Helping Students See Their Progress

Hey everyone! It's Bex here from Reading and Writing Redhead. Another school year has passed and at the end of the year I do a lot of reflecting on how things have gone.

Sometimes I feel like my kiddos don't really understand how much they have progressed and at times I think I forget too. A bunch of years ago I came up with an idea to help! We always do a fairly simple comprehension activity in the fall. Our school uses the Treasures reading program and the first story is David's New Friends. We read the story together and I give out a fairly simple Beginning, Middle, End activity. We discuss together the story and I ask for student suggestions as to what happened in each part of the story. We also talk about what to do if you don't remember, and someone always suggests to go back and look through the story and get ideas from the pictures and text! Then the kiddos go ahead and complete the page without help (which is SO hard to do for me, I am dying to help!!). I collect them and correct them and file them away for parent conferences.( By the way, this year I showed them again to parents at the March conference as we looked at their child's current writing work. It was a great way for them to see growth.)

Then, about a week before school ends, I pass out the old Treasures books from the first half of the year again. The students are usually perplexed - "But we already read those stories!" I have them choose either to read the story again to themselves or with a buddy. I explain we are going to read David's New Friends and complete the SAME assignment they did in the fall and then I will give them the old one so they can compare.

A couple of my fellas rereading David's New Friends.

  

After everyone is done and before we pass back the papers from September I ask how they thought the story was to read- thumbs up for easy, thumbs in the middle for just right, thumbs down for hard. Most give a thumbs up! I  give a reminder that in the fall most of them thought it was just right or hard to read! Then the fun starts!

Here is someone's before and after paper (sorry I should have put the September paper on the left)!

Such an improvement in many areas- handwriting, spelling, sentence length, detail, even comprehension. In the fall she just copied a sentence from the story for each story part. Now she wrote her own response and fairly detailed responses at that!

This is another girl's before (on the left) and after papers. 

It is interesting to see changes like letter size, capital letters not being in the middle of the sentences any more, improved spelling, but also interesting because I think she could be doing better. With her skills she can write longer sentences than the ones on the paper in June. They are really almost the same length as the ones in September. When everyone raised their hands and commented about the comparison, many kids said things like, "Oh my paper in the fall had 4 word sentences and my paper today has a 13 word sentence",  "My sentences were so short in the fall! They are twice as long now" and "I wrote one short sentence in September but 3 sentences for each part today!" I hope by seeing other's pages and hearing how they improved she might be inspired to put a wee bit more effort into her work in the fall.

So in any case, I hope this gives you an idea or two on how to get your students to actually see their progress. A tip I have is be sure to store the September work in a VERY safe place so you don't lose it. Then a kid or 2 will be disappointed because they can't see their own work. I had someone who refused to do it in the fall and I forgot about it until it was time to do this one.

What do you do to help your students see their growth. Comment below and let me know!

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So Many Picture Books...So Little Time

Summer is one of my favorite times because I have more time to read than I do during the school year.  Also, (please don't throw things at me) I like attending professional development opportunities provided in my area by the local educational cooperative.  My FAVORITE professional development every year is "So Many Picture Books...So Little Time" presented by Wendy Ellis, Director of the Reading program at Harding University.  She shares over 50 picture books during the PD that are current (published in the previous year).  It is the best way to keep current on all the great books being published.  Today, I am going to share some of my favorites with you.  Sit back, relax, and be prepared to add some books to your Amazon wishlist.

Simpson's Sheep Won't go to Sleep by Bruce Arant

Farmer Simpson wants to sleep, needs to sleep, but isn't getting any sleep because the sheep keep coming up with reasons why they aren't ready to go to bed.  What will he do?  How will he get the sheep to sleep?  As I read this book, I immediately made a text-to-text connection between the sheep (and all of their excuses) and to the pigeon in Mo Willem's Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late who continually made excuses why he should be allowed to stay up.

 

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Duncan wants to color, but his crayons have other plans.  Each crayon writes him a letter with their grievances.  What will Duncan do?  Will he ever get to color again?

This book has a FABULOUS book trailer that gives you hints about how each crayon is feeling.

 

Charlie Goes to School by Ree Drummond, illustrated by Diane deGroat

You probably know Ree Drummond better as the Pioneer Woman.  She also write books.  Charlie is her basset hound that lives with her on the ranch. The book starts with Charlie seeing the kids going to school (home school) and he decides that he can have his own school.  Find out what happens by reading this adorable book.

