Krystina Kelley & Jenny McCracken Belle Valley School District, Belleville, IL

Motivates kids to read Increases comprehension Improves listening skills Demonstrates fluency Builds vocabulary Provides a spring board for discussion in a safe atmosphere Breaks up the monotony Builds lifetime readers FUN!

Fast-paced Can't be too long Lots of action Not too much dialog (unless you are really good at doing voices!) High interest topics Challenging material

Cunningham, Pat (2005). Struggling Readers: If they don't read much, how they ever gonna get good?. The Reading Teacher. 59, Layne, Steven (2009). Igniting a Passion for Reading: Successful Strategies for Building Lifetime Readers. Portland: Stenhouse.