Getting Tweens on T-A-R-G-E-T

Think of reenergizing readers as the TARGET, something you are going to try to hit with all your skill.  If you think TARGET, you have a good acronym for the characteristics of a program that can successfully produce newly invigorated readers.  TARGET translates into these concepts:  TRUST, ACCESS, RESPONSE, GUIDANCE, ENTHUSIASM, and TWEEN-APPEAL.  We will be talking about each of these in the Discussion Forums. 

Figure 4.1  Checklist for assessing  library needs

Place a checkmark in front of the types of books you prefer to read when you have time.  I will use this information to help buy new books for our classroom library, so I appreciate your help.  If you think of a particular title or author, go ahead and make a note of that, too.

_____series books (which series?)                          _____nonfiction

_____poetry                                                                     _____novels in verse                   

_____fantasy                                                                    _____science fiction

_____mystery                                                                  _____suspense and the supernatural

_____biography and autobiography                       _____humor

_____comics and comic books                  _____anime and manga

_____graphic novels                                                      _____romance

_____adventure and survival                                    _____plays

_____historical fiction                                   _____drawing books

_____newspapers                                                          _____magazines

_____short stories                                                         _____war

_____OTHER (please give me some clue here)

Figure 4.3  Humor Ladder

Base:  Captain Underpants

Step One:   Disgusting!  By Andy Griffiths

Step Two:  Nose Pickers from Outer Space by Gordon Korman

Step Three:   Act I, Act II, Act Normal by Martha Weston

Step Four:  How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary Paulsen

Top Step:  No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

Figure 4.4  Graphic Novel Ladder

Base:  Captain Underpants

Step One:  Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey (actually the cover gives credit for the writing of this book to George and Harold, the two protagonists from the Captain Underpants series by Pilkey)

Step Two:  Wolves in the Wall by Neil Gaiman

Step Three:  Bone by Jeff Smith

Step Four:  Maus by Art Spiegelmann

Top Step:  The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (GN format by Kuper)