In my first year at NRHEG, I was given a class called Great Authors. I asked what novels I’d be teaching and was told that, outside of Hamlet, the curriculum was up to me. I don’t remember every book I used, but it was great fun to sit down and re-read some books that might work.
One book sticks in my mind from that class: Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery. I decided to use a more modern author to engender discussion on what exactly made someone great. Millions of people enjoy Crichton’s works; does that make him great?
It has been a question that has lingered with me every time I think about trying a new book in my classroom. That first year, I also selected Tom Sawyer for my 7th grade class. It had been a favorite of mine, and I think I did some work based on it for some college classes. I assumed I couldn’t go wrong with such classic literature.
I never really had any problems when I taught it. The use of the n-word was problematic, but it’s not nearly as prevalent as in the sequel, Huckleberry Finn. Nobody ever complained, and my classes had good discussions on why the word was used then and why it should not be used now.
Selecting novels to teach can be a difficult process. I’m fortunate that I’ve never had an administrator seriously question anything I’ve chosen. Very few complaints have ever arrived on my desk about the appropriateness of the material. Nobody has ever asked that their child not read what I have chosen.
I was close a couple of times. For many years, I taught Tex, a marvelous book by S.E. Hinton, who is well known for her seminal work The Outsiders. Tex has some mature scenes with drinking, drugs, and a discussion about sex. Before teaching this, I was told it would be a good idea to have parents sign off on it. A couple parents had questions, and I was able to alleviate their concerns.
My biggest struggle over the years has been finding material the students will enjoy and also gain a good message. A few years ago, I was given some curriculum for a book called A Long Walk to Water, a marvelous book for my 7th graders. It’s not a difficult read, but the work teaches the importance of re-reading material and finding different things each time. It’s a great book for reluctant readers and has proven effective. And that’s where I’ve been going recently when it comes to new novels: my peers.
About a year ago, I started thinking about finding a new novel for 8th grade. True Shoes, a book I’ve been teaching for 7-8 years, is getting a bit dated with its references to technology and social media. That book has some important material dealing with race issues, and the direction I wanted to head involved more of that. Discussions on other cultures are so important in our changing world. But what book would work to do this?
I asked other teachers for ideas. I scoured the internet for suggestions. I read a lot of books. And I found a fantastic book called All-American Boys. It deals heavily with both what it is like to be stereotyped and judged because of the color of your skin and also what it’s like not to know what that feels like.
But. There is a lot of profanity. A lot. I contemplated as I read: Could I even think about teaching this?
My first step was to survey the parents of the students who might read it next year. I asked about their comfort level with these themes and the language. I was very appreciative to have a tremendous response and was willing to go with whatever the results were. At the end of the survey, 85% of the parents said they were okay with this book, despite the language.
I received some insightful comments too. Many of them referred to the knowledge that kids are exposed to and, unfortunately, say these words. Some parents thought that the importance of discussing race would be more important than any worries about bad words.
Of the other 15%, there were a couple parents who said they would not allow their child to read this book. I had a really nice discussion via email with one of those parents. It was suggested there are books that can still have these discussions without the language. Because of that discussion, I continued my reading.
I found a few more that were good and didn’t have much, if any, swearing. But I kept coming back to just how powerful All-American Boys was. And then another thought occurred to me: I’d felt that way about other books like The Hate U Give and Darius the Great Is Not Okay.
What if I chose many different books and had different groups read separate novels? I could come up with group discussion questions about the basic themes, and we could still look at those as a class, even if not everyone read the same book. Plus, any concerns about language could be alleviated by having students whose parents didn’t want swearing in the book read one without profanity.
And that’s what I’ll do. Thanks to the PTO, I received some money for books and have them on my shelf, just waiting for next September!
Picking a book is not just a matter of liking something and going with it. There is a process, and sometimes it takes unexpected turns. I’m so glad I had a productive discussion with someone who disagreed with me! If more people took a moment for those discussions, we could solve bigger problems than what Mr. Domeier’s class will read!
Word of the Week: This week’s word is soporific, which means causing sleep, as in, “The soporific novel quickly was crossed off the list of books to teach.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!