"I Go to Seek a Great Perhaps"

When I read John Green's Looking for Alaska as an undergrad at Rhode Island College, it was for an adolescent literature class. The class wasn't geared towards teaching students YA literature, but simply exposing us to what YA lit is and what students are interested in. In fact, I don't even remember getting the chance to discuss Green's novel in class. I recall spending more time on The Charlie Bone series and asking, "What is Twilight?!" (it was still new then) -- we weren't very productive, I must admit.

But now, reading Looking for Alaska with high school students and teaching in mind I see it in a very different way. I can't imagine any student that I know now picking up this book for class and rejecting it. There are innumerable connections that a young (or old!) reader can make to the text. Especially after reading some of what John Green has said about the novel -- it essentially exists for readers to ask questions and to wonder, not provide any answers or come to solid conclusions. This novel will show young readers that they needn't know exactly where there life is going, in fact, it supports not knowing at all, because that is the amazing part about life -- seeking a mysterious and uncertain "Great Perhaps."

During Reading Strategies

This week I've been working on a lesson plan focusing on one during reading strategy associated with a young adult novel. I chose The Book Thief to work with and the strategy of using post-its and logographic cues. Since my assignment was not only to teach a reading strategy, but to also focus on the text as a multicultural title, I have found it to be very challenging -- especially keeping it all within a single lesson.

As I read through Kylene Beers' chapter on during reading strategies, I immediately felt a connection with both the post-it strategy and the logographic cues. I feel that they are very compatible, so I decided to mesh them together into one strategy. This seemed especially logical since The Book Thief is rather a long text. Students will have a number of themes or topics to look for as they read and will use the post-its to take note of what they find. As I started to take notes on this strategy, I remembered that I am supposed to be thinking of the book in terms of multiculturalism. This revealed a challenge.

I found myself wondering how to tie these two ideas together -- especially in one, single lesson. As this strategy is used throughout the book and gets discussed over a number of classes, the multicultural aspects of the novel will organically reveal themselves. However, in teaching my students how to use this strategy as they read, I need to be sure that they are looking for the right things. Therefore, the logical tie-in would be to create a list of themes that they should be creating post-its for.

Since the novel is set in Nazi Germany I decided that two of my themes for students to look for would be "World War II" and "A Different Life:" students will be looking for details about the war (which, in the novel is generally presented from the Jewish point-of-view) and examples of how the lives of the characters differ from themselves. This should get them thinking of the novel as an example of how different life can be -- in a different country and at a different time.

Not only is meshing a during reading strategy with multicultural themes challenging, but being sure I do so all within one lesson. The time constraint of presenting all the right information seems unrealistic. I feel that were I to teach this lesson to a real class I would spend one, full class period focusing on the ins and outs of the strategy itself and another day on discussing the various themes they will be focusing on. However, for this particular assignment I will have to do both in one lesson. It can be done, but it is not the way that I would do it with a real class.

I feel that choosing a novel that depicts a different culture or lifestyle set in present time, rather than historical fiction, would have been easier for this assignment -- more obviously an example of multiculturalism. However, I love history and am particularly interested in World War II. I feel that The Book Thief is a fantastic way to show students what young people went through during the war in Germany -- it feels alive. I would love an opportunity to use this novel in my own classroom some day.

Teaching Inference

After reading some of Kylene Beers' suggestions on how to get students to make inferences while reading I realized that I had never really thought of the concept before! It's something that I, and so many other independent readers, do without even thinking about it. For students who are still dependent readers and need to be taught specific reading skills, inference is very challenging. Like comprehension, inference is something that needs to be taught explicitly. Before having students make independent inferences while reading a text, there are a few different activities that can be done in the classroom to teach inference:

• It's not only important for students to make their own personal and creative inferences, but also accurate inferences that the author intended all readers to make. In chapter 5, Beers made the point that there is generally a certain knowledge base that readers need in order draw the same inferences -- cultural and historical knowledge of the text is crucial. In my future classroom, I plan on always spending at least one class period discussing the history of the text before we begin it. This can include the time period it is set in, when it was written, the setting, the background of the author, or the culture. The proper historical knowledge base will ensure that students will infer what was intended.
• Inference requires a certain amount of critical thinking on the reader's part. Employing a Socratic Method style of discussion would really help to get students to explain their own inferences. By questioning, and often opposing, their theories and conclusions, the teacher (and other students) can draw out more explanations and reasoning of their inferences. Continuous "why" questions will help students expand their thinking.
• I also really like the idea of giving students a creative outlet in which to portray their inferences. An assignment that has them creating a new book cover for the text they have read could really help them to visualize what they have read. They should create their cover with someone who has never read the text in mind -- the student will focus on what other people can infer from their cover. 
• Since I have a background in film, I always try to create an opportunity to include it in the English classroom. A great way to teach inference is by showing students a clip from the middle of a movie they have never seen. They will have to determine the relationships of the characters, what they are doing, why they are where they are, what they are talking about, etc. Using a film is a great introduction of inference skills before the text is presented. This clip from The Philadelphia Story will not only force the students to infer, but it also shows a young girl making inferences based on what she saw outside her window. 
• Showing the trailer to a movie can also get students using their inference skills. They will have to deduce what kind of people the characters are, what they will be dealing with, what the title of the film means, and at the most basic level -- the genre of the movie. This trailer for Bringing Up Baby will provide a wide variety of inferences since the plot of the film is already so zany.
• And finally, I got the idea of showing a funny example of poor inferences from a colleague, Anna (who has some other great ideas to promote inference). She used the classic "Who's on First?" skit with Abbott & Costello. I thought that this Marx Brothers clip, from a similar vein, would also be a fun example for students: Where's the Flash?

