Reading in the Middle, Junior and Senior High Schools, Spring, 2010

The lesson which caught my eye is called “Seuss and Silverstein: Posing Questions, Presenting Points.” The objective is to have students relate situations and themes in easy-reading books to real events and experiences. It encourages students to ask critical questions and engage in discussion. The author of this lesson plan says that it is suitable for any high school age, but I think it is more appropriate for middle school or early high school (by junior and senior year, hopefully the students can encounter these themes in more age-appropriate texts.) The advantage of this lesson plan is that the reading itself is not intimidating, but the questions its poses are sophisticated and relevant. This lesson would be especially appropriate for a group of students who are struggling readers. It provides them the opportunity to engage in discussion, despite being low level readers. Once these students are able to contribute to class discussion, perhaps they will be more motivated to keep up with future readings.

This lesson has four sessions. The first two involved reading a book aloud, the conducting a class discussion. The lesson plan focuses on distinguishing between a literal question and a critical thinking question. Seventh and eighth grade seems to be a particularly appropriate time to introduce such a distinction, while students are forming their critical thinking skills. Again, I would be reluctant to teach this to older high school students because it is not challenging enough. In the third session, students break into groups into conduct their own read aloud and group discussion. In the fourth session, the groups present on their selected text and lead the class is some critical thinking questions.

As far as the lesson plan goes, the author does not provide much specific guidance for how the small groups should be conducted. This is the part that worries me. In my experience, small groups of middle school or high school students need specific tasks to keep them occupied, or the group will quickly digress into chit chat.

The author offers a rubric to assess the presentations for this lesson. While it is helpful, since this lesson is so heavily based on developing critical thinking skills, I would also require some form of a writing assignment. It my observation, writing encourages and solidifies critical thinking. This could take the form of a journal entry, a reflection paper, or some form of five paragraph essay focused on one of the books.
The author offers a list of appropriate books to use by Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. For the first two lessons, I would choose The Lorax by Dr. Seuess and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, because those are my personal favorites and I really like the messages behind them. Another children’s book which comes to mind is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

One thing I really appreciate about this lesson is that it does not require many resources. While I know that American education is headed towards advanced technology, I have no idea where I will be teaching. I want to be prepared for a teaching experience where resources are limited, in case that is my situation.

PS. I apologize that this is so late!

Reaction to the Anticipation Guide

I found the anticipation guide to be effective in that it engaged me in the topic prior to reading the article. Since I was given the time to develop my (completely unresearched) opinions, I felt more invested in the article's statements. I did not necessarily agree with everything in the article, but I was able to process through the argument more thoroughly because I had previously formed my own opinions. I would like to discuss this article more in class.