Getting Kids to Love Reading

NEW YORK, May 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As schools begin a return to in-person instruction, literacy educators looking to reboot their practices can draw from a new book by two of the leaders at the high-performing Uncommon Schools network.

Published by Jossey-Bass/Wiley, Love and Literacy: A Practical Guide for Grades 5-12 to Finding the Magic in Literature reveals the best practices of middle- and high-school literacy teachers whose students consistently fall in love with literature.

The book is practical in its nature and sweeping in its scope, covering topics like: creating a complex and inclusive curriculum, making real-time classroom decisions, coaching reading comprehension, demystifying analysis, and building equity and voice in class discourse.  

In addition to more than 20 videos, it provides a printable Reading and Writing Handbook, a toolkit to help educators prioritize and implement the ideas in the book, and a set of classroom posters. 

"We wrote Love and Literacy because we saw the power of the techniques our teachers were developing and using," said co-author Stephen Chiger, a director of literacy at Uncommon. "A great English class can feel like magic, but the real trick is that this magic is replicable."

Together, the authors have more than three decades experience working at Uncommon Schools, a high-performing charter network serving cities across the Northeast. The network boasts a 99% college acceptance rate, with 75% of alumni graduated or still enrolled in college, nearly 20 percentage points above the rate for students in the top income quartile.

Advance praise from literacy leaders:

"If you believe — as I do — that understanding literature is not a destination but rather a life-long journey, this book will resonate deeply. Along with practical protocols for supporting young readers on the path to comprehension, the authors offer a model curriculum that 'whispers what the world is and what it might become.' Pedagogy by readers for readers." – Carol Jago, author and former president, National Council of Teachers of English

"What's not to love?  A resource for encouraging students to engage in productive conversations about texts?  This highly-readable and practical guide shows you how to make this a reality in your classroom." – Douglas Fisher & Nancy Frey, authors and professors, San Diego State University

About the authors:
Paul Bambrick-Santoyo is the Founder and Dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute and Chief Schools Officer for Uncommon Schools. He is author of several books, including Leverage Leadership 2.0, Driven by Data 2.0, Great Habits, Great Readers, and Get Better Faster. 

Stephen Chiger is a Director of Literacy for Uncommon Schools. Named 2015 Educator of the Year by the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, Chiger taught high school English and journalism for more than a decade. Find him at stevechiger.com and @stevechiger on Twitter.

Uncommon Schools operates 55 outstanding urban public schools in the Northeast that prepare students from low-income communities to graduate from college. 

Media Contact: Barbara Martinez, 201-988-0059

SOURCE Uncommon Schools