Nearing the End

At the end of Seventh grade, the students read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Ironically, I read this last summer - knowing it was a text that was popular in curriculum in the middle school grades. Luckily I remember the just of it - however, I still am re-reading it. (Which I have to say is appropriate for a teacher to do if you want to have meaningful discussions...)

Luckily, when I say read I mean that the students follow along in the book while they listen to it - in my case, in the form of Audiobook from iTunes. I have been able to use this time to plan ahead, and let's be honest, it is pretty easy to plan today is chapter 3 and tomorrow is chapter 4. Right? What a lovely way to end the school year. Not only do I get some planning time while we are reading, but the students LOVE the book. They come in asking if we can just start right away because they want to know what happens... What a great feeling as a teacher - THEY WANT TO READ... I honestly didn't think this would happen this year.

Part of the reason for that is because my students overall reading level is VERY low. Much lower then the average middle class seventh grader. They struggle to get the words, they don't have any background knowledge besides their small communities... heck, last week a student asked me what a quilt was... I mean, lets be honest, these kids don't have a whole lot, in because of this don't know how to interpret very much. The Outsiders seems to be hooking them, and I couldn't be more pleased.

This week and for the next 2 full weeks I am moving classrooms, and reading this book is keeping the kids entertained, which helps because my classroom management isn't as necessary. The last times we have had to move classrooms I have lost so much instructional time due to them not comprehending that this is still OUR classroom, and we have the same expectations. This is just not a problem. Can we read novels all year? Please?

After we read the novel, we will watch the movie. The students will be 'experts' in the text and they will write a 'blog' where they will have to compare the two. Is the movie a good representation of the novel? Did they capture the same picture you had when you read the book? How are the characters - did they live up to your standards?

So on a teacher note: What an amazing way to end the academic school year. My only wish is that SPPS keeps me and I can do this again next year.