There's Room for Me Here

Literacy Workshop in the Middle School

By: Janet Allen, Kyle Gonzalez

Narrated by: Ruth Ann Phimister, Kate Forbes

What do you do with your students who can't - or won't - read and write? In this practical audiobook, award-winning teachers Janet Allen and Kyle Gonzalez share classroom-tested strategies for motivating and helping young people to become literate.

When Orange County, Florida, began its Literacy Project in 1994, Kyle set out to instill the lifelong joy of reading into her at-risk middle-school students. She and Janet delved into research and studied classroom approaches. As they reflected on the results, they discovered effective strategies that turn nonreaders into the most avid bookworms: choosing effective resources, helping students establish goals, reading aloud, and more. If you teach young people in third through 12th grade, you won't want to miss this informative book.

©1998 Janet Allen and Kyle Gonzalez (P)1999 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The book is especially valuable because of its focus on students with very low levels of reading, most of whom come from economically disadvantaged, often troubled families. This should be required reading for teachers in grades three through twelve." (Voice of Youth Advocates)
"The book reads like a novel and invites you inside Kyle's classroom where you get to know her, her students, and their struggles and successes." (Florida Reading Quarterly)

Considerate teaching for underserved youth

My experience with “balanced literacy” has been that advocates seldom “serve up” what disadvantaged students need when they need it most. (e.g.The youngest and most needy students need to build listening and participating skills not gained from what we take for granted: conversation, story telling and shared experiences.) Adolescents in this story were barely up to that, but the teachers put aside curriculum and assessment as usual to build bridges between themselves and their students and between the students and reading. Not a book for those unfamiliar with the work, but hopefully inspiration for those who do.