Do you like being told what to do? For me, it depends. Most teenagers, though, don't like to be bossed. That's why you have to order them around in nice, creative ways. Ha! :)
I'm thinking about this subject because one of my students in Reading for Fun talked about this today. He said, "I actually like the books that we are required to read in English class. But just knowing that I'm being forced to read a book makes me not want to read it. I know I can still pass the test--even if I don't read it."
"Oh yeah," a female student chimed in. "I made a 100 on The Life of Pi quiz, and I haven't even read it yet."
"And I easily passed the test on The Scarlet Letter," the male student continued.
I found this information to be fascinating. "So you'd rather be reading a book of your own choice?" I asked them. The students agreed with me quickly.
This makes me want to experiment in my English class. What if I tossed out all the "required" novels and simply asked students to read ten books of their own choice in one semester? I could have the students do a creative project with each book to show that they had read it. We could get our literature analysis through short stories that we read in class. There's actually precedence for this. An English teacher from Arkansas wrote about doing this assignment with her students in the most recent issue of English Journal.
What do you think? Do students need to be "forced" to read the classics or "literary" n0vels?
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2 comments:
On one hand, I think they should have to read some of the things required by the school. Some of those works are priceless, and, thus, they are categorized as classics.
However, I hear a LOT of positive feedback from the kids (shocking, I know!) regarding their daily reading from books of their choosing. Even though I ask them to read at least three different genres (fiction, classic and biography), they get to do the choosing. I've already started hearing the "I actually really like reading, and I never knew it" comments...and I believe it is due to their ability to choose the book they spend a few weeks reading.
Oh my, I wish I had the zest for teaching that you have! I just frankly don't care!
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