Teaching Ideas
Classroom activities and downloadable resources for your classroom
Educator Resources
Teen Fiction
“ Quality teen fiction, relevant to our students’ lives, can and should be our point of entry with reluctant struggling readers. Teen fiction of this caliber is available, and it is time to provide new options for reading that let our students experience how great it feels to finish a book and how much fun it can be to escape reality by getting involved in a great story.”
Carolyn Salonen
Program Curriculum Consultant
Waterloo Regional District Schoolboard
“ Orca Soundings are my first choice when shopping for reluctant teen readers. The stories are extremely relevant. When students tell me they hate reading and all the books are boring, I take them to my Orca shelf. Once they try one Orca Soundings title, they want to read them all! ”Tori Jensen
Media Specialist
John Glenn Middle School, MN
Making the case for high quality reluctant reader fiction
Engage your students with material that is at their level. Quality fiction that supports students at their reading level provides the best opportunity to motivate students to read.
Effective reading instruction focuses on a student’s personal interests and includes diverse reading material. Readers can be alienated if the material they are provided with has no connection to their world. Reluctant readers need material that extends their thinking and allows them to make meaningful connections with literature.
For reluctant and struggling readers, material must not only be meaningful and engaging, but must be at an appropriate reading level. Students who struggle with comprehension and vocabulary will have difficulty connecting to the text. Providing novels that reluctant readers have the skills to read to completion allows them to enjoy success in reading. This success instills confidence, encourages further reading, and can be a catalyst for improved student behavior. If we can get reluctant readers to enjoy books, we have the opportunity to teach the skills they require to improve their comprehension. Learn more about finding high quality fiction.