In our English I class, we're reading
Animal Farm by George Orwell.
This is one of those books that has come to be seen as a classic.
It's the kind of book people expect high school students to read in
English class. In fact, the copy I'm reading was used by my younger
brother in one of his high school English classes. It comes complete
with his notes, seen here.
He has an equivalent amount on the next
page and then not another mark in the whole remainder of the book.
Now, I don't know if he took notes elsewhere or if this is the extent
of his notes on Animal Farm,
but I can tell you that what he has here aren't his own thoughts.
These are the ideas his English teacher fed him before they even
began to read. The next page lists the four main themes. Does this
seem like the best way for students to learn? I will concede that the
students do need some background and context in order to understand
what they're reading. If they want to be able to infer what the
author was trying to say, it helps to know where he was coming from.
But if they want to really engage with the text and figure out what
it means to them in their own lives, I think we as teachers need to
allow the students a little more room for their own ideas.
The
teacher I'm working with provides his students with study guides for
the books they read. The study guide for Animal Farm
poses 5-14 questions per chapter, mostly about character and plot. It
also includes a list of literary terms like “foreshadowing” and
“foil” and a plot diagram. I agree with the concept of giving
students something to guide their reading, and for freshmen in high
school, it may be appropriate to start with these basics. However,
I'm wondering if we couldn't make sure they get these basics covered
while doing something a little more exciting, a little more
challenging, and a little more engaging. After all, don't we all
learn better when we have to do the thinking? It's even better when
we get to have some fun in the process.
One
great idea I've found is to make the reading of the book almost like
a scavenger hunt. If we're focusing on the idea of propaganda, the
students can note every instance of propaganda they find. Their final
project with the book can be to write their own propaganda or an
advertising campaign using the concepts of propaganda. If we want to
focus on character analysis, the students can keep lists of the
characters and favorite quotes from or about each one, using their
notes to write an essay after the finish reading. These ideas and
more can be found at
http://www.lessonplanet.com/article/language-arts/animal-farm-lesson-plans
.
The
teaching of classics doesn't have to be boring. We can inject the
unexpected into our studies, even if the book list is exactly what we
expected. Another issue for another time: how do we get away from
teaching only the standard book list and break out into something new
while still teaching the skills we want all students to learn? Oh,
we're going to have a lot of fun!
I completely understand what you mean...We are currently reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven in my junior English class. I'm not sure if you've read it, but it's rather simple.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher does PowerPoints of the key concepts (i.e. symbolism, metaphors, etc.) with rather complicated examples, which the students have trouble understanding. Although she would like for them to write their own examples, they have learned that if they act confused enough, she will give them a very generic sentence. Then, at the end of each chapter, she gives them the study guide to fill out. This is basically a worksheet which they slop 3-4 word answers on and call it good.
I am hoping that my unit will require the students to take more initiative in their work. They are juniors in high school, after all, and should be able to handle some deep thinking to determine what they feel the major themes of the book are. I also think that the students feel like they've actually accomplished something (aside from just attending class) when they have the opportunity to discover the answer to a higher order thinking question all on their own.
I can understand the point you're making! There are several ways to make reading fun besides the old "guided reading". I believe that giving students specifics to looks for leads to a kind of tunnel vision. By that I mean they're only reading to find answers to the questions prompted. Instead I would suggest encouraging students to expand their imagination. One idea that I've recently discovered is to have the students turn each chapter into a comic book, drawing characters and expressing their interpretation of what's going on in the story. I plan to do this later in the semester on a poetry unit. I think students will find it both fun and engaging.
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