Author Marilyn Singer suggests going easy on close text analysis and instead give kids lots of opportunities to really listen to poetry (make sure it’s the good stuff) and feel the emotion that’s in the text.
Award-winning author Matt de la Peña talks about the many kinds of diversities that students need to see reflected in books, including students who are struggling in school or living in a group home.
Award-winning author Matt de la Peña recalls his interest in reading “Basketball Digest” in middle school, in spite of the fact that he didn’t see himself as a reader.
Author Rick Riordan’s eighth grade English teacher first introduced him to The Lord of the Rings, a book inspired by Norse mythology. Rick realized fantasy writing went back ages and struck a cord with middle schoolers.
Author Rick Riordan was a middle school English teacher who learned that all kids wanted the same things from their teachers — engagement, passion, and someone who cared about them and took them seriously.
