Been there, done that. They don't hate either. They just lead passionless
lives. The best they can come up with is, "It's stupid." or "That's gay."
When I try to discuss WHY it's stupid, they can't go beyond the "gay" thing
(which I hate so I ban the use of the word in class).
We started with the reading strategies. We made the transition to THINKING
strategies and I brought in movies, art, music, etc. to show that EVERYTHING
requires thinking. On a literal level, they understand the concepts, but
there's no thinking. Admittedly, there are a few, but I've never had so
many who aren't.....actually, REFUSE...to think. Showed a painting by
Edward Hopper which usually illicits some feeling because of his use of dark
colors and simple scenes, but instead of trying to think about what the
painting meant, they described the painting ("There's a chair, a open door,
a staircase. Green curtains with yellow trim. I "think" someone forgot to
close the door...." "Maybe the dog got out."). Previous years, there were
discussions of what the door symbolized ("a new journey, a new life, fear of
the unknown, do you stay or do you go? Reminds me of the poem "Stopping by
Woods on a Snowy Evening" and Langston Hughes' poem, "Mother to Son." the
staircase could be going up like a 'Stairway to Heaven?', etc.). This group
could say it made them feel depressed, but then skip any discussion of their
feelings and went straight to description. Some even went so fas as to
suggest the "author" should use brighter colors and paint something else.
Rather than figure out why the painter painted it, they are so egocentric as
to think the painter should paint it based on their recommendations!
Funny thing, though. Their reading levels are 4-7 or better which is kind
of low, but better than average for this age group, their fluency levels are
right at where they need to be, and can answer almost any "right there" or
"in the book" questions, but they can't infer or look at the big picture.
I'm thinking we have stressed "finding the answer" and "passing the state
test" and "strategies" so much that maybe we have forgotten to teach the
pleasures of learning.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Listserv"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2006 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] New problem....
> William and Carolyn,
> I like Carolyn's suggestion, but would like to take it one step further.
Show them something you KNOW they will HATE. Hate is such a strong emotion,
and very often kids can find lots of derisive things to say, especially at
this age. It's not cool to have a favorite; if you pick the "wrong"
favorite, you subject yourself to criticism of your peers. Although eighth
grade students say they want to be individuals, they really want to be part
of the group, and will do almost anything to gain or maintain group status.
>
>
>
> Joy/NC/4
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and
content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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