Korean Job Discussion Forums

[marlow]

I am thinking about trying to start an English Corner in my middle school library. The English section they have, all twenty of the books, don't really seem to be appropriate in content or of an appropriate level.

I guess my first question would be what would middle schoolers enjoy reading? It would have to be interesting, but at the same time not too difficult. A lot of them have picture book level English, but at the same time they have middle school level interests.

I'm also considering trying to get some English teen newspapers, or even childrens newspapers. I'm not really sure what's out there in this genre, or how to get subscriptions.

I'm also thinking of just trying to get some internet pages. The library has a number of computers, and I would get the home pages set to something interesting, and create a good set of bookmarks for the students.

The only thing I'm worried about is cost. I have no funds, and I want to make a detailed proposal to present to my principals, director, and supervisors. I also need to create a research supported argument for the proposal. My desire to do this project is based on a Krashen lecture I heard a couple of years ago. He was saying that "junk reading" is very effective for English learning. In other words, having English reading material available for students, stuff they will actually read and find interesting, will really help their English ability.

[Son Deureo!]

Sounds like a great idea. So far as materials go that aren't too difficult but could be interesting to a middle school age group I'd try comics.

Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, superhero comics... there are lots of choices.

[ajuma]

Girls, boys or both? If they are girls, the Babysitters Club books are good. Written for ages 8+, they aren't so long that they'd discourage students and use vocab that they can understand without using a dictionary.

Sorry...can't help you for a series for boys...

[redd]

you could try www.scholastic.ca I don't know if the books would be too "young" for them, but you might find some titles to check into. I don't think you can order from them to Korea, but again, it could give you an idea of what's out there.

[Dawn]

Scholastic.ca doesn't ship overseas, but http://www.scholastic.com (the U.S./International counterpart) does. The only problem is that the clubs geared toward middle schoolers -- Arrow and Tab -- by and large carry materials that are far beyond the reading abilities of the average Korean ESL student. I've actually had better luck ordering selectively from Seesaw (K-1) and Lucky (2-3). Horrible Harry tends to be a popular series, as do the handful of Song Lee books by the same author (Suzy Cline). In fact, the Song Lee books are perhaps more interesting as they recount the adventures of a Korean girl trying to adapt to an American school. Cam Jensen mysteries (written by David Adler) appeal to some of the girls, while the boys favor Jigsaw Jones (written by James Preller). The better readers love Captain Underpants, and a few have even read Animorphs titles. Walked into class tonight and saw a couple of girls pouring over the first couple of titles in A Series of Unfortunate Events. The really low level students gravitate toward character readers. Scooby Doo Picture Clue books have been surprisingly popular, as have Fairly OddParents titles. Magic School Bus books (the original picture book versions) also seem to appeal to a number of older students.

As far as costs, the Scholastic clubs run 100-book-for-$99 deals at least four times a year. Scholastic also offers 20x bonus points every Sept. and January. I order $200 worth of books during those months, rack up 4,000 bonus points (good for getting up to $350 in free books), then use bonus points judiciously the rest of the year.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Why not talk to Chiaa? He has a bookstore. He might have access to information about publishers and shipping that could be useful.