I can appreciate that Gallagher began this chapter with a discussion of how to justify book choices to students. It's inevitable that kids are going to go through their "why are we reading this" stage. In fact, kids aren't the only ones. I'm sure there are plenty of adults who wonder why their kids are reading the books that they are, and maybe even a few who wonder why their kids have to read (fictional) books for school in the first place--why aren't they learning something practical? The English field isn't as cut-and-dried as math, science, or even the social sciences, and many otherwise educated people feel that reading fiction serves no practical purpose. I like that Gallagher used 1984 (one of my favorite novels) as an example of how to justify literary choices to students (and presumably their parents, the administration, the community, etc..)
I also felt that some of his ideas were personally helpful to me because of having to plan the conceptual unit. Some of his "anchor question" for example were helpful in thinking about conceptual questions for the unit plan. I also liked the rather quirky idea of doing a casting call: deciding who should play certain characters of a book in the hypothetical movie version. This allows students to think critically about the characters and use their imaginations, and it also allows them to make a personal connection with the book by imagining people they know portraying their characters. I was unsure about that idea at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it.
1 comment:
I was one of those kids in high school that had so many other things on my plate that I was constantly wondering WHY we were reading something. I would read the pages assigned and make sure I knew enough content to be able to do well if there was a surprise quiz given. I would have loved it if my teachers would have tried to develop a connection between my life and what we were reading!!!!
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