Reading to Middle Schoolers

Once a month I have the privilege and joy of being able to meet with and read to our seventh and eighth grade students during their morning meeting. Drawing from fiction and non-fiction, I can usually capture their interest by varying topics that pertain to their lives, classes, and culture. Some short stories I read are abridged versions, since time is limited.  Here are some of the selections I use:

• The Lottery by Shirely Jackson

• The Necklace by Guy deMaupassant

• Gift of the Magi by O'Henry

• Selections from Growing Up by Russel Baker

• "How to Be Popular" by Diedre Dolan

• excerpt from Travels with Charlie by John Steinbech

• excerpts from The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis with excerpts from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
• The Feud by Saki (H. H. Munroe) adapted from The Interlopers
• The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs (see my November 4, 2009 post)
• The Ink Drinker by Eric Sanvoisin
• "Ralph Corlis, the Man Who Played to Lose" chapter from The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck
• The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
• Song and lyrics from "Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins
• The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
• How Much Land Does a Man Need by Leo Tolstoy