You may have noticed on the Barnes Class web site [1] that our daily routine includes a segment called, MORT.  This acronym stands for My Own Reading Time. 

Throughout the year, my students will be spending a significant amount of time in class reading selections of their own.  We'll use these books to  improve our appreciation for reading and our understanding of stories and how they apply to our daily lives.

We'll have "Think-aloud" discussions, based on MORT, along with other reading strategies such as, SR (symbolic response) and some journaling. 

To make this critical part of our class a success, it is very important that students bring a novel to class daily. 

I'd like to incorporate the motto, "I am a reader," which comes from the popular education resource, You Gotta Be the Book," by Jeffrey Wilhelm, but in order to make this a reality for all students, we need books in class.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.