I noticed as I went back and reread some of my margin notes, I had a trend going with the word diversity. That's the thought I kept having as I read through the chapter. Diversity among our students, but more so, diversity in the reading material we are providing these students. How can we help students form their own views and opinions if they are not reading texts that they can, at least, somewhat relate to? For example, I actually really liked history in high school. What can I say, I had a great teacher. That being said, I also liked to read, so when we would cover something of interest to me in History, I would find a historical fiction book to read about it. When referencing Burr by Gore Vidal, Daniels and Zemelman note that historical novels can make "both a person and a period come alive" (57). I remember that! I loved that aspect of historical fiction, still do. I could place myself there and almost feel what the characters felt. Interestingly enough, I am seeing this same trend with my own children. They found this series of books called I Survived by Lauren Tarshis, here's a link: https://www.scholastic.com/isurvived/. They love them and they're learning about history while they are reading from the perspective of kids their own age! Can you imagine my surprise when my son, who does not share my love for reading, actually begged me to request these from the library for him. REALLY?! It just proves the authors' point that we need some diversity in our classroom literature. We need to get away from just the classics, just the textbooks, just fiction even.
I did have a small disagreement with one thing and I'm just going to throw it out there... Over on page 62 as they're discussing assorted texts to check out different views, they talk about the Holocaust from Anne Frank's perspective and another book from the perspective of a German family who hid the Jews. Ok, so even though we have two differing cultures here their view was kind of the same. They both agree what the Germans were doing was wrong. Now don't misunderstand me, I think it was heinous but in the true spirit of perspective, wouldn't it be a good idea to offer a book from a German perspective that was on the Nazi side. Maybe it's just me, but I want to know what was going through their heads. I think that is a diverse option, plus it truly offers both sides of the story.
Offering our students diverse reading material, both in content and form, really allows the acceptance of all texts. It also serves to desegregate leisure reading and academic reading, hopefully providing our students with an appreciation for both.
Michelle I agree with your comments. I feel that a more diverse readings can not only expand the student's knowledge but it can also bring materials in that will make a reluctant reader more interested in reading. As this happens it only increases the reader's skill as it is now being practiced where as before it wasn't. Also on having multiple points of view available I feel that this is very important. The tone of the books offered by a teacher is important and it is very important to show both sides of an issue. Going back to the authors Fast Food example it would have been interesting to see how the students would have reacted if they had read two opposing books on the topic or if the class had been split into two groups each reading one of the sides and then debated the issues, rather than just the single point of view.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great idea! It totally goes back a few classes when we spoke about imposing our opinions on our students. It doesn't need to be only in the words we say, it can be in the books we choose. A lot of the chapter talked about students forming their own opinions, values, ideas. Offering them many sides to a story will allow them to get that.
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