Literacy Block and

Students will have a self-selected reading block every other day. During this time, students will read a novel that will be kept in a folder in the classroom. This book will not go home. Each student will be assigned to a team teacher during the SSR period. Teachers will conference with 4 to 5 students on an individual basis each time the class meets.

Also, during this period, students will be reading a common book to be discussed in class. We should read many books together this year which all will count toward their reading standard of 25 books!

Cover Image

Throwing light on a dark problem

Parkland Middle School is a place the students call Darkland, because no one in it does much to stop the daily harassment of kids by other kids. Three bullied seventh graders use their smarts to get the better of their tormentors by starting an unofficial e-mail forum at school in which they publicize their experiences. Unexpectedly, lots of other kids come forward to confess their similar troubles, and it becomes clear that the problem at their school is bigger than anyone knew. The school principal wants to clamp down on the operation, which she does when the trio, in their zealousness for revenge, libel a fellow student in what turns out to have been a setup. Now a new plan of attack is needed . . .

This suspenseful story of computer-era underground rebellion offers fresh perspectives on some of the most enduring themes in fiction for young readers.

Annotation

Tired of being bullied and picked on, three seventh-grade outcasts join forces and, using scientific methods and the power of the Internet, begin to create a new atmosphere at Parkland Middle School.

***Note....In addition to the Self-Selected Reading period provided in school, students are also encouraged to read additional self-selected reading materials at home.