You can read more about the book on her blog HERE.  The book also has a recipe at the end for Strawberry Oatmeal Bars that look delicious.

Book Trailer:

 

Llama, Llama, and the Bully Goat by Anna Dewdney

My little girl loves her Llama Llama board book that we read every night as part of our going-to-bed ritual.  This Llama Llama book is a great read to help students understand what bullying is.  Llama Llama is learning a lot of new things at school, but Gilroy Goat is teasing him.  What is Llama Llama going to do?  What will happen to Gilroy?

Kid President has a video that would be a wonderful accompaniment to this book:  Kid President Pep Talk.  One of my favorite lines from the video:  "If we are on the same team, then we need to start acting like it."  Read the Llama Llama book, watch the video, and have students discuss what connections the video has to bullying.

 

The Little "Read" Hen by Dianne Las Casas

This spin on the classic "Little Red Hen" is great for introducing young writers to the writing process.  Little "Read" Hen wants to write a story, but none of her friends will help.  What will she do?

This book has phrases that keep you laughing and engaged throughout the story, like "busted her tail feathers."  At the end of the story, there is a "recipe" for a story that would make a marvelous bulletin board to showcase student writing pieces.  The author has a page on her website that has activities to go with the book:  educator guide and theater script.



Thanks for sticking with me through these recommendations.  Dr. Ellis did share over fifty books with us, so be on the look out for more posts here and at my blog.  I LOVE a great picture book!

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Using Music to Teach Reading Skills

Hi everyone! It's Bex here from Reading and Writing Redhead. You probably know by now but I love finding creative ways to teach reading and I love bringing other types of learning into the classroom beyond the basics that I have to teach. Today I have some ideas to share with you about using music to teach reading skills.

Ask yourself, how many children know the alphabet at a young age- age two  for example? Probably most of them know it because someone thought to set the alphabet to the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The tune, the rhythm, even the rhyme, helps ingrain the letters in kids' brains.

Music can be used to help students learn the alphabet,  the sounds of letters, develop phonemic awareness, build phonics skills and vocabulary and more! There are many songs to teach grammar skills and folks have used nursery rhymes as songs to teach basic spelling patterns and print conventions. Fountas and Pinnell once wrote that our students should "sing songs of such delight that the lyrics remain in the memory forever". What songs do you still remember from school (Hello Conjunction Junction!)?

Besides listening to songs, singing songs, and watching music videos, some teachers have their students rewrite familiar songs as a lesson to learn sounds or rhymes.

I found a great website that is an amazing resource of songs for teachers. It's called Songs for Teaching: Using Music to Reinforce Learning. It is a treasure trove of songs and song lyrics (click on any title to hop over and see the song).  There are songs that teach the alphabet letters such as Fran Avni's Dinosaurs to Dinner.  There are songs specifically for vowels and consonants such as  Get Your Own Goat by Avni and Vowel Sound Hound Dogs 1.  A song I plan to use this week is one for R controlled vowels called Rock and Roll Star by Fun Phonics Songs.

With all the technology out there, maybe you are able to show videos to your class. Here are just a very few on what seems like millions of videos, new and old, that use music to teach reading skills.

ALPHABET:
Want a new twist on the alphabet? Try Usher's Alphabet Song! (by the way, does Elmo's voice scare anyone else's dog?)

PHONICS:
Phonics Songs with 2 Words

Electric Company-  Silent e - I bet you remember this:  "Who can turn a can into a can, who can turn a pan into a pane?"

PARTS OF SPEECH:
Schoolhouse Rock - Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here 

Schoolhouse Rock - A Noun is a Person Place or Thing

Schoolhouse Rock Conjunction Junction- the sentimental favorite!

GRAMMAR:
Electric Company's  N Apostrophe T: I personally played this several times this year and my students love it! Who needs fancy technology to enjoy music and a video (and learn while we're at it)?

RHYMES:
Beans and Franks TV - Rhymes

MOTIVATION:
Ocoee Middle School's Gotta Keep Reading: A fun, creative take on Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling which is really fun, catchy, and inspires kids to read (great to motivate them for the summer break) !

Finally here are a few music teachers' blogs. They are worth a look, even if you're not a music teacher. Teacher blogs are always full of treasures!

