Research
As I searched the current literature for studies relating to students' reading habits and the teaching of reading, I found many references to studies by Louise Rosenblatt and Margaret Early. Their work continues to impact today's instruction and contemporary theories.
For a long time, teachers taught literature by giving meaning to the text itself; there was a specific interpretation that teachers assisted students in finding (Asselin 62). However, current thinking is that we should encourage students to make their own meaning. Rosenblatt, as quoted in Asselin, offers two key features of a theory on how readers create meaning which are accepted today (62).
One feature of Rosenblatt's theory is that literature is a way to promote critical thinking and awareness of the variety of perspectives. She feels that readers bring their own experiences, emotions, and knowledge to their reading, triggering associations with the words, images, and thoughts expressed in the text. She advocates that experiencing literature this way will help promote the open-mindedness that is so important to a democratic form of government (Asselin 62). My unit will have students respond on a personal level to events in a mystery novel, thus bringing their experiences and ideas to derive their own meaning from fictional events. They will be viewing those things from different perspectives, using thought processes they seldom have been required to use. They will also be using higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, and drawing parallels to their own lives. Each student will have the opportunity to have his or her own views heard and respected as they respond to literature in a manner that will be new to many.
This approach is important to my students because of the emphasis that has been placed on simple recall of facts owing to the preoccupation with standardized testing and scores that affects whether schools make Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind Act. Schools in urban and lower socioeconomic areas feel the highest amount of pressure. Those students whose needs are the greatest are the ones whose higher order thinking skills are most often overlooked. This is what I have seen happen in my school, and this is why I have chosen to cultivate higher order thinking skills in this unit.
Rosenblatt's other point is that readers read texts either for instructional purposes or for aesthetic purposes. Aesthetic responses are those that put the reader in the world of what he is reading. Most reading falls somewhere along a continuum of each type of response. In the Asselin article, Probst describes aesthetic reading as a kind that presents endless opportunities because even though the intention of the text is finite, the responses of the readers are definitely not, especially in the case of middle school students whose moods can change from day to day, allowing even more possibilities for interpretation. He says aesthetic reading "acknowledges the uniqueness of the reader"(128).
I find that my students lack empathy. This is true of most adolescents, who tend to be self-focused. Situations that usually would draw a sympathetic response from adults seem not to cause a reaction from my students. Perhaps they have become numb to tragedies and crime because it is not an unusual occurrence to them or because of the violence of video games, movies, music videos and television, or a combination of factors.
A sense of ethics is another attribute that my students seem to be lacking. When a fight happens in school, the children run to it, not away. If something is stolen, or a fire set in a trash can, it is nearly impossible to get them to recognize the seriousness of the offense and to name the guilty party. Most feel no responsibility when losing school library books because they cannot see the relevance of the "rightness" or "wrongness" of the act and the effect it has on fellow students in our school community.
My activities for this unit will help the students develop the imaginative second order thinking to put themselves in the lives of characters who are going through some very emotional and tragic events that sometimes seem to have no clear right or wrong answers, and that lack of clarity should generate lively discussions. I want my students to have to wrestle with those issues by using some deep thinking, guided by activities that will require them to think sometimes creatively, other times rationally, and not to react with their pre-programmed responses. I think each student will bring an interesting perspective to discussions based on his/her own experiences that will enrich the entire class. I will challenge their beliefs and force them to examine situational ethics, and the effects of violence on the people on its periphery.
Margaret Early writes of stages of literary appreciation. She claims that literature is a complex art, so much so that it is not possible to define students' growth precisely into stages. She mentions that maturity, intellectual ability, and reading ability affect literary appreciation, which she also refers to as "the development of delight in literature"(162).
Her first stage of literary appreciation is where I find most of my students: Unconscious Enjoyment. The term "enjoyment" is used loosely. The "delight" Early refers to has to come with no effort, the readers must find any pleasure they get from reading very easily, and the story must meet their likes although they cannot articulate the reasons why they like a story. Frequently they respond to character stereotypes because any deviation might interfere with the action and/or confuse the reader. Early goes on to write that this stage of appreciation can be possible for those who have little or no reading ability.
The second stage of literary appreciation is self-conscious appreciation, and at this stage readers are now willing to put forth more effort to further their enjoyment. At this stage readers no longer just find delight alone, but might also want to know "why." They want character development involving plausible motives and perhaps psychological conflict, not just physical conflict. Early states that readers cannot bypass the first stage of unconscious enjoyment, but have to be persuaded that literature will provide enough pleasure to make them willing to work to reach the next level. She believes that some readers never reach the next level because they lack the intellectual ability, while others choose not to do so. She also believes that teachers play a role in how and when they present literature appreciation to students. Teachers need to wait until students are ready. They must encourage the development of independent appreciation rather than have students fall into the habit of copying the teachers' taste.
Early's third stage, conscious delight, is the highest stage of literary appreciation, and the one toward which teachers endeavor to guide all students with the capacity to reach it. At this stage, the reader has the ability to deepen his/her own literary appreciation without teacher assistance. She states that this stage is more likely to be found among mature adults than high school or even university students, thus this stage has little application to my students.
The description of these stages corresponds to my own experiences as a library media specialist and my observation of my middle school students. To my utter frustration, most do not like to read. They tell me straight out and in no uncertain terms, "I don't like to read! Why should I get a book?" When my sixth grade students come to the middle school, for the first three months they ask me for series of books that they read at the second grade reading level, books they can read at the "no effort" stage, as previously defined. At the beginning of each school year, teachers bring their students to the library to check out a book, and some students do not bring the book back until May. Even then they will tell me they have not read it. I know that my students have not been convinced that reading is worth the effort that is needed for the enjoyment felt at Early's second stage of literary appreciation.
I am using the mystery genre, as exemplified by the specific novel I chose, as a hook to get them personally involved. The story is easy enough to read and will not slow them down. It has a fascinating and pertinent conflict that will retain their interest. The characters' dilemmas will catch their attention because they themselves may have dealt with issues such as loyalty to friends, "snitching," acts of violence, and the loss of a special friend. My intention is that the novel and activities in this unit will help my students be ready to move into the stage of self-conscious appreciation and assist them in building a desire to do so. We will look at complex and relevant issues surrounding loyalty to one's friends and family as it personally relates to their own lives, and whether it is okay to "tell" to save a friend's life. Unfortunately, some of my students may one day face a similar situation.
My school is on a block schedule with each class meeting for ninety minutes every other day, and I will be teaching this unit for a period of approximately four weeks. The mystery novel I chose to use is Blood Trail by Nancy Springer. It will be a perfect vehicle for students to easily read and enjoy in the time allotted, and to teach the second order thinking skills that are crucial for all children—but especially urban and lower socioeconomic students—to have.
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