Assign Ells Students to Read Books Like Romeo and Juliet
Teaching Literature to Struggling Readers at the High School Level
- The Albert Squad
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If you lot're a high school English teacher, you're probably proud of the fact that you're a #booknerd. You love reading! And you desire all of your students to beloved reading also! When you see a student geek out over the latest bestseller, y'all know you lot've chosen the right career.
But for high school students who genuinely struggle to admission literature appropriate for their grade level, finding joy in reading is a huge challenge. Lower level texts oftentimes experience babyish and include characters and plot points that are developmentally inappropriate. There can also be a lot of shame for students who are struggling with reading at this historic period. This means they're sometimes resistant to a lot of support or pocket-sized group educational activity.
Here at Albert, we take a squad of former teachers who spent years working with struggling readers, and then nosotros compiled a list of tips and tricks for supporting students in and out of the classroom. These strategies are great for English language Learners as well.
For Texts Read in Grade
Find lower level versions of difficult texts for students to read at home
- Teenagers won't desire to read the lower level version in class in front end of their peers, but they volition take this support if they know they're struggling.
- Students tin gain a improve understanding of the general storyline and grapheme desires on their own, making them more than likely to engage in in-grade discussion.
- Supporting students with full general comprehension leaves more room for close reading and text assay in grade.
- We love: Real Reads. They ship to the Us and have:
- Shakespearean texts (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet)
- American classics (The Great Gatsby, The Scarlet Letter)
- Greek classics (The Iliad, The Odyssey)
- Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and so much more than
- Note that lower level books are very different from a Spark/Cliff Notes summary.
- These summaries are not just irksome to read, but they don't meaningfully develop characters or use interesting linguistic communication.
- Assigning chapter summaries to a struggling reader could turn them off to the text fifty-fifty more.
Avert tiresome comprehension checks
- Don't be afraid of assigning unlike comprehension checks to dissimilar groups of students based on their reading level.
- Perhaps some of your college readers tin breeze through affiliate quizzes or written summaries merely for struggling readers these assignments tin be discouraging ("I read everything last night and still got all of these questions wrong?!").
- Rather, students can illustrate what happened, tell an alternate catastrophe, or create a cartoon.
- Ask them how they can prove to you lot that they did the homework. They might take an interesting idea for y'all!
Allow students to heed to the text on a regular footing
- Audiobooks are sometimes idea of equally a scaffold for students with learning disabilities, but they work well for really any struggling reader.
- Endeavor assigning the audio to the student as homework, so they can engage with the text in class.
- There are a ton of free audiobook resources online.
- A few we like:
- Learning Ally
- DigitalBook.io
- A few we like:
- In improver, notice time to read out loud during grade.
- Brand it cozy. Turn the lights down. Put up twinkly lights. Ready the mood. High schoolers reply surprisingly well to this — we're never too old to hear a good story!
- Back up students when they're asked to read out loud.
- Struggling readers fear being cold-called and stumbling over difficult words.
- Assign them a passage or paragraph in advance and so they can practice and feel prepared.
- Create reading groups or pairs that include students with a mix of reading levels.
- Ask more than confident readers (in individual) to help struggling readers in a non-condescending way.
- Or, don't make them read out loud if they're not comfortable!
Show several interpretations of a text to make information technology more relatable
- Intersperse film clips, songs, TV adaptations, plays, and interviews throughout a book unit of measurement to help with appointment.
- Testify students that every book is part of a larger cultural/political/social climate.
- Of form nosotros love Baz Luhrmann'due south 1996 version of Romeo + Juliet — but fifty-fifty that feels a picayune dated at present (sad, we know).
- If there aren't any obvious modern adaptations, try connecting books to movies with a similar theme. What well-nigh Lord of the Files with Black Panther? Or Catcher in the Rye with Ladybird?
- Relatedly — enquire students to read auxiliary texts or texts that give context around the volume's cardinal premise. If you're reading 1984 — talk about censorship, the Facebook data breach, or how Alexa/Siri can monitor your beliefs and predict your wants and needs.
For Independent Reading
Indicate students towards "Hullo-Lo" books
- Hi-Depression books are "loftier-interest" and "low-readability."
- They include simpler vocabulary and sentence structure just stories have mature themes and characters.
- A few series we like:
- The Bluford Series
- Saddleback Publishing
- High Interest Publishing
- High Noon Books
- Stone Curvation Books (more appropriate for heart schoolhouse)
- A few series we like:
Read the same book as your struggling reader
- This is one of our favorite strategies!
- Schedule chats with them on your prep period or earlier or after schoolhouse.
- This is a cracking mode to build rapport with students who might be intimidated by your class.
Brand reading actually appealing in your classroom!
- Display books with bonny covers, create a friendly reading nook, get pillows, put a jar of candy out near the bookshelf (whatever works, right?!).
- Ask students for titles they're interested in and schedule a monthly book fair/bookstore.
- Point students towards fanfiction, young developed, and graphic novels. No matter what they're into (hip hop, anime, fashion, world peace), someone somewhere is writing about it.
At this historic period, students know that they're behind and badly want a teacher to help them out (but of course would never admit it). Recollect this is sensitive for them, and be fragile when offer support. Students volition appreciate if y'all're transparent about where they're at and how much hard work it volition accept for them to get upwardly to speed. Communicate that it'due south non their fault — overcrowded classrooms in previous supports, the difficulty of learning a new linguistic communication, or just getting pushed through the system could all be contributing factors.
When you meet struggling readers voluntarily reading or discussing texts in form, pulling out independent reading books without being prompted, or asking y'all for new book suggestions, you'll know you've done something right!
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Source: https://www.albert.io/blog/teaching-literature-to-struggling-readers-at-the-high-school-level/
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