Ways to Create a Culture of Reading

Encouraging students to become avid readers and working towards creating a culture of reading in the classroom seems as though it is one of the most obviously important jobs an English teacher has. Unfortunately, I have seen teachers completely discourage students from reading -- not intentionally, of course. But not listening to what they have to say about what they read or by making reading a strictly individual assignment will turn many students away from the entire process of reading.

When I think about encouraging my future students to read for enjoyment and to see the benefits of reading, there are too many ideas that seem to come to mind. And, for me, that's exactly as it should be -- creating a culture of reading within a classroom means doing lots and lots of little (and different) things to get students involved in reading. Although every student may never get as excited as I get to see my favorite author at a book signing (although some might!) there are lots of things that can be done in the classroom to encourage them to read:

• Know what they're reading! (And what they want to read, but just don't know it yet.) In other words, as a teacher it is beyond important to be aware of the world of adolescent literature. Teachers need to be familiar with what the students are already reading and talking about. A knowledge base of adolescent literature will not only give the teacher insight into student interests, but also provide an opportunity to get more students reading. One of the best feelings as a teacher is choosing a book for a student with that "hunch" that he/she will like it and then finding out he/she loved it and is reading the next in the series or another by the same author. 
• The American Library Association has an entire sector devoted to young adult literature: Young Adult Library Services Association. On their site you'll find titles, authors, awards and lots of ideas.
• Keep the classroom stocked. This seems obvious, but English teachers must have books in their classroom! When I have a classroom of my own I plan on keeping not only the classics that we read and the textbook in my room, but a wide range of genres and reading levels. I'll treat my collection like a rudimentary, mini library; students will be able to sign books out if they want to take one home. I may have students who do not have books readily available to them, as I always did when I was young. My students will know that if they are interested in a book I will do what I can to make it available.
• Make reading rewarding. Ideally, my future classroom will have the space for a "reading corner" where students can relax with a book. This space would be used only for students who are reading and as a kind of reward -- which would vary from student to student. Maybe for a student with a behavioral plan who was able to focus all period or for a student who made honor roll for the first time. Hopefully this would help students to see reading as something positive and a valuable way to spend their time.

Although somewhat ridiculous and very elementary, this was the most obvious example. 

You get the point...

•  Make reading social. There are too many teachers who see reading as a quiet and individualized assignment. Students need to be able to discuss what they are reading with one another -- whether that means they're all talking about different books they read on their own or a text for class. In my future classroom I'd like literature circles will be used at least once a week. Each member of a literature circle group will have a different task, such as summarizer, artist or discussion director, and the students will get a chance to discuss what they read on a more intimate level with one another. These literature circles will also encourage students to think about a text more critically and on a deeper level.
• Go beyond the text. Go ahead and scoff, but sometimes the movie really was better. Because I have a background in film, I would love to be able to read a book, watch the film, and then discuss the two with my students. Comparing a text to its film adaptation is one of my favorite things to discuss and hope to share that with students. When students see that so many films are based off novels or short stories, their interest will -- hopefully -- be peaked and they will motivated to read the book that inspired their favorite movie.

There are many, many ways to turn students into readers; their homes may not be cultures of reading and their friends may not see it as "cool," which means the classroom may be the only way they will be exposed to the benefits of reading.

And just for fun...

Struggling For Independent Reading

Students often struggle not only with reading, but with simply picking up a book. Beers’ chapter two, “Creating Independent Readers,” of her book When Kids Can’t Read relates directly to what I often do in my internship at Platt High School. At least three days out of the regular school week I work in the Read 180 classroom. Read 180 is a program for students whose reading skills are below (often times far below) what they should be at the high school level.

Beers wrote about the difference between dependent readers and independent readers. Independent readers have an arsenal of various strategies they can use in order to help them get through a text, such as: “recognize the author’s purpose, see biases, note an unreliable narrator, find the antecedents needed to navigate a maze of confusing characters, or make connections to [one’s] own life” (Beers 15). In contrast, dependent readers may be able to get through a text but their comprehension is only at surface level and their strategies include asking the teacher to help them or even tell them.

The most important distinction Beers makes about reading is that teaching dependent readers doesn’t mean teaching them how to immediately understand what they read, but “how to struggle with a text” (16). I see so many students in Read 180 who don’t have the patience to stick with one book and because they don’t have the skill set to know how to handle the book, they quickly give up. These students need to become readers by learning skills which will lead to comprehension.

The first thing most of the Read 180 students need is confidence. Many of the students tell me that just being in that class makes them feel dumb and always ask for me to close the door so no one will see them. Beers separates confidence into three separate sections: Cognitive confidence (comprehension), social and emotional confidence (willing participation), and text confidence (stamina and interest) (18). Without the belief they can succeed, the Read 180 students – and dependent readers everywhere – will fail to achieve that confidence and eventually become strong, independent readers. 

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Beers, G. Kylene. "Creating Independent Readers." When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers, 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003. 8-22. Print.