbi Houtchens describes how she takes her reluctant readers from dreading the library to not wanting to put a book down.
The complete interview with Bobbi is available in our Meet the Experts section. This video playlist is also available on YouTube.
My blog, Books for Boys http://booksandboys.blogspot.com is dedicated to drawing attention to the importance of reading. And I have a new book, Lost Island Smugglers, coming out in July, 2010.
Great article/videos. Where can I find a list of books for Latino kids written about or for them?
Thank you for the great lesson plans and for the comments! I am very interested in adopting and using the suggested reading program. How well do you think ELL students who are also disabled would do in such a reading program? Do we have any Accelerated Reading programs using novels that "beginning" reading students can use? The wheels are already turning for literature possibilities...Sandra Cisneros, Gary Soto! I am also very interested in presenting biographical books about the great human rights activists...Cesar Chavez, Joe and Isabelle Serna, and others to my seventh grade disabled students. I hope we can be successful. It is certainly worth a try!
John Wood opens over 5,000 libraries around the world each year, He or his organization might have ideas about getting hold these books written in their native tongue.you need to cast your net a little wider than your own paddling pool in my experience,

also seems as though all her friends have already been listening etc, so promo has likely already happened around her own school and become short-term saturated.

not to discount the local angle, but for different results, you need to try different things.

A self mail out, self printed cd's shouldn't cost an arm and a leg. a spindle 50 of printable cd's is 10 bucks.

mailing it, a dollar each for square oversize envelope?

anybody can make a guerrilla promo pack for almost no money at all.

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