I haven't been able to sleep since 3:00 this morning. I tried reading (the book was too scary and therefore not relaxing enough to fall asleep by), playing Sudoku (I always try to beat my fastest time so that's not relaxing either), and counting sheep (boring, but I have to pay attention to what I'm doing or I lose count). So I hauled myself out of bed and into the living room, where I grabbed the first movie I saw and started it.
Fortunately, the movie is You've Got Mail, one of my all-time favorites. I think there are two reasons for that: 1. Meg Ryan owns a children's bookstore, which if I'm being honest, is my dream job (after teaching, of course), and 2. because of the following line, "Don't you just love New York in the fall? Makes me want to buy school supplies. I would buy you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." Joe Fox is a man after my own heart!
Watching You've Got Mail got me thinking about how much I want to go to New York. I've never been there, and I love everything I see and hear about it. And then, I started thinking about owning a children's bookstore, which led to the books Meg Ryan reads in the film.
Until I saw this movie, I had not read Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice. After hearing Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) tell Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) that she has read the book 200 times-"I get lost in the language: words like thither...mischance...felicity. Read it; I know you'll love it!"-I picked up a copy and read it myself. I did love it!
My favorite scene in the movie is when Joe Fox (Hanks) brings his young aunt and brother to The Shop Around the Corner during story time. Kathleen (Ryan) is sitting in a corner with a princess hat on her head and reading from a book that is charming all of the children (and adults) in the room. Now, I know they're all paid actors, but I couldn't wait to figure out what that book was. It seemed so familiar, yet I could not place it. The first thing I did after I bought the movie was to freeze the frame and zoom in so I could figure out exactly what book had those people so mesmerized. I was thrilled to learn that the book is Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl's childhood biography, and a book I already owned. So I skimmed through a copy and found the chapter called "The Great Mouse Plot." I was excited; I had a new text to share with my kids at school!
This year, as I was teaching my second grade students about the writing trait of Voice, I pulled out Boy and told them I couldn't wait to share this story with them. We had already read Matilda aloud, so I used that as an "in." I shared that Boy is full of voice, and even though the cover doesn't look all that intriguing, the writing inside is captivating. I began to read, mimicking the inflection Meg Ryan uses in You've Got Mail, reading until Roald and his buddies had snuck the dead mouse into Mrs. Pratchett's jar of sweets successfully and seemed to have gotten away with it. "But," I told the kids, "there's more to the story! The next chapter involves the headmaster, a police officer, and Mrs. Pratchett herself." They begged me to keep reading. Since it was a writing mini-lesson, I couldn't, but I did show them the three copies I have in the classroom library. As soon as The Daily 5 was over and it was time for snack, 7 kids bolted to the classroom library, arguing about who touched the copies first and therefore who would get to put the book in his or her book box. I heard a lot of deal-making and "if you let me have it, we can read it together during Read to Someone!" from that corner of the room. By the end of snack break, one of my boys had engaged me in a conversation about the next chapter. He couldn't wait to read the rest of the book and learn more about Roald Dahl. For the rest of the year, none of the copies of Boy were ever in their designated basket in the classroom library, they were in a book box or the hands of a second grader, and the conversations I heard around me had some reference to the book in them almost every day. I didn't even mention the influx of Roald Dahl books my classroom saw!
Have you ever noticed that when someone suggests a book to you, especially if it's someone you respect or admire, you get the book without hesitation? I didn't quite realize the extent to which I do that until I truly pondered the You've Got Mail situation. I did it with that movie, when my student teacher recommended The Great Gatsby (which I've read but haven't yet seen), when my brother recommended the Lucas Davenport novels by John Sandford (that's what I was trying to use, unsuccessfully, to fall back asleep this morning), when a friend and colleague recommended Gone Girl or when an ER nurse recommended 11/22/63-the list goes on and on. I buy them or wishlist them so that I can start as soon as I finish the book I'm currently reading.
