Voluntary reading—the best kind of all. Classroom walls are the perfect medium for repackaging something from class to reach students and create flexible opportunities for reading. See how studying the history of the English language gives new meaning to reading.
Today I “caught” a student who I would characterize as a reluctant reader reading the walls of my classroom to another student, who has also struggled a lot with reading this year. Mind you, they were both supposed to be doing a different assignment at their tables. While one part of me was about to redirect them both, I realized that this was a great moment I had no interest in interrupting. They were reading together out of a genuine interest for the information on the walls. Voluntary reading—the best kind.
What was on the walls? Students have been studying the history of the English language, how words get their meanings and how they change across time and place. It has been fascinating. One night for homework, I asked them to research their own names. Where do their names come from? What do they originally mean? How did they get their names? What do their names mean to them?
The written responses shared with one another in class were wonderful. They beautifully reflected the diversity of the students and shared something special about each of them. From a linguistics standpoint, it was illuminating to see the myriad ways that people arrive at names for their children, where these names come from, and what they mean. These stories echoed the word etymologies students had been studying in class at the same time.
Finding the two boys reading the walls was a great reminder that, for every student, there is a way to voluntary reading. Sometimes the wall is the perfect medium for repackaging something from class—especially student voices—to reach more students. Sometimes the timing is just right for reading and the wall is a way to catch a child on a whim and create flexible opportunities for reading. Finally, this reminded me that, though it takes time to update classroom bulletin boards, it is so worthwhile.
Share this post:
Author
Ariel Sacks
Ariel Sacks began her 13-year teaching career in New York City public schools after earning her master’s degree at Bank Street College and has taught and coached in grades 7-9. She is the author of Whole Novels for the Whole Class: A Student Centered Approach (Jossey-Bass, 2014) and writes a teaching column for Education Week Teacher.
Ariel’s work as a teacher leader with the Center for Teaching Quality involved her in co-authoring Teaching 2030: What We Must Do For Our Public Schools – Now and in the Future. She was also featured in the CTQ book Teacherpreneurs: Innovative Teachers Who Lead Without Leaving.
She is currently working on a book about the role of creative writing in equitable, 21st century schools, and she speaks and leads workshops on the whole novels approach.
Related Posts
September 13, 2021
Pause, ponder, then plan:
Cultivating Communities of Impact
February 23, 2021