War of the Words

In a recent observation, I watched an energetic post-lunch class crash against a wall of in-class reading and recall-question answering. The students, full of food, vim, and vigour, channeled most of their energy into resisting the flat instruction rather than exploring the text. The students were, for the most part, not actively engaged in what could be considered a fun novel—The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells.

Mr. Crane (a leave-replacement teacher) stated that they had done a little preface work with the novel by looking into the infamous radio broadcast and ensuing confusion of 1938. I remember listening to a recording of that broadcast as a young student and being enthralled, so I was excited to see the students work with this text.

When the students came in, they were practically vibrating. Once they were seated, Mr. Crane picked up reading where the previous class had left off. The teacher, the co-teacher, and the students took turns reading sections of the book. The students had packets containing questions to be answered, and all those questions were simple recall questions. Once the chapter was finished, the teacher called on students to answer the questions while the co-teacher filled the answers into a Google Docs version of the packet. Unfortunately, this style of work did nothing to actively channel the abundant energy of the class. So, that energy was released through resistance, distraction, and calling out.

The frustration of the students was palpable. Many students cried out that they didn’t understand what they were reading or simply, “I can’t!” They complained that the complexity of the book was equal to Shakespeare. And, they were becoming mired in a chapter that was not all that essential for a close-reading analysis of the larger novel. What seemed geared to encourage close-reading (or, at least, recall-depth reading) bogged the young readers down with minute details that bred crippling frustration. And, as they worked on simple questions, many had quite a bit of trouble; I wondered if they had ever been taught how to scan for key words to answer these types of questions.

I found myself considering the layout of the class, the energy of the students, and the way that energy was dispersed. If each student was a ball of energy, they emitted that energy outward towards other students. This can either be a problem or a resource. I found myself doodling the layout with each student at their desk and the potential directions of their energy:

Then, I thought about how that energy could be harnessed into small-group work for a more interactive, collaborative, and focused exploration of the text:

To utilize the small-group arrangement for active reading and analysis of the text, the text could be split into four roughly equal sections, and each group would become “section leaders” for their assigned portion. As the class reads the text aloud, students would be encouraged to write down any questions they have, highlight difficult passages, and record thoughts sparked by interest from the text. The teacher will pause the reading after each of the four segments to have the section leaders share what they recorded. Any questions that are posed may be answered by any member of the class; any notations of difficult areas or interesting points may also be catalysts for discussion. One member of each group should be responsible for capturing the discussion on the Google Doc for future reference. Rather than focusing on recall questions about largely irrelevant factoids, students will have generated their own questions and curiosities as well as the chance to respond to each other with a collaborative reading.