GED Book Club

I teach the following subjects in my GED class at the Kyle Learning Center:  Reading, Writing, Science, and Social Studies.  Many of the students fall within the 17-22 year old age range and have struggled to focus in class.  I have found that incorporating popular culture topics (ie: reading about why people do or do not enjoy horror movies) in class engages them enough that they will also tolerate learning the traditional subject matter (ie:  government structure).  I have planned reading comprehension lessons around magazine articles, news stories, and excerpts from fictional books that they might encounter in their lives, into the course work. 

I frequently tell my students that they should read more at home because that will increase their vocabulary, comprehension, sentence structure, etc.  Some students confided that reading has been difficult for them because of learning differences, disinterest in the subject matter, or that they don’t know what they like to read.  So, I was surprised when my students expressed interested in reading a book in class.  I decided to select a collection of books they would enjoy reading, would be high interest, and accessible to a variety of reading levels. 

The following is the criteria that I used to select the books:

·         Diversity of genres:  fantasy/science fiction, suspense, romance, action/adventure, chick literature.

·         Featured in popular culture and news

·         Had movie version adaptations

·         The first book of a series

·         Appealing to a mixture of ages

·         I had previously read most of the books

·         Recently written and easily available in softcover version

I provided the students with descriptions of the books I had chosen and I gave suggestions of which book to choose depending on their reading level.  Students that had read some of the books explained what they were about to other students in the class.  Most of the students had heard of the books or seen the movie adaptations themselves as well.  I purchased several copies of each book, so students were able to select which book they wanted to read.  In class, the students spend about 30 minutes silently reading their book, and will be meeting in discussion groups when they finish reading their books.

The books I selected:

 Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Series: Book 1)

Hatchet by Gary Paulson

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares (Series: Book 1)

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (Series: Book 1)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson Series: Book 1)