Recreational Reading class! Subbing May 3rd

Today I am subbing for a middle school English teacher. The day starts with a set time for reading for the whole school. I like the idea of starting the day of reading, its kind of like a bell ringer for the whole day, but with school starting so early, 7:20, it might be hard for the students to focus on their reading. I have a feeling most of them are just spacing off.

    My first class is recreational reading. The students are working on book groups. There are seven groups of around 4 students, each group reading a different young adult book. I am not sure if the students got to choose the groups and what they are reading or not. As this is recreational reading I would assume that the students got to choose what to read. I really like the idea of this class, but the classroom is pretty loud with some groups discussing and some reading out loud. Some groups are reading together quietly on their own (if that makes sense); are they able to concentrate on their reading with so much going on around them. It seems like most of the students are into their reading. I heard one student say “Spoiler alert! Where are you?” that means he is paying attention and cares enough to be a little upset that a student ruined a surprise for them.
    One great aspect of this assignment is how easy it is to differentiate within a class. You can encourage students to get in groups based on their reading ability and assign or have them pick out books on their reading level. You can also assign books that are just above a students reading level to encourage them to stretch their abilities with a book that they are interested in. This class can help fulfill Kelly Gallagher’s theory of 50/50, half of the reading should be “school” reading and the other half should be choice reading. I talked with a teacher next door and found out that this is a quarter long class. Each subject has a class, like math and the world for math, that the students take for a quarter. They are thinking about turning this hour into an RTI hour, which would be interesting, but some of the teachers are resistant because they use the quarter class to fulfill some of their curriculum requirements.
    I also talked to this teacher about curriculum and how it flows from middle school to junior high to senior high. The school district does not allow for time for the teachers from different schools to collaborate. This means that there is no continuity between the levels. Every body get frustrated because they expect the students to now this, or they don’t teach something because they expect it to be covered in the next level.
    An interesting tidbit. While the students in her ca class were writing/ typing their short stories, I overheard a student tell another student. “see in books when a new person speaks its indented.” This student was trying to point out to another student, using a book she was reading, the correct format for writing dialogue. I was so excited to hear this after having taught dialogue to the sophomores last semester.