Extension: Classroom Connection
Student Activities
Try these activities with your students:
Contemporary/Classical Pairing
Read a contemporary work of literature with a companion classical
piece. Consider comparing author styles, how themes and conflicts
are addressed, character similarities, and how time periods
are portrayed. Some possible pairings:
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
1984 by George Orwell
- Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
- Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
excerpts from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
- Freak the Mighty by W. R. Philbrick or Rodman Philbrick
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- West Side Story by Paul Laurents, Paul Werstine,
and Norris Houghton, editor
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Anne Frank Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Student Book Selection Discussion
Discuss with your students how they go about selecting literature
for pleasure reading. Allow students to volunteer their ideas
while you record them on poster paper, a chalkboard, projection
screen, or overhead projector. Once students have offered
a fair amount of ideas, ask them to narrow down the list to
their top five criteria for selecting books. Ask students
to keep in mind that these criteria should guide one of their
friends in selecting a book that is appropriate for them either
for enjoyment or for an assignment for school. Ask students
to also consider how you avoid the problem of choosing a book
that is much too hard or easy and the advice they would give
to someone else. Post the students' criteria in your classroom
and the school library or media center for students' future
reference.
Dramatic Read Aloud
Model a dramatic read aloud for your students. Carefully select
an engaging text. You might consider Maniac Magee by
Jerry Spinelli, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck,
or The Giver by Lois Lowry. Select a compact passage
that draws the students into the story. Be careful to select
only a few pages, so that you will not lose your students'
interest. Start your presentation by giving the students just
enough information about the book and the scene you plan on
reading to help them connect to the text. Consider using props,
music, dramatic voice, movement, and music during your reading.
You may want to refer to the book The Read Aloud Handbook
by Jim Trelease (Penguin, 2001. ISBN: 0-14-100161-5.), as
you prepare for your read aloud. After modeling the dramatic
read aloud, challenge your students to prepare and present
their own read alouds. Assign this project in advance and
schedule class time to hear all of the presentations.
Teacher as a Reflective Practitioner
Build a Classroom Library
If you do not already have a library in your classroom, consider
making one. Utilize the criteria mentioned in the workshop
video as a starting point in selecting appropriate literature.
As you stock your library, invite students to offer their
favorite reads and authors. At the end of each school year,
poll the students for the books they would most recommend
to their friends. Evaluate and review the books you keep on
the shelves and continue to add to your collection. Utilize
the activity sheet Evaluate the Literature in Your Classroom
for this purpose. (See the Appendix in the Support Materials.) Remove books that are rarely checked out from the
library and bring them to your students' attention through
book talks and read alouds, when appropriate.
Utilize professional journals like the National Council of
Teachers of English Voices From the Middle and The
English Journal as resources for new titles and authors.
Use the Additional Reading section
of this workshop's Web site for more ideas as you continue
to build your classroom library.
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