“Those Kids Can’t Read This Book—It’s Too Thick”

C. Lynn Jacobs reflects on her experiences with an English Language Development (ELD) class and proposes that teachers should look to students for guidance on how to lead them towards ownership of their own language process. She first used worksheets for teaching The Outsiders, but after questioning her students on how a book should be taught, realized that the love of reading was missing. When, with Where the Heart Is, she allowed her students to freely select quotes in the text, write about them in their journals, and discuss them in class, her students displayed greater confidence and an increased interest in reading for pleasure.