(Page 65) “I am not advocating that we allow students to self-select everything they read. If I did that, none of my students would read Hamlet. Every student should read Hamlet.”
I was so thrilled when I read these words from Gallagher (the first sentence, not necessarily the last) because there seems to be some sort of movement by some for teachers not to use one novel with an entire class; the proverbial they think students should be able to choose what they want to read. The thought is that we choose what we want to read as adults, and if we want to develop lifelong readers, we should have them start the practice in school. There was an article on the front page of the New York Times back in August spotlighting a teacher who allowed students complete choice. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/30reading.html?_r=1&emc=eta1)
Y’all know I’m all about some choice for students, but I had wondered if there wasn’t some benefit with kids reading the same text—and sometimes a text that students wouldn’t tackle otherwise. I think Gallagher makes the point when he writes that none of his students would read Hamlet if he didn’t have them read it. I read Hamlet my senior year of high school (in addition to Macbeth…I think my teacher was of the Gallagher thought that every student should read Hamlet, so we got to read two Shakespearan plays). The thing is I actually liked the play, but I certainly would not have read it otherwise. As students, we were even excited when the Mel Gibson version came out in theatres that year and we went to see it (for five bucks in the evening, I might add). And I was much better able to appreciate the Gilligan’s Island episode when producer Harold Hecuba is stranded on the island, so the castaways create and perform Hamlet: The Musical. It's absolutely one of the greatest episodes ever. (God help us all if any of you young chicks have never seen an episode of Gilligan's Island!)
I think the key to all of this (as is the key to most thing in teaching) is the delivery. If the teacher has a genuine interest in a text, I think she can get the students excited about it as well. I swear if the opportunity presented itself, my literacy coach friend Sonya could make me love The Scarlet Letter. On my own, I don’t see that happening. Was I supposed to read it in high school? Sure. Did my American Literature teacher do anything to make the text accessible or relevant to me? Absolutely not. Other than the general symbolism that “everyone” is supposed to know about the scarlet A on Hester’s chest, pretty much the only thing I remember about The Scarlet Letter is watching the movie in class and Pearl (Hester’s daughter) having a meltdown in the woods. So, if we choose to teach a difficult text (read: most classics), we must find that balance of making it understandable to students without beating it to death!
I was so thrilled when I read these words from Gallagher (the first sentence, not necessarily the last) because there seems to be some sort of movement by some for teachers not to use one novel with an entire class; the proverbial they think students should be able to choose what they want to read. The thought is that we choose what we want to read as adults, and if we want to develop lifelong readers, we should have them start the practice in school. There was an article on the front page of the New York Times back in August spotlighting a teacher who allowed students complete choice. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/books/30reading.html?_r=1&emc=eta1)
Y’all know I’m all about some choice for students, but I had wondered if there wasn’t some benefit with kids reading the same text—and sometimes a text that students wouldn’t tackle otherwise. I think Gallagher makes the point when he writes that none of his students would read Hamlet if he didn’t have them read it. I read Hamlet my senior year of high school (in addition to Macbeth…I think my teacher was of the Gallagher thought that every student should read Hamlet, so we got to read two Shakespearan plays). The thing is I actually liked the play, but I certainly would not have read it otherwise. As students, we were even excited when the Mel Gibson version came out in theatres that year and we went to see it (for five bucks in the evening, I might add). And I was much better able to appreciate the Gilligan’s Island episode when producer Harold Hecuba is stranded on the island, so the castaways create and perform Hamlet: The Musical. It's absolutely one of the greatest episodes ever. (God help us all if any of you young chicks have never seen an episode of Gilligan's Island!)
I think the key to all of this (as is the key to most thing in teaching) is the delivery. If the teacher has a genuine interest in a text, I think she can get the students excited about it as well. I swear if the opportunity presented itself, my literacy coach friend Sonya could make me love The Scarlet Letter. On my own, I don’t see that happening. Was I supposed to read it in high school? Sure. Did my American Literature teacher do anything to make the text accessible or relevant to me? Absolutely not. Other than the general symbolism that “everyone” is supposed to know about the scarlet A on Hester’s chest, pretty much the only thing I remember about The Scarlet Letter is watching the movie in class and Pearl (Hester’s daughter) having a meltdown in the woods. So, if we choose to teach a difficult text (read: most classics), we must find that balance of making it understandable to students without beating it to death!
