Let me start off by saying, “I
absolutely love books.” This statement is
the premise which I base the following information on. I have been in the high school now for 3
years and have often wondered, and even asked, how teachers choose the books
they use in the classroom. I have
encountered books that are good and those which I have found myself thinking
there is no way I would have a class read that book. There have even been wonderful stories taught
in ways that I questions and less fantastic books taught with lessons that are
to be admired.
My CT has already chosen the novels
that she wants to teach this year, beginning with The Contender by Robert Lipsyte.
This is a story about a young man who works in a grocery store, his best
friend is a drug addict. The main
character decides to join a boxing club in order to improve his chances, and
along the way he will discover what it takes to be a “Contender” and a
man. Now don’t get me wrong, there are
some very valuable lessons to be learned from Alfred, the main character. The problem that I have encountered is with
those students who are just not engaged in this story. I have read, and experienced that no matter
how wonderful your lessons are, if the students don’t care about the book, they
just will not engage.
One of my big concerns for the
future is how to select books that the students want to read and connect
with. In my journey to answer this
question, I was introduced to a book by Donalyn Miller titled The Book
Whisperer. Now upon first inspection
this book is geared toward middle school, but as with all books, the ideas can
be adapted for any level if you work at it.
I connected with what the author was saying in the very beginning, as in
the introduction, when she states “I am a teacher who inspires my students to
read a lot and love reading long after they leave my class” (Miller, 2009, p.
1). My response to this was a very loud
and resounding, “Yes! That is what I
want to do.” This book opened my eyes to
the reading workshop structure and I have been looking for a way to incorporate
it into the high school classroom as she did in her middle school. Mrs. Miller strongly believes in letting the
students choose what they want to read and she teaches “comprehension
strategies and literary elements that students could apply to a wide range of
texts” (Miller, 2009, p. 17).
I have not yet seen this strategy
applied in high school but I would love to do more research and find out just
how we can develop readers. If anyone
has any ideas or additional sources please let me know. I will leave off with this great quote at the
beginning of chapter one in The Book Whisperer:
What we have loved
Others will love
And we will teach them how
- William Wordsworth
References:
Miller, Donalyn. The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader
in Every Child. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2009.
