not to sound cynical, but much of the content required for tenth grade english falls short when it comes to getting students excited about school... so when i had the chance to choose a novel to teach in the winter term, i went out on a limb and started planning on Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. its action, language, and protagonist (to name a few things) seemed interesting enough to lure some disinterested 15-year-olds to the world of reading. yet what really drew me to the novel was its recent revival in the land of popular culture- with a new comic book series based on the main character, Ender, a feature-length film in the works, and the possibility of a related video game, i felt the possibilities for student engagement endless!
however, how can i implement these comic books, movies, and video games within the constraints of a unit? there will always be the students who read the assigned material, and a subsection of these kids who go above and beyond class requirements and look into suggested resources like the pop culture items listed above... my questions and concerns in this post are more focused on the students who generally do not participate or buy into school: could these resources be a way to help these disinterested students get into english class? and what do i do if (and likely when) these same students pick up on the complementary materials but neglect the assigned text? as a young educator, i'm tempted to encourage whatever participation i can from my too-cool-for-school pupils, even if they just read the comic book in lieu of the novel... perhaps, if lauded for their attention to the comic books, movies, and video games, these same students will give the book a try?
Totally there with you. My kids are watching Macbeth and then just reading a few scenes in depth (hey--it's a play. it's meant to be seen). I'm integrating movie clips of their favorite movies into the unit. And if I have my way, I'm doing the graphic novel of Stardust. We don't have time to read the whole novel and graphic novels are a totally valid art form. What's important here is that the kids learn to think, be able to look at some form of writing, or even a task in their daily lives, and analyze it. Who cares about them memorizing names from Macbeth or whatever? And who cares what form the learning takes as long as it happens?
ReplyDeleteI read you loud and clear!! I believe there can be valuable lessons taught using any medium that exists. Comic books to replace old school literary mandates, pod casts to replace slide show presentations, video games to teach strategies & operational thinking. I haven't done this yet, but if I have students who don't participate (hopefully there young men), I'd take them out of the class room, down to the gym and shoot hoops while we discuss content matter. Could it be the lack of participation is due to years of "dark sarcasm in the classroom?"
ReplyDeleteKeep on rocking in your free world CC!
Cheers,
JP
Caitlin, Good questions! How far should we go to get kids to notice school? I have had similar thoughts for my Physics students. Sports and video games and even driving cars all use physics so that's part of where I hope to connect with kids.
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