Amy Abbott's Music a la Abbot 
Tanya's Kodaly Inspired Blog 
Lindsay Jervis's Pursuit of Joyfulness
A collaborative music teacher blog: Kodaly Corner 
Mrs. Miracle's Music Room 
Allison's Music Blog

I hope  you have a few new ideas for how to incorporate music in your reading lessons. How do you use music in your teaching? Please comment below and let us know!

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Keep Kids Active and Engaged While Learning Reading Skills!

Hi everyone! It's  Bex from Reading and Writing Redhead. Before my school vacation started, I had been thinking a lot about movement. In New England we had a VERY long winter in which we rarely went outside for recess. I had come up with new ways to get my kids moving and new brain breaks, but I had been thinking of ways to get movement involved during the academic blocks. Why save it just for breaks?

 

Today I have compiled a resource of some activities that will get your kiddos moving while they are working on their reading skills. Sometimes it is just a little movement, but if you want to really go all out, some of them require you actually going outside to the playground! Most of the ideas are not mine - many have been around for years, so I have no idea who came up with the ideas originally. Some I found recently so I will share with you where and give you a link and a few I thought up myself, although I am sure the idea came from somewhere - someone did something similar or with the same material but I am using it in a different way. You also may have your own great ideas or ones that are not here so please comment and let us know!



Phonemic Awareness and Phonics

Catch it! For this, students stand in a circle (or sit) and the teacher says a one syllable word. She tosses a bean bag or small soft ball to a student, who catches it and says the initial sound, tosses it to another student who says the medial sound, and tosses it to another student who says the final sound. The whole group says the whole word again as the bag gets tossed back to the teacher and she picks a new word to try.

Dribble the Sound or Syllable: Dribble a ball (and say each phoneme in a word or each syllable in a word.
Dribble ball, switch from left to right hand, as say phonemes in a word or syllables in a word for extra challenge and brain work, switch hands as you say each sound or syllable).

I'm Going on a Camping Trip: You know the song! Sit in a circle and clap with a steady beat. Go around the circle and everyone repeats the sentence - "I am going on a camping trip and I am going to bring (fill in blank)". At each student's turn, he says the word of what he is bringing. Each student could think of a word with the same initial, medial or final sound as a word you are working on, or a rhyming word.

Twister with Blends: I have found phonics and other reading games for Twister all around the web, but this is a new "twist" (haha!) on it. Head over to  Apples 4 Bookworms to get the simple and easy (and really fun) directions!

Walk this Way: The teacher says a simple sentence like"The lion roars".  Students repeat it and take one step forward for each word in the sentence. Then, students say how many words or steps there are in the sentence. It might  help for students to hold up a finger for each word to help them count the number of steps/words. A variation is that students can also walk backwards or  sideways for this activity.

Sight Words

Move, Groove, and read: This game is from the blog Mom to 2 Posh Lil' Divas. She has some terrific, creative ideas for learning games.  Head over to her blog for details but it involves target words, music, and lots of moving. I want to play this one!

Word Family Slam: This one was spotted over at the blog Toddler Approved, but I think kids well into elementary school would enjoy it. You could even do it indoors with a free wall and a soft ball. Head over to get the info.

Twister Sight Words: A variation on the Twister game I mentioned that would work well for phonics skills. You use sight words instead. I am not claiming this idea either - A Year as a Reading Teacher has a great post on it. Head over to her blog to read it.

Beach Ball Sight Words: You probably have seen or heard of this idea before, but grab a beach ball, a permanent marker, and write your target words. Toss the ball and read whichever word your finger (or thumb - choose one in advance)  lands on!


Hopscotch: Have hopscotch on the playground? Why not use chalk and on each spot, write a sight word, then toss a pebble, read the word it lands on, and hop away, skipping that space.

Bean Bag Toss: If you have bean bags and one of those bean bag toss goals with the holes in it, try labeling each hole (with a taped on sticky or index card) with a target word and kids have to read the word they are aiming for and then read the word (it might be a different one!) that they actually toss the bag into. What else could you use if you don't have something with holes in it already? I bet someone has a creative and easy idea - let us know!

Sight Word Bowling - use dry erase markers to write sight words on an indoor bowling set, and after knocking pins down, students read the words on the pins they have to stand back up for the next player.

