You...
You love the novels you teach, but you struggle to nurture independent analysis of texts you read together. It seems like students are always waiting for you to tell them what to do and what to think and at what level (and when, and why, and when again, no like now, like this, please god…)
❤️
You see that your students need more support - both in terms of practice and instruction - than your mandated curriculum offers in reading for character, theme, or craft. (That one day on theme just didn’t cut it…)
❤️
You encourage students to read choice books but wonder if the work they are doing as they read is rigorous enough or connected enough to your curriculum to matter or be worth the time and trouble.
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You are struggling to help students - and maybe even yourself - see why reading fiction is important, and are looking for consistent, powerful ways to connect the work we do as readers to the work we do as people living our lives.
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You are frustrated with the amount of depth that students bring to a study of character, theme or craft to the texts they are reading and are looking for tangible, practical lessons that can get everyone thinking at a deeper level.
❤️
You feel like all of the lessons you see feel surface, or for younger kids/easier texts. (If you see one more emotions vs traits poster you are going to scream…)
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You are at - or over - capacity all of the time and need some help - lessons, templates, guides - without letting go of the quality of work that students do.
❤️
You need subs plans that align with reading for character, theme, or craft.
😉
My most recent book, The Heart of Fiction, is now available through Stenhouse/Routledge (previously self published - story on why forthcoming):
https://www.routledge.com/The-Heart-of-Fiction-Reading-for-Character-Theme-and-Craft/Roberts/p/book/9781041156888
While self publishing is probably not going to be my future (the level of marketing and self promotion gives me hives), most who picked up the book have loved it, and found it practically and deeply helpful, which gratifies me down to my marrow:
