Teacher Discussion Forums

[Maranwae]

I am currently teaching at a Hagwon and am trying to think of "real books" (i.e. novels) to use in the classroom instead of books like "Reading Success," "Reading Plus," "True Stories in the News," and such since there really isn't a story when it comes to those or there are too few words. The students I am teaching that I am looking for books for are in a few different classes. One class' age is about 10 (Western age), the second is about 12 (Western age), and the third is a group of students 13-15 (Western age). The two younger classes are a high beginner to low intermediate. The older class is just about intermediate. I thought of some books that I had used back stateside with a couple children learning English, but the Korean teachers took one look at the size of the book and the size of the text and said that they were too difficult. I even suggested books that elementary students (second to third grade students-USA) use. The problem we ran into there was that either the book is not in print here or it was an adapted book that the Korean teachers said was way too easy for the level. I have found some success with "Charlotte's Web" by E. B. White with another class, but am still looking for other options. So, any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[barista]

I'm not a teacher, but I'm going to start working on my certificate/Master's in January, so you might want to take this into account.

When I was growing up the books I remember reading in school were Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I thought Charlotte's Web was good (and is being made into a new movie). You might want to look into short story collections, as well.

[Senorita Daniels]

When I was that age, I liked the Chronicles of Narnia. A Horse and His Boy has action and adventure, which the boys should enjoy.

[markwelch]

[quote="Maranwae"] I am currently teaching at a Hagwon and am trying to think of "real books" (i.e. novels) to use in the classroom instead of books like "Reading Success," * * * [/quote]

Check out the list of "Top Books for Teens" at
http://www.welchenglish.com/top-books-for-teens.htm

For lesson plan resources for novels, see:
http://www.LitPlans.com/

[mrodas]

Try The Eight Ball Club: Ocean of Fire by M.C. Pugin-Rodas. It's a novel written for secondary school ESL students by an ESL teacher and it's available on Amazon.com. It's about eight teens from diverse backgrounds who become trapped together inside of a volcano. There are vocab words, a glossary at the end, academic science words, easy-to-read fonts and spacing. The story is teen-interest with humor, love, and multicultural issues, and all at an intermediate language level.

[rusmeister]

[JessicaC]

Hello!! I have been teaching in the U.S for three years. I taught 2nd and 3rd grade dual immersion classes. Among the books that I used with success were "Charlotte's Web" (which you already mentioned), books by Berverly Clearly (Ramone Quimby-a lot of fun), books of "Magic Tree House" (series), "The Secrets of Droon" (Series), "A Jigsaw Jones Mystery" (series), Junie B. Jones( Students love this). You can also try using biographies (you can do a lot of things with them)
I hope this helps,
JessicaC

[Senorita Daniels]

rusmeister wrote: All seven books in the series have action and adventure for boys and girls, and the language is not too difficult for the avg intermed pupil. With the films now coming out you've got an additional stimulus to get kids to read them.

Yes, they do. But for some reason, A Horse and His Boy really stands out as an adventure in my mind. Would it be possible for you to buy unadapted books online from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or some other store? You can sometimes find cheaper used versions on Amazon's site.

[mvr_moorthy]

For ESL classroom teaching one can try Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", "Sindbad the sailor" select tales from "The Arabian Nights". For higher classes you can introduce books like H.G .Wells' "Time Machine" *beep*' "A Tale of Two cities" and Dumas' "The Three Musketeers".During the last year at school they can have a novel and a play--- Wilkie Collins' "Woman in White" and Shaw's "Arms and the Man"

[Yangxi]

In my country, China, when we were middle school students(aged 12-1, our teachers gave us a list of English books for us to learn the language,
the title of that list was "Adolescence Literature", the books
of "Adolescence Literature" were both new-ly published(you could even contact with the writers if he or she was still alive.) or old, such as "robinson crusoe". So I suggest you search some information about " Adolescence Literature", I think this is a branch of Literature.

[JeremyintheCzechRep]

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon is written from the perspective of a 15 year old autistic boy - a fantastic book and the English is comparatively simple. A great read for children and adults.

[kittykoo]

ESL students sometimes appreciate folktales and traditional stories from their own country in translation. It helps them to cross the threshold of L2 by starting with material that they are more comfortable and familiar with.