Should students pick the books they read for school?

The Students get to choose what book they should read. But the teacher must approve of it. Like lets say a Senior and High-school wants to read a child's book, It would get rejected because it is not at his reading level. Or if a middle-school student picks an advanced book the teacher would let him change it if it was to much for him.

Both. Students should choose their own reading material that they read independently, but they also need to be introduced to great literature, old and new, that they would never choose to read otherwise and might discover that they can relate to and enjoy.

A connection to the history they are learning or have learned can get them engaged in a classic novel. That is how I engaged my fourth grade son while reading Sleepy Hollow.

In order to get them into the mood for reading about the 1900's, it helps a lot when we have the opportunity to link the literature with the history class. In fourth grade, I introduced Sleepy Hollow, in context with the history and my son was engaged.

Well said—there needs to be a balance. I would recommend pairing a contemporary counterpart to classic novel. Reading the contemporary novel first can increase interest and background knowledge for reading the classical novel second. By getting the 'big picture' of a piece of literature in their thinking first, they are better prepared to read the classic novel second, where much more language decoding is often required.

Children simply do not have the experience or the overview to choose diversity for themselves, but teachers must tune into what the children love and are in to and make some choices that are relevant to the times, this generation and their interests...

Students should be able to pick books that they enjoy reading. They should also be given time to read them in school as well as reflect upon what they are reading and their personal reading experience. In addition, students should be given the opportunity to read selections of teachers in order to broaden their perspectives. How else can young people begin to open up to the world around them?

As a middle school teacher, I like to start the school year by letting students choose the book they want to read for their first book report. Their choice is revealing and tells me a lot about them as a person. They also get a fairly wide variety of choices in how they wish to respond to what they read. Again, this gives me valuable insight into their personality and reading ability.

Later in the year, our library has a large classic books reading selection students are expected to choose from for another report. My experience has been that some of these books can be lost in translation unless I provide students with scaffolding and literary guidance, so they are able to appreciate why these books became classics. I also allow them to read collaborative and respond as a group (reader's workshop style), so they can discuss and better understand what they are reading.

I do put parameters on the genre they are required to choose from for the other two book reports they are required to do during the year. This is simply meant as a way to encourage students to explore writing styles they normally wouldn't choose on their own. I have had numerous students comment that they wouldn't have chosen the book they read if I hadn't assigned it, but they enjoyed it tremendously.

I agree with others in that the students should be allowed to choose a book from a list of classics or great authors.

I agree with others in that they should be able to choose from a list of classic books and great authors.