Last Two Santman Chapters

Hello, all! It is our last week. It was a short six weeks, wasn't it? I will miss all of you, but I know you will do a wonderful job as student teachers. (And we'll still have to do that "night out" at some point before you graduate.)

In Chapter 9 of Santman, she refers to a YA novel by Nikki Grimes called _Bronx Masquerade_. In this novel, the kids in an inner-city class write poetry to express their feelings, hopes, fears, and thoughts. Santman refers to the response of one student, Tyrone, to a classmate's poem. Tyrone writes:

"You never think other folks got feelings. Like Janelle. I must've cracked wise a hundred times about her weight. Never even thought about it. It was just something I did for a laugh. Listening to her now, it don't seem all that funny."

Santman goes on in the chapter to talk about how literature can help students become more empathetic and more open to discussing (and understanding) social and emotional issues. I was wondering what you all thought about this, perhaps in relationship to the Raising Cain documentary. Do you think Santman's use of literature for social change in middle school is desirable--or even possible?

Janet

bibliographic info for Weaver book

Here is the bib info for the Constance Weaver grammar book. I handed out an excerpt from it in class. I'm sending this in case you want to cite it/quote from it in your grammar plan.

Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching Grammar in Context. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Janet

questions about Santman

I found Chapters 4 and 7 in Santman (our reading for Thursday, 2/2) very interesting. Here are a few questions you might discuss about it:

1. What do you think about Santman's strategies for teaching students to have interesting and useful literary discussions? Do you think they would work? Do you think they are necessary?

2. What do you think the significance is of making a personal connection to a text you are reading?

3. Do you think its true that sometimes kids will "miscue" when they are emotionally or ideologically "resisting" a text and its ideas?

4. What do you think of Santman's belief that teaching and learning literature is about helping kids to think about "big issues" and how texts both explore these issues and "position" readers?

Holes

I read the novel Holes. It was a great book that would interest readers at many levels. I believe most of the class is at least familiar with the book, so I won't give big long summary. Just know that the book deals with injustice and character. I don't know what exactly about the book would be so enticing to young readers, I think the friendships and the atmosphere at the camp create a unique story for readers. Holes is a story of overcoming and success, like so much YA lit is. Another plus about the book is the fact that it is very simple. The chapters are very short which allows makes the book read very quickly. I know there is a movie of this book and I don't know exactly how the two correspond. I do think though that we shouldn't be too quick to judge the movie as abad influence in the classroom, as we all know, I think, a movie could be a very beneficial tool if used correctly.