Great Read-Alouds

It can be tough to find books that are just right to read aloud to your high school classes. First and foremost, you want to read them something they will enjoy, but that is appropriate to read aloud to everyone. You also want to read something that suits whatever instructional goals you may have, such as introducing new vocabulary words, exploring a particular theme, or modeling reading comprehension strategies. I like to read books that are a little more challenging than my students (struggling adolescent readers) might read on their own.

Here are a few books I've read aloud to my classes and the pro's and con's associated with each:

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon, 2009) -- Pro's: the kids loved this story; it introduced a lot of vocabulary words they had never heard; it spawned a lot of discussion about autism and other special needs; and it was great for modeling reading comprehension skills - especially inference due to the use of the "unreliable narrator" literary technique. Con's: Some bad language.

2. Son of the Mob (Gordon Korman, 2004) -- Pro's: the kids absolutely LOVED this book; it made them want to read the next book about the main character (Son of the Mob: Hollywood Hustle), good for modeling reading comprehension skills - especially prediction; some interesting vocabulary words. Con's: Not a particularly challenging book, not a lot of new vocabulary, some innuendo.

3. Born to Rock (Gordon Korman, 2008) -- Pro's: the kids loved the story; good for modeling reading comprehension skills - especially prediction; a few interesting vocabulary words. Con's: like Son of the Mob, not particularly challenging, some innuendo and references to drug use (not the main character and not portrayed in a positive way, though).

4. Rag and Bone Shop (Robert Cormier, 2003) -- Pro's: very suspenseful; changing viewpoints are challenging for my students and this book is a good way to introduce that; good for modeling reading comprehension skills - especially inference and prediction; good at spawning discussion. Con's: again, not particularly challenging except for the changing viewpoints.

I would love to hear what other teachers are reading aloud to their high school classes, and what worked well and what didn't.