I will now illustrate this truth by presenting examples, briefly describing ineffective and effective approaches for teaching kids to read a popular high school novel, A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. Here's how a typical blunt instrument attempts to involve students. Please notice its lack of force:
After Finny and Gene jump from the
tree, Leper reacts to the events. The author says Leper chooses a side in a
"dispute" that he foresees. What is that "dispute"?
What on earth does a kid learn from this? He learns to get
together with friends and find the answer on the Internet, that's what he
learns. Google it. Do you get any answers? Of course you do. This is a blunt
device, obtuse, to tell you the truth. What kid is going to read the book when
he can find the answer in about two seconds on his computer screen?
If you want kids to become good readers, you need to force
them to approach such a question in the appropriate manner. Make them read and put narrative
details together first. Then you give them this question. Let's take a look at
such an instrument. Here's a series of questions from my close reading study
guide of A Separate Peace, Chapter 1:
16. Gene claims to
have been through a prolonged period of “convalescence,” a period of recovery
from illness or injury. Speculate as to the nature of the affliction from which
Gene has had to recover.
17. The New England
elms are called “those most _________, bankerish of trees.”
18. Speculate as to
how Gene feels about the trees. Is he comforted by them, or is he intimidated
by them?
19. Speculate as to
whether Gene himself is inclined more toward being a Republican or a Democrat,
or, if you prefer, a “liberal” as opposed to a “conservative.”
20. What is “The Cage”
at Devon?
21. Gene crosses the
playing fields. He plans to look at something there. What is it?
22. Of what people
does the tree remind Gene?
23. Why is Gene glad
to have seen the tree?
24. The story will be
about violence. What three things do not endure by violence?
25. The story is
mostly a flashback. It begins with the “sarcastic summer.” What is the year?
26. With what year is
“Upper-Middler” comparable, grade 9, 10, 11, or 12?
27. Who were
“draft-bait”?
28. What is Finny’s
height and weight?
29. Who is next to
jump from the tree after Finny?
30. Before this person
jumps, Finny seems to read his mind. What does Finny say to suggest that is the
case?
31. Why is it
extraordinary for Upper-Middlers to jump from the tree?
32. According to Gene,
for what reason does Leper (Elwin Lepellier) claim Gene’s jump was better than
Finny’s?
Google them. Go ahead; make my day. Google until your
eyeballs fall out. You'll read so much junk looking for the answers that you'll
throw your computer out the window. Then you'll be forced to sit down with the book and answer all these
questions in about 15 minutes or less.
For 15 minutes, your students will be doing close reading,
with their minds entirely unstuck from sex.
It will be a forced reading of exactly six pages,
specifically (in the edition I'm using), from the bottom of page 3 to the bottom of page
9. It doesn't take too much time before your kids begin to realize that they
now have a new choice: They can read through twenty or thirty or forty Google
hits and spend an hour or more on the Internet, or they can sit down and read
six pages out of the book.
Yes! Now you're starting to understand! It's easier for them to actually do the work they're supposed to
do than it is to cheat. But read the warning labels first, folks. We're not
here to kill skills. With overuse of any instrument, whether it's blunt or
sharp, you can kill them off. So keep the periods of required close reading
short, to start. Force them into it once or twice a week, and only during
class. Encourage them to close read outside of class, but don't require it.
And it's OK for them to get together inside and outside of class to help each other; in fact, if you encourage them to do so, they
will begin to share the actual reading skills they're developing. They won't be
able to use the Internet to cheat. They will have to show each other what they have read in order to discern meaning! So a little collaboration is all right.
Please, give my methods a try. Yes, I know they're not
perfection, but if you want to teach your kids to read for themselves, you'll
need to use them or something very much like them. Go ahead.
This is not the whole story. Please download and read my
free product at TeachersPayTeachers.com:
Reading Fearfully Close (Are Gene and Finny Gay?) Common
Core Essentials
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Fearfully-Close-Are-Gene-and-Finny-Gay-Common-Core-Essentials
Here's another free one that discusses writing, in case
you're interested in dealing with that weakness in our educational system:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dealing-with-Writing-Common-Core-Skills
Best of luck. May Force be with you.
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