This week, I took my students on what was, in retrospect, the best field trip ever. No, we didn’t visit the eerily familiar Blacks in Wax, or survey Baltimore’s glory days at the Reginald Lewis Museum. We went to... the movies. A previous blogger expressed a tinge of guilt while admitting to her indulgence in the good ol’ “movie day” — but I maintain that my Hunger Games expedition was an educationally relevant opportunity (you know, to engage in cross-textual analysis). Turns out, I’m not the only teacher riding the Katniss craze; at schools across the country, the bestselling, action-packed (and, okay, kinda violent) novel has been incorporated into the traditional English curriculum, raising more than a few eyebrows. As students eagerly write from Peeta’s vantage point or discuss the implications of a dystopian setting, nervous mothers fear that the book’s fight-to-the-death plotline will only fan the flames of our students’ unsettling fascination with bloodbath video games and salacious Teen Moms.
Still, I couldn’t help but gleefully smile when one of my students stated, “Yeah, the movie was great — but the book was waaay better!” This is a kid who downright detested reading before we picked up Susanne Collin’s juicy novel — she’s now done with the third book, and is requesting that I give her more outside reading suggestions. Other teachers have seen similar progress in struggling students as a result of teaching The Hunger Games; one literacy instructor states that a handful of students in his program had “never read a full book, so to see them excited to read this one, to accomplish that, is really something.”
What do you think? Should we stray from the classics, if it means that we can “turn on” students to the joys of literature? Or is it too much of a stretch — I mean, what’s next? Twilight?
3 comments:
I often become frustrated when I hear, “this book is boring, so I’m not reading it.” Some students only open books if they are forced to stare at the text to receive a grade, but they take little to no joy in actually reading classroom novels. Teachers spend a large amount of time looking for ways to entice students to read rather than using the novel to teach language arts skills. Contemporary books have helped peak my students’ interest in reading, but I struggle with communicating to them that the sole function of literature, and school as a whole, is not entertainment. Reading contemporary books tailored to students’ interests’ builds investment in reading. However, the books should not comprise an entire curriculum and does not adequately prepare students for more rigorous texts. Although the process may be painful, reading classical literature allows students to understand the craft and development of language arts. Students should be able to reference classics, such as Animal Farm, The Giver , and 1984 , to understand how similar literary themes have developed throughout history. Reading older texts also teaches students endurance and how to distill important information from unfamiliar texts. Books, such as The Hunger Games, can be used as a gateway to reading, but not as the primary means of educating students about literature.
I whole-heartedly agree with your assessment of student engagement using The Hunger Games. I made a late-in-the-year alteration to my Long Term Plan to incorporate the text, and I am so glad that I did! The main factor that drove my decision was the need to get students excited about reading, and to show them that the experience of reading can be joy-filled. I was gratified throughout the whole unit by the enthusiasm and passion my students had for the text. Several have already eagerly finished the whole trilogy! I absolutely think we as English teachers should be open to incorporating new texts in our classes, especially if it will hook our students! Besides, other texts can be equally violent for filled with adult themes, like Romeo & Juliet, The Bluest Eye, Night, and many others. However, teachers need to be mindful of HOW they will best approach a text – whether one of the classics or a new hit. Not only is The Hunger Games a gripping page-turner, but it also deals with the very important and relevant themes of governments, dystopias, responsibility, sacrifice, identity, and values. All of these are important things for our students to learn about, and if they can do so while reading a book they love, we as teachers should have no qualms using it.
Aren't the teachers we loved the most and remember clearly the ones who found a way to make the subject material of their class engaging? The ones who found a way to connect something that is relevant today to academic concepts that are more traditional? I think Sonia's post is an example of good teaching. Obviously its possible to take the idea to the extreme (a pornographic novel would certainly get someone's attention but would not be an appropriate vehicle for learning). But just because a book is recent does not mean that it isn't good literature or that it does not have teaching value. There is a reason that the Hunger Games and Harry Potter are best selling series among youth and adults (I am not going to touch Twighlight). And finally let us not forget that not all supposed "classics" are created equal. I still think Catcher in the Rye is one of the worst books I ever read. And Moby Dick is excellent but nothing if not dark. If the book chosen can adequately be used to discuss key literary themes or devices then I applaud teachers who pick books that engage their students, whether it is a classic or not (within reason of course).
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