The Plan
The purpose of this study was designed to to discover if students read more and become engaged at a deeper level when reading student chosen Young Adult Literature with more classically oriented teacher-selected texts. Data used was an introductory reading survey, student reflective journals, reading circles, whole class discussion, and individual conferences with students whose survey indicated a lack of interest in reading.
I eagerly began explaining to my students that I wanted to find out what motivated students to read.
Part I
I used the survey from Nancie Atwell's In the Middle (p. 495). Following that, I offered students a choice of three young adult novels dealing with relationships: Sarah Dessen's Someone Like You, Sharon Draper's Forged by Fire, and Walter Dean Myer's Scorpions. In addition I offered John McBride's The Color of Water, a biography about a young man struggling between the worlds of black and white, Christian and Jewish.
All of the class settled into groups reading one of the three young adult novels. I used the Literature Circle model which includes opening each class by summarizing plot, students taking on roles such as a discussion director whose job is to lead with what we call "fat" questions which require critical thinking skills, an Illuminator who selects passages to discuss, an Illustrator who draws a picture of an important scene. Please refer to Literature Circle Roles by Jim Burke, 2001, at www.englishcompnion.com for further information on this process.
Part II
I followed this with a unit on Zora Neale Hurston’s classic Their Eyes Are Watching God. (The American Experience. Prentice Hall, 2007,
p. 911) We read and answered questions from The American Experience (Prentice Hall, 2007, pp.910-914) on the Harlem Renaissance.
We then read an excerpt from Dust Tracks in the Road, Zora Neale Hurston’s autobiography, found in the student textbook (914-925). Finally, I assigned a reading schedule for Hurston's novel. Students would then assign roles when gathered in Literature Circles.
My previous year’s class had enjoyed this book very much , so with eager anticipation, I had us read the first page together.
That was the plan!
Sources
Cover from the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, first published 1937. Perennial edition published by HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.
Cover from the book, Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography, by Zora Neale Hurston. Restored text published by Harper Perrenial, a division of HarperCollins Publishers., by The Library of America. 1995.
Photograph: Students from Kestrel Heights School (photo used with permission of students and Director Tim Dugan of Kestrel Heights School).
Login