Hello everyone! It has been said that middle school is where the love of reading goes to die… but not if Christina Hanson has anything to say about it! Christina, otherwise known as @Hansonhallway on Instagram, has a lot to say about how to get kids engaged with books. Under her deeply engrained philosophy of letting students read what they want and often in class, is solid pedological practice that includes reading a picture book a day, and being a reader herself. In this episode we dive into the daily routine, independent practice, and even question the value of Lexile and screeners. If you feel like reading is dying in your class, or maybe on your campus. this is the episode for you. This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their professional book, Writing Unbound: How Fiction Transforms Student Writers by Thomas Newkirk. Writing Unbound is about the value of writing fiction in secondary classrooms. Tom Newkirk asks a tough question: if reading fiction is the center of most English classrooms, why is writing fiction often ignored? Why do we separate fiction reading and fiction writing? Tom argues that when our writing curriculum is too analytical, students think of "writing" as impersonal, formulaic, and…well…boring. He says that opening a door to fiction writing can ignite students' interest and convince them of the value of writing. He even argues that allowing kids to write fiction will improve their analytic writing. Learn more about how fiction can transform student writers. Visit Heinemann.com to download a sample from Writing Unbound.