The middle-school years are a time when students are extremely self-absorbed. It’s just a part of growing up, but that isn’t going to stop me from trying to get students to read and think about others, with the hopes of developing some empathy!
The English teachers in my district are being asked to promote the “Reading Without Walls” challenge to their students. This challenge encourages students to go outside of their comfort zone and try three types of new books. Challenge #1: Read a book about a topic that you don’t know much about. Challenge #2: Read a book that’s written in a format you don’t normally read. Challenge #3: Read a book about a character who doesn’t live like you or look like you. It’s fairly easy to set up displays in the library to support this initiative. The books get checked out and replaced with new ones, so it’s an area that can be left up for more than a couple of weeks. Both staff and students can get involved in this challenge!
- Find more information about the challenge here: http://geneyang.com/the-reading-without-walls-challenge.
The month of February is a great time to promote Coretta Scott King Award books. For much of my student population, these CSK Award books could meet Challenge 1, 2, or 3. According to the American Library Association, “The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.” (2017). When classes arrive, a few of the books can be book talked while leaving time to browse and place holds. Because I want to expose many students to as many of the books as I can, we will place holds and begin checking out the award books two weeks after the first class visits. Normally I would want students to have the book in their hand immediately. However, a fellow librarian had great success with the hold method; more kids were exposed to more books and reading books in June that were book-talked in February!
- Find out more information on the Coretta Scott King Award here: http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/cskbookawards.
- Read the CSK Award blog here: http://olos.ala.org/csk/.
What are your ideas for expanding the horizons of your students? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
--Christina St. Clair
ALA. (2017, December 18). The Coretta Scott King Book Awards. Retrieved February 04, 2018,
from http://www.ala.org/rt/emiert/cskbookawards
Yang, G. L. (2016, May). The Reading Without Walls Challenge. Retrieved February 04, 2018,
from http://geneyang.com/the-reading-without-walls-challenge
