Reading to High Schoolers

From Susan May, a teacher and journalism advisor at McCook High School in McCook, Nebraska:

“I like to chose a selection from one of my ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ books to read aloud to my junior/senior high students. I wear my tall striped ‘Dr. Seuss’ hat, and then one of the students gets to wear the hat for the rest of the class. Whenever I misplace the hat or forget to put it on, the kids find it and gently place it on my head. Sometimes we do an activity associated with the story I read. Some days I ‘act’ the story rather than read it aloud. I like to teach point of view by reading/acting the ‘Three Little Pigs’ and contrasting it with the wolf's story titled, ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.’ I let the students choose a motivational quotation out of my books to write on the chalk board. Dr. Seuss’s ‘Oh, The Places You'll Go’ is a great one to read aloud to any audience and a great book to give as a graduation gift. I also like to read/act ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,’ especially when I can tell my students lack motivation and need some laughter. Many children's books are short and have great messages for any age audience. I would advise anyone to spend some time browsing in the children's section of the library.”