Our students do that, too! Every read-aloud I do in my classroom turns my students into book detectives and negotiators. They want the book I'm reading in their hands. They look in our classroom library, the school library, and if the book is very new and they can't find it in either place, they negotiate with their parents to buy it for them. "Mrs. Aanenson, can you get that at Amazon? Where did you buy that book? Could you buy a copy for the classroom library? Can I look at that during Read to Self/Read to Someone?" are questions I hear each time I bring out a new title. These are some of the most gratifying questions I think I will ever hear. To know that children can be influenced to love literature? Amazing!
A few years ago, I had a reluctant reader in my fifth grade classroom. She wasn't unique because she was a reluctant reader. Every classroom has a few of them. She was unique because I could see how badly she wanted to love to read, but was too afraid to become emotionally invested in a book. Much of her reluctance came from early struggles with reading. Because of that, she had decided that she hated to read and her parents told me that despite the fact they purchased books for her frequently, she refused to read them. When I read to my class, she would sit with her arms crossed over her chest, and as far as I could tell, she completely ignored me. I decided to take action to see what would happen. First, I looked for books about kids who struggled in school, but became successful. Second, I scoured my classroom library and our school library for books on topics I knew would interest her.
Early in October, I read Patricia Polacco's wonderfully poignant story Thank You, Mr. Falker aloud. I always cry at the end. It never fails. That story touches the very deepest part of my teacher soul. As I looked around at my class, I was astonished to see that there were very few pairs of dry eyes. My biggest surprise? My reluctant reader had to get up to get a tissue. My class and I then had a heartfelt discussion about things that they found difficult and what they had done to overcome those difficulties. Every single student had something with which they struggled. I watched my reluctant reader's eyes get bigger each time someone shared something that was hard for them. I don't think she believed that she wasn't the only one who found something difficult.
That day, she started asking more questions and requesting some individual instruction. I promised her two things: that I would find her books on topics she would enjoy, and that by the end of the school year, she would love to read. In November, I began reading aloud There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. My students loved it, but the best part of reading that story to my students was watching my reluctant reader. She laughed aloud at the funny parts, asked questions about the story, made predictions, clarified when she was confused, and engaged other students in discussions about the book.
Then, my students and I started writing book reviews on index cards and placing them in library pockets on a bulletin board to suggest books we thought others in the class might enjoy. I noticed my reluctant reader surreptitiously checking those reviews with increasing frequency in November and December. Right around Christmas break, shortly after we had finished Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, my reluctant reader came to me and said, "Mrs. Aanenson, you're my best teacher and my worst teacher. You're my best teacher because you made me love to read. You're my worst teacher because I don't get enough sleep anymore because I can't put my books down!" When we got back from winter break, the kids shared their favorite Christmas gifts. My reluctant reader's favorite gift was a set of 16 Newbery award books she had received from her aunt. She had read two of them over break and wrote book reviews to share that day.
So what does all this have to do with the power of suggestion? Think about it for a minute. Have you ever read a story to your students and then later watched them check it out from the library? When you choose a book for a Guided Reading group or Literature Circle, do the students ever look for other books by that author or on that topic? When you or your students do book talks in your classroom, how often do your students choose to read the book? After you've done an author study, do your students seek out the books you read, or find more books by or about the author? Do they write letters asking for more information about the author? Do they write in the style of the author? Do they read aloud, mimicking your inflection or the author's? This is the power of suggestion at work, friends!
Passion for literature is infectious. I truly believe that passion is the most powerful weapon in my teaching arsenal for getting kids to read. The power of suggestion, especially when it comes to books, has effects much more far-reaching than we can possibly anticipate. I want my students to argue over who gets the read-aloud book first! I hope my students ask if I can get a copy of a book they love for the classroom library! When my students clap at the end of the story, it brings tears to my eyes! It means I am igniting their passion for literature with mine. Like a candle that lights another candle, the original flame will not be diminished by passing the light on. We, as teachers, can continue to light our students' candles by sharing new titles, genres, and authors, enticing kids to read, and sharing with them excellent books that will leave them wanting more. In turn, our students will pass their own flame on to someone else.
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