Grammar

Jump Roping Rhymes: With your group, create a jump rope rhyme with antonyms, synonyms, homophones etc. (or words from a word family you are working on), then go outside and try it. Kids can teach their classmates at recess, too!

Step Forward/Back: Group could line up and students could suggest antonym pairs (students would take one step forward and one step back for each word in the pair) or synonyms (2 steps forward)

Syllables

Sound Marching: Teacher says, "We are going to say some words that have more than one syllable. We will march as we say each part of the word." Model by saying the whole word, such as "doorknob" , marching first with your right foot as you say "door" and then with your left foot as you say "knob." Practice together and then try some words with students. After each ask them "How many marching steps did you take for the word? That is the number of syllables."

Raise Up: Teacher says a two (or more) syllable word. Students repeat the word as they raise both their arms above their heads. Students drop one arm as they say each syllable.


Vocabulary and Comprehension

Students move like the animals in the story they are reading

Teaching prepositions using movement

Using body language to show how characters are feeling in the story

Playing charades to review main ideas

Role play or pantomime to retell important story parts

Letter Recognition

Alphabet Hunt on the Go: With clipboards, pencils and papers walk around the school looking for examples of each letter of the alphabet. Kids could write the letters as they see them or you could provide them with a checklist.

Also, any of the Read the Room and Write the Room activities you see all over the web, at TPT and so on are great for getting students up and moving.

Here are a few other resources I found with some terrific ideas:
RMC Health - great post on the importance of exercise and movement based learning opportunities in schools
Reading.org - useing movement andmusic to improve  insttuction
Ascd.org - resources on movement and learning
Pbs.org - lesson plan resources that involve movement
Dr. Martha Eddy's resources for incorporating movement in the classroom

Please comment and let us know how you use movement in your language arts lessons. The more ideas we have, the better our instruction can be!

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Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend!  I spent part of the long weekend reading Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst. I have a ton of thoughts running through my head now that I am finished.  I thought I would share two of them with you today to help me better understand what I have read.

Common Core Standards require students to closely read a variety of texts.  What does that mean exactly?  I have seen the posters everywhere on Pinterest and in the blogisphere that breaks close reading down to what you do each time you read the text (reading the text two to four times).  Many of those say that students should be annotating as they read.  My question has always been:  How are students supposed to know what they should be writing in the margins that is actually helpful in deeply understanding a text?  It seems too simple to just have them write a question mark next to a part where they have a question or an exclamation point next to something that was surprising.  If they are closely reading, there should be a transaction between the reader and the text.  Students should be thinking deeper about the questions they are having or why he or she finds the part surprising.  Beers and Probst give you six signposts that you can teach your students to help them dig deeper into the text and create meaning by transacting with the text at a deeper level.  What do you do to help your students dig deeper into a text without leading them to the meaning you derived from the text?

Another term that has risen to the top of discussion since the implementation of Common Core is 'text dependent questions."  In Notice & Note, the authors write, "We worry that a focus on text-dependent questions may create a nation of teacher-dependent kids...Text dependent questions usually suggest that a teacher has crafted the questions and the order of them to lead students to a predetermined meaning of a particular passage" (p. 43).   The authors suggest that teachers work with students to create their own text dependent questions.  They even provide a structure to help teachers do this with their students. (Clicking on the picture will bring you to Google Docs so you can download your own copy.)

I don't want my students to become dependent on me.  I want them to be independent readers.  Questions they create on their own are more engaging and authentic than any question I could ever write.  Students are trained that there is 'a right answer' when the teacher asks a question.  If I am the only one creating the questions, they will never fully engage in the text.

One sentence really stood out to me and I came back to it over and over again.

I would love to know:  What book has changed you?

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Inspiration for Multi-Sensory Phonics Activities

Hi everyone! It's Bex here from Reading and Writing Redhead. While working on phonics during RTI, I try and make the repeated practice as interesting and varied as possible, while still being effective. There are so many ways to teach phonics in a multi-sensory way and it can make such an impact on your students, I thought I would share some of the things I have tried, some tried and true strategies, and a couple new ideas with you.

