For many teachers of middle school and high school, the greatest challenge they face in trying to help struggling readers improve their skills can be students' self-perception. When young people do not see themselves as members of the "literacy club," it is not just a simple matter of persuading them that becoming a fluent reader is…

Pressured to comply with state and district mandates, teachers may follow scripted, back-to-basics lessons and, as a result, feel frustrated about the assaults on their professionalism and the prevalence of "test-prep pedagogy." As they experience relentless pressure to improve test scores, teachers face a constant challenge to maintain…

When the authors realized that successful book selection is not a natural skill for all learners, they developed a tool to support self-selection of independent reading material without book leveling. This tool is called BOOKMATCH, and it supports readers for whom book selection is "complicated." BOOKMATCH is an acronym in which each letter…

Literature circles are groups of three to eight students who have read the same (self-selected) story or novel and have gathered to discuss their reading. Discussions are teacher supported but student led, and they combine collaborative learning with independent reading. Teachers can use these small-group discussions to link reading, writing, and…

The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of student self-selecting literature and reading engagement in an elementary reading curriculum. The article discuses the use of self-selected reading in the context of child development, book difficulty, independent reading time accountability, and a supportive environment. The successful…