Short Story Suggestions for 7th Graders
Every Friday my CT and I do a read aloud with our 7th graders, and we're running out of short story ideas. We're focusing on memoirs right now because we're doing a unit on non-fiction. We find ourselves in a Catch 22 situation because we need material that isn't too racy (our first read aloud was "First French Kiss" and, while they loved it, they could barely contain themselves) but is still more literarily sophisticated than they could read themselves (which is why we're not reading "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and the like). I've looked through the previous posts and I don't think I would feel comfortable reading about things like sexual abuse when we (purposely) don't really allow time for discussion or written reflection. I guess what I'm asking for are memoir texts at a high school reading level that are age-appropriate for middle schoolers. Suggestions? Anyone? Anyone?
--Cheryl
posted by 15 Stearns @ 6:07 AM
4 Comments:
I haven't actually seen this book, but I am curious about it and it may have potential: 13: THIRTEEN STORIES THAT CAPTURE THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF BEING THIRTEEN -- at least worth looking at on Amazon.
On the non-fiction front, I had great success with my 8th graders using WHERE SHOULD I SIT AT LUNCH? and having them write in response to reading the Best and Worst Things about High School by Whitney (they wrote B & W re: middle school) as well as reading the chapter on school issues and writing some paragraphs of advice on the same topics (homework, teachers, extracurriculars, standardized tests, etc, etc), again based on their experience in ms.
We're doing a nf unit on persuasive writing, and I also found that my class was quite receptive to read alouds from children's books as we began to explore techniques of persuasion. I did MOM CAN I HAVE A STEGOSAURUS, PLEASE?, by Lois Grambling. and they ate it up with a spoon, really getting into the listening mode and enjoying the story. I did a writing assignment following, which asked them to take the position of the mum and come up w/ an alternative solution to a selected page from the book. Got some really creative responses.
Hope this is somewhat helpful --
Lydia
I used "Bad Boy," by Walter Dean Myers (Meyers?) during my 8th grade memoir unit. I chose certain chapters to read aloud. Each chapter can stand alone. The book touches on issues from "going down the wrong path," to death, to falling in love with literature. It's also good because many students have read his novels.
My students just adore Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, etc). We just read a few chapters and end with Mrs. Pratchett's Revenge. I use this as part of my Personal Narrative unit, but each chapter is a Memoir. This is the only thing that I must do every year too :)Let me know if you enjoy Dahl as much as me :)
oh, i like big boobs
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