This semester brought with it a change in the independent reading blog posts that are required in CyberEnglish9. Last semester, the IR blog posts requirements focused heavily on literary analysis skills. Obviously this is an important writing skill for students to practice in the English classroom; however, I noticed that over the semester the students became increasingly disengaged in the act of reading. Our designated reading day became louder and louder. I became more and more frustrated with the overabundance of socializing. Then one day I was riding home from school with a co-worker or in this case, my co-pilot. We had an amazing conversation about the cruelty J.K. Rowling inflicts upon her characters in the Harry Potter series. We were having fun talking about literature. It dawned on me that independent reading was no longer fun, for the students or for me. I felt like a hypocrite. In my effort to produce stronger writers, I had sucked the joy out of simply escaping into a book by suffocating them with formulaic writing: claim, support, explanation. What was the point of reading for fun if in the end you were subjected to repetitive, disengaging writing assignments? Thus, I made it my mission to put the excitement back into reading this semester, which is the main objective of independent reading: foster life-long readers. I set out to complete my mission with three different approaches.
Approach #1: There was a shift from literary analysis focused blog posts to genre blog posts. Students are able to select creative, abstract writing outlets to express their ideas. Through these posts students are still required to reflect upon the literary elements that make-up the story in their novel. Now, they are able to do so through pieces such as a MP3 playlist of songs that reflect the tone, conflict, desires of the characters in the book. They can construct a piece of poetry that demonstrates the internal-conflicts a character encounters.
Has this been a perfect solution? No, not exactly. Some of the students still struggle with extending their writing beyond summarizing the plot of the text; however, through trial and error they are making strides in their writing. The important part is the process of trial and error, because this shows their engagement. Silent reading days have once again become quiet except for the occasional paper shift. They are once again diving-head first into their novels. The noises of blogging days are once again the sweet sound of clicks from keyboard keys. Even though every student may not nail every blog post, they are excited by the opportunity to express their creativity.
To aid in the writing process, I have been conducting a series of minilessons that reflect the genre posts. For example, the class read and analyzed Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing and Langston Hughes’ Let America Be America Again. After we analyzed the poems, the students formed groups to develop one of the optional genre posts. The results were inspiring. One group created a cartoon figure of a character they felt represented Langston Hughes’ poem. This figure was hunched over because of the weight of the working tools strapped to his back. He also had shackles around his legs that were made out of the words that represented the emotions of discrimination and racism. Finally, they pointed out the fact that he didn’t have a face, which expressed their idea that too often people are clumped by meaningless labels and not seen as individuals. A definite step in the right direction.
Approach #2: I borrowed a tool from my co-worker’s Teacher Tool Box and developed a series of interview questions. On select reading days I conduct interviews with students about their independent reading novel. I ask them to describe different literary elements from their books, describe future blog posts they intend on creating, and about what they plan on reading next. If they don’t have any ideas about what to read, I offer my advice. In the beginning, students were extremely hesitant when I called their name for an interview. I think they were nervous about having a conversation with their teacher. I focused on keeping my voice light and airy, nothing too authoritative. I gave them time to consider their responses before answering. I asked follow up questions to engage them further. They are currently preparing for their third interview and they are much more relaxed. In fact, many are excited to talk about their novels. One student today actually asked if he could have an interview. He just finished The Giver by Lowis Lowry and wanted to talk about it. Again, this experience hasn’t been perfect. Not all students are as prepared as they should be to participate in literature discussions. Some students I have to theoretically pull information out of. Finally, I love talking to my students about literature, but the current set-up is not allowing them to talk to each other about literature. This will be my next step in expanding independent reading in my classroom. Those results are for a future blog post though.
Approach #3: For the love of young adult literature! I haven’t read a YAL book this semester! Approach #3, get back into the YAL game. The first book I selected to begin my journey back into the world of YAL is Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, which also satisfies the requirements of the YAL Historical Fiction Challenge that I signed up for. I am only about two chapters into the book and I have to admit it is pretty slow moving so far, but it has a lot to live up to, Speak and Twisted. I have had several students comment on how much they loved it though so I vow to finish it. Review to come.
