This is day 2 of the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Click the picture to learn more from Two Writing Teachers. I teach some precious high school sophomores this semester. I love them and have a decent relationship with them. It probably doesn't hurt that my daughter is in this class, and she's pretty-well loved by most of her classmates.
We read every day -- every single day. So, one of the first community activities we engage in is book talks and a trip to the library. Normally, I start the kids off with independent choice reading, but this time, we started a whole-class reading of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I worried that making the sophomores all read the same book was a mistake, but they were totally into it. Christie just drew them in. They were so hooked that we talked about that book every day -- and all 30 of them participated! That has maybe happened twice in my time at this school.
So when independent reading time came around, I just knew that my students would pick amazing books and we'd have daily amazing conversations. #CueLaughTrack
Weeelllllll......it's not that this didn't happen for some of my students, but one kid in particular took my goodness to an extreme when he found a lone copy of Charlotte's Web in our high school library! Charlotte's Web? In a high school? A sophomore honors level class? Am I supposed to make him get a different book? Chide him for reading a "baby" book?
In truth, I thought about both those tactics, but in the end, I supported the kid. Celebrated him for choosing a book that he'd not actually read in 3rd grade. Fussed that he was on page 60 after two weeks of independent reading (and his reading quiz grade reflected this lack of reading). Yesterday, he came in and told me that he was almost finished with the book. I told him that it's a "cry-baby book" (my term for books that are tear-jerkers), and he said, "I don't cry at books," then he grinned a little at me. Like, he knew he was going to cry a little 😜.
Today, my sweet student came to class, excited that he'd finished reading. "Don't tell anybody," he said sheepishly --grinned, too -- "but, I teared up some." We had the most fun book talk! Like, we shared favorite lines (he couldn't believe that I remembered so many lines from a book I've not read in many years); however, he reminded me of other fun lines that I had forgotten!
Here's what I learned today. Even though this kid may have been trying to be funny or think he wouldn't have to work hard by reading Charlotte, he needed that book! In this age of pandemic, I'm not sure that there's been learning loss so much as story-loss. And the way that school is --we rush from one test-prep to another, not paying attention to the emotional needs of the kids in front of us because we are being rushed by admin or district officials --tends to impede young kids from embodying the stories that have been part of American culture for a long time. This year, I've noticed more high schoolers wanting to re-read books from elementary school up to grade 6. And while I'm worried about the trend, I haven't made much of a fuss about it.
Maybe we are all looking for comfort from the Before.
p.s....My student's next book is Winger by Andrew Smith. He chose it because his tablemate read it and raved about it. Also, now my whole class of 30 has decided that they are ALL going to take turns reading Charlotte!! I adore this group!
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