Why My Students Don't Squash Spiders Anymore
September
A beetle-like insect somehow finds its way into my classroom. Pandemonium breaks loose. Children shriek. Chairs fly. “Step on it before it gets us,” one student proclaims. I ask her, “how exactly is this creature going to get you?” Pause. Heads turn, eyes looked up. “Well, I just don't like it. Bugs are gross.” Before I can scoop up the insect with a cup or a paper towel, I hear the stomp of a small foot.
January
My students have assembled on the rug for our daily read aloud. We are reading James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl:
“It is very unfair the way we Spiders are treated.” Miss Spider went on. “Why, only last week your own horrible Aunt Sponge flushed my poor dear father down the plughole in the bathtub.”
I stop when I hear gasps from the classroom. “Please turn and talk to your book club about your thoughts.” The room immediately buzzes with conversation. “Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker are so mean,” one student comments. “And you know what I was thinking? I was thinking that I didn't know that bugs had feelings too. I didn't think they had moms and dads.”
April
I arrive in the yard to pick up my class from recess. I spot several of my students on the ground in a circle, heads together in collaboration. “Ms. Gunderson, we saw a tiny spider and we're trying to move it so no one will stomp on it.” Though it isn't in my original lesson plan for the day, subtracting decimals has to make way for relocating a spider to a safer environment.
May
My students are learning how to swing dance. Miss Tina is teaching my students how to do the twist. “Okay everybody, squish that bug on the floor. Squish that bug. Squish that bug.” She stops, confused as half of my students stop dancing immediately, their faces twisted in confusion and slight horror. One student explains, “I don't like to squish bugs.”
June
As I look back on the school year I beam with pride, as my students have made improvements in so many areas. At the beginning of the year, most of the class considered reading a chore, something they had to do because their teacher told them to. Though there are still students who have mixed feelings about reading, the general attitude of the class has changed. Students cheer when it is time for reading aloud. And they groan when their reading time is cut short.
The most wonderful change I've seen however is in the connections my students have made with each of the texts we have shared together. Back in April the students formed 'social issue' book clubs. I gathered groups based on student reading levels and each club chose a book that they would read and discuss together. Conversations centered around the social issue of the book. So clubs discussed a range of topics, including divorce, child abuse, animal rights, education and sibling rivalry. One student after reading Fourth Grade Rats decided that he would stop teasing his sister. Another student decided, after reading Oliver Button is a Sissy, to stop teasing people who didn't quite fit into his idea of ‘normal’. And after we read James and the Giant Peach together as a class, all my students agreed to stop killing bugs that didn't do any harm to them.
I have the Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project to thank for the many successes I've had in my classroom this year. Thankfully my principal has allowed me to attend several workshops and week-long conferences, in order to improve my teaching practices. When I first began attending these workshops, there were often panicked teachers in the audience of the lecture hall complaining that they didn't have time to spend 20 minutes reading aloud to children. Either they didn't have the resources or didn't see the point of forming book clubs when there was so much to do before tests. But I have realized and seen first hand that real development and real learning occurs when teachers focus more on creating a reading community as opposed to a test prep classroom.
My students have formed relationships with books, as well as new relationships with each other, centered around the stories they read and the topics they are studying together. Most of my students are struggling readers but they now consider themselves part of a close reading community. Now, if a student is disruptive during class others say, “I don't appreciate how you are taking away from my precious reading time.” Some students have brought books in to donate to the class library. When I mentioned that I used to surf, one of my students recommended a good book on sharks that she had just read.
More and more schools throughout New York City are requiring teachers to abandon boring textbooks in favor of creating classroom reading communities. For my school in particular it has not only created more independent and critical readers, but we have also seen an improvement in our students' test scores. Last year approximately 32% of our 5th grade students tested on or above average on the city-wide Reading exam. This year, a year after our school started working with TCRWP, over 60% of our 5th grade students are on or above grade level in Reading.
This kind of teaching takes a lot of time, infinite patience and a lot of resources. Fortunately there are a few ways that you can help. For those interested in helping kids to become more interested in reading, you can connect with local volunteer agencies and donate your time, reading with small groups of children. To help boys in particular, check out www.guysread.com . And if you would like to make a donation to help teachers create reading communities, please check out this website. Donors Choose is an organization which matches book donors to classrooms (including my own) that desperately need funds.
Just imagine if all students learned to read in communities instead of ‘skill and drill’ classrooms. Reading would become an activity to be enjoyed instead of a requirement that has to be suffered through. Reading would inspire students to change their perspectives and their lives at home as well as at school. If more classrooms become places where students actively engage with stories and characters, I see a future filled with even more intelligent, creative and critical thinkers.
comments
To help students read, we must understand how students think. See the new book on amazon.com: "Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better".