Reading in the Middle DVD

"Reading is a high priority use of class time. My students range from dyslexics to speed readers to sophisticated literary critics. The common denominator is that they know what the reading zone feels like, and they want to be there. No matter who our students are, our job is to invite them to enter this happy state of engagement time and again." -Nancie Atwell

Reading in the Middle, thirty years in the making, is a chance to...
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"Reading is a high priority use of class time. My students range from dyslexics to speed readers to sophisticated literary critics. The common denominator is that they know what the reading zone feels like, and they want to be there. No matter who our students are, our job is to invite them to enter this happy state of engagement time and again." -Nancie Atwell

Reading in the Middle, thirty years in the making, is a chance to observe Nancie Atwell in action as she helps students become skilled, engaged, discerning readers. Nancie's students finish, on average, more than forty books each school year. This staff development DVD shows how she does it-how she inspires and orchestrates frequent, voluminous, independent reading of books.

Nancie shows us the methods that have made her book In the Middle a classic. She gives us a guided tour of her classroom, a seat in her reading workshop, and a CD full of samples of student work, plus her own reproducible forms. We see how she:

• organizes herself and her classroom to support and keep track of students' reading
• sets clear expectations and ground rules for reading workshop
• talks with individuals about their chosen books and teaches reading one-to-one
• presents lessons about critical, literary reading
• uses booktalks to help students make smart choices
• encourages habitual reading and the development of literary tastes, preferences, and opinions

"I became an English teacher," writes Nancie Atwell, "because I love reading, and I wanted to share my passion for books." Now, with Reading in the Middle, we see the fruits of her teaching: students who are as passionate about books as their teacher and who excel as readers.