I teach Reading to 9th Grade students. My philosophy is aligned with research which states that for students to have higher lexile scores and better reading skills, they need to simply read more--and to read in a wholistic way. Rather than teaching in bits and pieces, I teach using whole novels, works of nonfiction, and poetry. Students read and write, and write and read. I work very hard to find works that interest and inspire them. They need classic works, but in order to understand them--they have to have the ability to read and process them. By reading material they love and understanding reading is not a punishment or a chore, that ability is developed and lifelong learning can be acheived.

This semester our overall theme is SURVIVAL. We have read "The Night of the Twisters," "Freak the Mighty", "AltDeath.com," "Columbine" by Dave Cullen. We will end the semester with poetry (based on pop music), a graphic novel retelling of "Pandora's Box," the short story "The Lottery," and finish with the explosive and dynamic "The Hunger Games."