Multi-Sensory Phonics Activities

The definition of multi-sensory activities from the International Dyslexia Association: "Multisensory teaching is simultaneously visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile to enhance memory and learning. Links are consistently
made between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear), and kinesthetic-tactile (what we feel) pathways in learning to read and spell."  To put it in simpler terms, it is teaching to read or spell by making connections between the visual, auditory, and tactile (what we see, hear and feel/touch). If you use a multi-sensory approach to teach phonics, children are at an advantage because they are learning by tapping into all three pathways, not just the visual as they would if you only used pencil and paper - plus it is much more engaging and interesting to children!

I have a great deal of suggestions for you of activities and materials that incorporate the kinesthetic into teaching phonics and phonemic awareness. Many of these ideas have been around for a long time, so I don't know who originally thought of them but if I saw anything new (to me) recently, I include a link to the blog post or website where I saw it.

Playdoh: Roll the letters to make words but you can also flatten Play Doh into pancake-type pieces and "carve" the letters in them.

Craft Sand, Flour, Salt, Sugar, Rice, Spaghetti: Use them at your own risk because they can be quite messy - but also quite effective! Different teachers have tried different things, like putting the sand into a dish washing tub or a large baking pan to contain the mess. Regardless of how you use it, making letters in these materials is great for making kinesthetic connections.

Plastic Screen/Red Crayons: Plastic screens can be bought in craft stores or stores like Michaels and AC Moore in the yarn sections. Place paper over it and use red crayon (I suppose that you could use any color but it was introduced to me by a colleague as "red words")  to write letters and words. When done, the words have a bumpy texture and can be read letter by letter or a whole word at a time.




Shaving Cream: make letters in the cream with your fingers. For easier clean up you can use the shaving cream on a tray instead of a desk, although I have heard the cream also cleans surfaces well (and leaves a nice scent).





Chalk: On the chalkboard, or even better, get everyone outside and use sidewalk chalk to write your words!

Foam Alphabet Stamps:  alone or dip in paint

Alphabet Cookie Cutters - with cookie dough  or play dough

Phonics Pebbles: I had never heard of these until recently but you can buy them at places like Really Good Stuff or Amazon. They look like a neat idea! But they are fairly pricey.  If you have the time, patience and lots of pebbles nearby you could make your own.

Balloons: Write words you are working on on the balloons, toss them, and whichever word your hand is touching, you read aloud. For a different twist on this, use balls instead. No Time for Flash Cards has an awesome post on how she did this with ping pong balls!





Glitter Glue:  My second graders love these for art projects so why couldn't you use them to help with phonics and phonemic awareness instruction too?

Pipe Cleaners: bend and shape them into the letters you need.

Wikki Stix or Bendaroos (I have heard Bendaroos are less expensive): Bend those wax covered sticks into the letters and sounds you are working on like you would with pipe cleaners.





Twister: Instead of playing with colors write words with different word families you are working on on the mat with dry erase marker (you can wipe it off and write new ones later). When the spinner lands on red, fox example, you would put a foot on a "ack" word or a hand on a "ike" word. You can also tape index cards with words on them onto the twister board.

 Mom to 2 Posh Lil' Divas has a terrific post on how she uses this.

Hit The Word: Tape word cards to wall (scattered) and toss a ball. Whichever word you hit, say, or  you can do the opposite, read a word, then hit it with the ball. You can do the same with words on the wall and a fly swatter, or just use words on paper at a desk, easel or white board  and hit with a fly swatter after reading it.

Wilson (or other brand) magnetic tiles: If you are using regular letter tiles or Wilson tiles you can use them on the table just fine, but also try using them on an old cookie sheet. Ask parents to send in cookie sheets they don't need any more.

Block Towers: For each word with a particular phonics sound such as short i, or each rhyming word, the child adds a block to the tower. What child doesn't like making towers? It sounds fun to see how tall it can go and it is fun when everything falls down, too. Admit it, you've smiled and laughed even as adult when you or your child or student knocks a tower over!

There are many more ways to get the kinesthetic  sense  involved with learning. It is a great way to help your struggling readers learn phonics skills while having tons of fun!  You also may want to head over to Emily's blog: The Reading Tutor/OG because she has tons of terrific phonics suggestions, among many other literacy ideas. What other suggestions do you have?

