Literacy Program help...

[Mr. H]

Ok, so I just took on an extra job running a literacy program for students in foster care. I will be working with students from ages 4-17. According to the social workers, the highest reading level is at about 6th grade. I was wondering if there were any specific books or interesting ideas I could use in setting up this program. For the younger students, we will be working on alphabet and phonics. I am more concerned with the mid-aged students. I work primarily with high-schoolers. This is a once-a-week gig with a little extra tutoring. Are there any books out there that seem to appeal to a broad audience of possibly reluctant readers? Most of these kids are behind because they have either missed school because they were too busy trying to survive to put any importance on it, or they have been so badly abused and neglected that they have found schooling difficult. The advantage of this program will be that all of these kids are foster kids so they all have something in common. I just want to make the most of this experience for them. As much as I'd like to work one-on-one with all of these kids, I just don't have the time or the resources.

Any ideas will be welcome.

[psafter]

Hi. I was reading your post about suggestions for interesting reading titles. I teach middle grades (6-8). For the past few years, our summer school program has been using the Bluford Series. You did not mention what ethnicities you were working with, but most of my students are African-American with a sprinkling of Hispanics and Whites; however, all of them enjoy reading the Bluford Series because they can relate to their issues. There are ten novels, and all of them are ten chapters long. They read easily and quickly. They are put out by Townsend Press and cost only one dollar each. There is also a teaching guide to go along with each of them.

The Bluford Series novels from Townsend Press were written to appeal to both intermediate and advanced readers. While content in the series is sophisticated enough for high school students and beyond, the reading level for the novels is between 5th and 6th grade. Each novel contains less than 200 pages, encouraging even reluctant readers to read from cover to cover. Topics, themes, and situations in the Bluford Series were chosen to engage students' real-life experiences. By having immediate relevance to students' lives, the books are more likely to keep students' interest--and teach them the value and pleasure of reading. The following links can provide you with more detailed information:

http://www.townsendpress.com/order/customer/product.php?productid=30

http://www.embracingthechild.org/bluford.html[/U]
:)

Rita Williams-Garcia, Sharon Draper, and Sharon Flake are also good, interesting, young adult authors. Hope this helps you. Good luck with the program!!!

P. Sims June 27, 2007

[Mr. H]

Thank you so much. I'll see about getting those purchased through the office. The students range from 4 to 17... I was more worried about the older students. I don't think teaching phonics, sight-word reading, spelling, etc will be too difficult. I'm not being held to content standards but I am using them as a guide to help prepare them for what they will be facing in school... I was more worried about the two 16 year olds who are reading at a 6th-grade level. These books sound perfect. I'm also compiling a lending library as well to help appeal to individual interests.

Thank you again for your response. :D

[psafter]

Hope it all works out!!!

[Unregistered]

If you have time, you really should read Richard Allington's book What Really Matters to Struggling Readers. It contains a lot of research, which can bog you down some, but he really gets down to the nitty-gritty of how to help struggling readers....What helps and what doesn't help. Your position sounds perfect for this book. (Be sure and get the 2nd Edition).
Good luck!