Some of my 10th grade World Literature students are currently reading The Joy Luck Club in class right now, and we are fortunate enough to have laptops for every student, as well as a copy of the book.
This week I was thinking about how readers circles or groups once existed, in the days before mass production of books, to read aloud to each other and share in the experience. Before the printing press, this would have been the norm. Today, however, reading is a very individual experience, mad emore so by technological advances such as e-readers.
Along with our relatively new ability to read virtually anything to ourselves virtually anytime is an unfortunate consequence of increased rigor and high standards -- a busy curriculum that often leaves no time for reading together in the classroom.
I wanted to make the shared reading experience a priority, so I have shuffled around other assignments and flipped some activities to the home, and now my students and I are reading this novel together, aloud, in class.
With the laptops on, and novels in hand, there is so much we can do that I think I have only scratched the surface of its potential. So far, we have students participating in various roles, each comprised of anywhere from one to four students. Below the list of roles we have thought of so far (we are only a few days into our shared reading of Joy Luck), please comment and share any other roles that would enhance our learning.
- Timekeeper – notify the teacher when there are 10 minutes and 2 minutes left in each class
- Master of Pronunciation – look up pronunciations of names, places, foods, and Chinese words as we read (play an audio clip of the spoken word whenever possible)
- The Answer Finder – keep a search engine open and help find answers to other questions that arise as we read, including historical references
- Note takers – record the major plot points, background information, and class discussions while we read. Share your notes to the wiki editor to post online.
- Wiki editor – upload the notes from the note takers to the wiki page and keep it updated so we all have access to good notes
- Readers – take turns reading out loud in class as we read the story together - your teacher's voice can't handle reading it all!
- Chinese food expert– research and bring in to class information about the food items discussed in the book -- this will help with your menu-creating project
- Chinese culture expert– research and bring in to class information about the cultural events and traditions discussed in the book
- Artists – draw pictures, write poems, craft song lyrics, make videos, or use any other visual/creative means to express and represent the images and themes of the book as we read -- these visual and auditory cues will help with your retention for the final exams
So far, we are off to a great start. I am no expert in Chinese language or culture, but I do not have to be. When I (or any of my students) stumble over a word, a student volunteer quickly plays the pronunciation he or she finds online (within a matter of seconds!) and we learn together. When we stop to discuss, the note taker types what we learn. Later, the notes are posted to the class wiki. The experience is so much more engaging for multiple learning styles than we could ever hope to achieve reading in isolation. And we still do a lot of independent reading, too. What we don't finish in class must be completed at home. It has been going very well this week, but what are we missing? What else is out there in terms of student roles that could enable everyone to participate at the same time while we read? Please leave suggestions in the comments below. Thanks! See you next Tuesday!
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