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Engaging Reluctant Readers

Hello, Adventurers!  Jana, from Thinking Out Loud, here with you today to give you a few ideas on engaging reluctant students.  My post is inspired by Lauren's "Are You a Book Whisperer" book review over Donalyn Miller's fabulous book.  I read her book this summer as part of an online book study and still can't get it out of my head.  As I read the book, I kept nodding my head and saying "I am so glad that I am not the only one who thinks this way."

Before we delve into helping reluctant readers, let's define it so we are all on the same page.  Scholastic had a great definition:  "reluctant readers are those who, for a variety of reasons, do not like to read, do not like to expose themselves as readers, and have a hard time finding books they want to read."  I love this definition because reluctant readers aren't just those students who do not like to read.  This group also includes students who don't want others to know that they are readers and those who haven't found the right book yet to introduce them into the wonderful world of reading.  Donalyn Miller put a positive spin on reluctant in her book The Book Whisperer by calling them "DORMANT" readers because "they have a reader inside themselves somewhere" and "need the right conditions to let that reader loose" (p.28).

So many times we focus on the struggling reader:  the one who has trouble decoding, who has poor fluency, who struggles with comprehension.  With that as our only focus, the reluctant/dormant reader can fall through cracks.  These readers can read but don't.  As teachers, what can we do for the reluctant/dormant ones?  We need to wake them up and show them the wonderful worlds that await in books.

Student Choice
Donalyn Miller begins chapter 4 with a wonderful quote from Richard McKenna:  "Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."  Student choice can be difficult for teachers because it is a time when we have to let go.  When Henry continually picks Captain Underpants books to read, I wanted to scream, "Pick something new!"  Instead I should be celebrating the fact that Henry is continuing to read, no matter what it is.  Giving students choice in what they read creates buy-in.

Be a Reader
Time to be honest.  How many of you read on a daily basis?  When I was teaching reading, I could have raised my hand.  Today, I cannot and that makes me sad.  However, I am working on bringing reading back into my life through on One Little Word, passion.  Books are a passion for me and I let everything else get in the way and push that passion to the side.  Teachers need to be role models for their students and that includes being a reader.  I could not stand in front of my seventh and eighth grade students every day and tell them that reading is important if I was not reading on a daily basis.  Why?  Because actions speak louder than words.  If they know that I am reading, if they see me read, if they see the stack of books I am reading and the stack that will be reading, then they will believe me when I tell them that reading is important and should be done every day.

Giving Honest Recommendations during Book Talks
Let students know that it is okay if they don't like a book.  Let students know that you don't like every book you have read.  Let students know if there are genres you do not read.  I was honest with my students when I gave book talks.  I would tell them if I liked or disliked the book and why.  Why would I book talk a book I disliked?  I knew that some of my students would like it.  It is also a good thing to let students know that you abandon books.  Even good readers don't finish every book that is started.  A book that I recently abandoned was the first City of Bones by Cassandra Clare.  One of my friends and my husband told me it was a good book, but I could not finish it.  I got bored and didn't care what happened to the characters.

Some Recommendations
Any of these books are fantastic read alouds to draw students in and have them complete the series on their own.  They are also great books to give book talks on to draw students interests.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I was just going to put the first book, but I love the series so much that I have to include them all.  The first one is short compared to the rest and gives an introduction into a world different but the same as our own.  Students can relate to Harry, through his horrendous family life, going to a new school, making friends for the first time, and learning to find his way.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (series:  Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
Riordan draws you into the books before you even start chapter one.  Reading through the table of contents will draw in any reluctant reader.  Chapter titles include:  "I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-algebra Teacher" and "I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom."  The main character is a middle school boy who struggles in school, has ADHD, which makes it easy for kids to identify with him.  The story is filled with adventure and is fast paced so it keeps the reader's attention.

Skeleton Creek by Patrick Carman (first in the series)
The series is written in journal format from the viewpoint of one of the main characters Ryan, who is investigating the strange things that are happening in his town, Skeleton Creek.  What really draws in the reluctant reader?  The video component.  The other main character Sarah takes videos and emails them to Ryan, so you get the story from the journal and through the videos.  The videos are accessed online with the use of a password you get while reading.  The videos are creepy also.  Middle school students love that!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (first in a series)
Jeff Kinney writes his books through a journal format also, but it is different that Carman's.  Kinney's are written through a younger middle school student's eyes.  From Kinney's website:  "It's a new school year, and Greg Heffley finds himself thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up before you're ready are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary."

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