I have wrestled all summer with how to teach GREAT EXPECTATIONS this fall. For the last ten years of teaching senior English, I've assigned the book, 3 chapters a night, quiz the next day, and left it to them to keep up. I'd answer some questions if they had any, but the "expectation" (no pun intended) was that seniors should wade through the book themselves and get enough out of it to write a literary criticism paper at the end of reading the book. I still don't think that's unreasonable.
However, reality is beginning to collide with this expectation. Teens today don't read - and what little they do read is definitely not within the "classics" realm. The trend has been going downhill for years, and it becomes more and more obvious every year. The struggle is - does a teacher insist that they read this book, knowing they won't get much out of it (about 10% will, but not nearly a high enough percentage) and, rather than make them appreciate literature, know that it will actually make them dislike reading even more.
Or, do I walk them through it, reading some passages in class aloud and assigning follow-up reading for that night, helping them to see the plot and characterization intricacies, and as a result hope that a higher percentage will actually see that Dickens was a master at weaving plot, characters, and theme together? Maybe even provide study questions to answer as they read? I'm leaning toward doing this. I just can't see going through the motions just because "They should be able to do this," or "It's always been done this way," when it's obvious that that is no longer effective.
Is this capitulation, or realistic thinking?
9 comments:
That sounds reasonable, Ann. Sometimes reading together will get them to see that they actually can understand and enjoy a book that they thought they might not.
Is there a shorter Dickens novel you might read that would be a little more accessible because of its length? I remember reading Tale of Two Cities in high school and enjoying it. But maybe your students read that in an earlier grade.
Thanks, Betty. I was hoping you would weigh in!
Well, Ann, I am by no means an expert on English Lit. BUT, I can give you a perspective from someone who HAD to read Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities in High School. I LOVE to read, but those books were so painful for me to read every night. I would walk into class the next day, knowing that I was going to fail the quiz. I would listen to my teacher talk about the chapters (AFTER I had failed the quiz) and think, "How in the world did he get THAT out of what I read???" I remember wondering how he knew about all of the symbolism and how I was supposed to have figured all of that out.
All of that to say, guiding them through the reading is a great idea. Struggling through those books in high school did not encourage me to want to read more of them....it discouraged me from thinking that I could possibly ever figure them out on my own :) Does that make sense???? Now, I have to admit, that I DID enjoy watching the movie after we finished the book :)
I agree. Both of those books are full of symbolism and I, a book LOVER, never quite understood how my teacher got what she got from the book. I think that sometimes we forget that kids, no matter their age, are NOT adults in smaller bodies. I remember my AP English teacher in high school discussed the books we read with us and didn't just dish out the assignments. I LOVED her class and probably got more out of it than all of my other high school English classes combined.
Your students would probably love the fact that you actually THOUGHT about them in planning your lessons and they would appreciate your slant on things AS they read, not AFTER they have read and failed the quizzes! :) I say you are still expecting great things from your students when you go this route, but you are helping them attain those great things in a little different way! Go for it!
I hate to admit it, but I think I agree that it would be better to "spoon feed" it. However, I haven't taught senior English for so long that I'm really out of touch. If the students are required to read on their own, maybe a study guide given to them in advance would be helpful in guiding them about what to be looking for. I do still think that simply because kids don't read anymore and we live in an electronic age isn't a really good reason to let the requirements slide. But, hey, I'm getting old and I'm one that was "made" to do a lot of things that I didn't want to do! Wasn't all bad either!
I've been wrestling with this topic also. I like your approach Ann, and I don't think you're settling. Expectations is a fantastic story that teenagers resonate with, but it wasn't written for them. The more they understand the story, the more receptive they'll be to understanding why the novel has endured. Some of your teens won't need your study guide, but they'll all benefit from it.
As for reducing the reading load, the ones who could handle it all will read it again someday. They'll understand far more then than they will today. If I recognize that they won't understand it all now, why not acknowledge that it's okay if they don't read it all now? I do think taking time to read aloud in class is a fantastic compromise.
fwiw. (You've got me beat on years of teaching, so I might be speaking out of turn. But you did ask for opinions.)
I think guiding them through it makes so much sense. It shows your ability as a teacher to adapt to what your students need - they will appreciate it and will get more out of the book and the assignments.
Zac and his classmates worked through Charles Dickens last year in 7th grade lit - with a similar game plan from his teacher, and instead of being frustrated, as the book went on, he picked up more and more on his own.
Happy planning!
Janice - great to hear from you! Wow - Dickens in the 7th grade! That could be heavy stuff (depending on what they studied).
I appreciate all your comments so much and feel like this must be the right track to take, since so many of you feel like it's the best thing to do - and every one of you is an educator who would have wisdom about the process and about reaching students today. It is so different than it used to be.
Next topic up: Are books becoming obsolete? I want to post on that soon.
I'm not an educator, but as a parent and former student, I would prefer the latter approach. I don't see it as spoon-feeding -- I see it as teaching them how to get the most out of classical reading and hopefully awakening a love for it in them. I think that love would be much more likely to be awakened than by just pushing them through reading it on their own with little guidance.
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