Let’s Not Leave Advanced and

Gifted Readers “Behind”



I just finished reading the above entitled article from Voices from the Middle, Volume 17, Number 4, May 2010.  I agree with the overall premise of the article.  The focus over the past several years has become our lower students and our "bubble kids."  Because of school grades, AYP, and now teacher salaries, the emphasis is on these students making progress, particularly our lowest 25 percent.  Many times I have observed the high students being overlooked when it comes to curriculum - but not always!  I have seen teachers use their higher students as peer tutors.  Children do tend to learn when tutored by peers.  While this is good to an extent, that should not be the high student's main role in his/her class. 

 

Many schools form heterogeneously grouped classes made up of higher level students.  When forming these groups, teachers need to be mindful of their role, which is to challenge and stimulate higher level learning among these children.  Special training may be necessary in order to achieve this objective.  Because these students learn differently and usually have a wide variety of experiences, it does take extra effort on the teacher's part to provide the instruction and guidance needed to further their learning. 

My youngest daughter was a very advanced reader, reading on a fifth grade level before she entered kindergarten.  She read everything she could get her hands on.  The biggest challenge was finding appropriate books for her.  Her favorite series in kindergarten was The Babysitters' Club.  She continued to read and excel throughout her elementary schooling.  However, when she reached middle school, she was no longer challenged.  She not only lost interest in reading, but avoided it whenever possible.  It seemed she grew tired of reading books chosen by teachers and then doing specifically prescribed reports on those books.  You can imagine my dismay as an avid reader myself.  I believe it was in her sophomore or junior year in high school when the Harry Potter books came out.  She picked up the first one and was hooked.  Once again, she found the joy in reading just for the pleasure of reading.  That's been 10 years and she is never without a book!

Offering a choice of reading material as well as eliminating the standard book report is what advanced readers need.  If they are free to choose their own books (with guidance for the younger children), they will choose books they are truly interested in and will find pleasure in their reading.  Allow them to be creative in reflecting on their reading.  There are so many ways to do that instead of a written "book report."  Let's reach out to these students and help them advance their reading skills even more!



I guess I'm just a sucker for happy endings.  Another novel that I enjoyed all the way to the end -- The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Sixteen-year-old Jessica Carlisle lives to run.  At a high school track meet, she set a new record.  On the way home, their school bus was hit by another vehicle.  One girl was killed and Jessica's right leg was mangled.  The leg was amputated below the knee, effectively ending her running career.  Jessica experienced a great range of feelings and emotions, all the way from wishing she had died right after the accident, to seeing hope for a terrific future.

Along her journey of recovery, Jessica discovered so many things she had never taken the time to appreciate before.  She viewed herself in a different way, less whole and worthy, and assumed others did also.  During this time, Rosa entered Jessica's life. by   Rosa was in Jessica's math class, although Jessica had never really noticed her before.  Rosa was confined to a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.  She was very philosophical about Jessica's injury and about her love of running.  With Rosa's help and encouragement, and with much help from her track team, Jessica managed to rise above her disability and find that she could still do anything she was able to do with two good legs.  Jessica finds a way to help Rosa and, in doing so, helps herself more than she ever imagined.

My school has several life skills classes made up of children with varying disabilities, some of whom are able to attend class at least part of the day in a general education classroom.  I have noticed how students tend to either stare at them, or pretend not to notice them in the hallways.  Rosa described how much it upset her that people didn't "see" her, but only saw her disability.  This book would go a long way to assist students in learning about disabled students.  It would help them learn that they are still normal people who have the same feelings as they do.  I have read several books during this semester that deal with the same basic subject matter.  Other books are Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, Becoming Naomi Leon by Pam Munoz Ryan, and Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine.  All have made a huge impact on me and solidified beliefs I already had.

These books, and many others, could be used to help students come to an understanding of people who happen to be disabled.  There are activities associated with each of the novels that can help students become more aware of what they can do to help.  Empathy can be hard to develop in young people, but teachers can go a long way to help do this.

 

 

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban is the story of an eleven-year-old girl who dreams of someday playing piano in Carnegie Hall.  Her well-meaning father presents her with an organ instead.  Even though Zoe is disappointed that it isn't a piano, she does her best to make the most of things.  Her path is very crooked, however.  Zoe's father is afraid to leave the house and seldom does so.  Her mother works all the time and is seldom home.  A strange boy from school begins following Zoe home every day and works in the kitchen with her father baking cookies and things together.

 

Zoe experiences the ups and downs that most children her age face.  While she does live with both parents, her home life isn't normal.  Her father delights in completing video courses at home because he seldom leaves the house.  Zoe's "best friend" abandoned her for another girl that lives in a better neighborhood.  They make fun of Zoe because of the clothes she wears and where she lives. 

 

The relationships predictably begin to intertwine.  When Zoe is entered in an organ contest, she receives support from all fronts.  Even Wheeler, the boy from school who befriended her father, encourages Zoe.  Basically, Zoe discovers that what she thought her perfect life should be is not the easy, straight path she envisioned.  She realizes that even though the path is crooked, it is at the same time perfect for her.

 

There are many good discussion questions that can be used with this story.  *Ask students what they imagine there life will be life.  What do they think they will be doing in 20 years?  Will they have a family?  What job will they do?  *Also, discuss practice.  Zoe had to practice playing her organ every single day, even when she didn't really feel like it.  Have you ever practiced to do something so you would improve?  Did you ever quit practicing for something?  What happened? 

*Have you ever been invited to a party,but when you got there things are not what you expected?  Were you in the situation Zoe was where you stood and waited for your parents to come get you?

*Do first impressions really matter? Do you think the more you get to know someone the more your thoughts on that person change?

*Wheeler found he was good at baking. Do you think he will be willing to tell everyone at school about it? Why or why not? Should it really matter what you are good at? Shouldn’t you be able to share your talents and take pride in the good you do? Why do you think that is important?

*Have you ever been in a competition or performance?  How did you feel?

 

There are many more questions that can be asked as this book is read.  Most can also be used as writing prompts.  The story is packed full of situations faced by our students.  It is good for them to see how even seemingly bad situations can turn out for the best.

 

 

Boy, is this a good book!  It does a wonderful job of explaining the process scientists go through to learn about the past in a way that children can understand.  The author is also not afraid to allow students to see that adults have made mistakes in their research throughout the years.  However, we learn from our mistakes and continue to study and improve our research findings.  I’m happy that Ms. Kudlinski explains fossils, patterns, bones, and layers of the earth.  There is even a fossil layer that looks like it could be from outer space!  She also emphasizes that some things we believe now are only our best guesses.  We still may be wrong and may never be sure about some facts from long ago.  Students are told by the author that they can someday be a scientist if they so wish and may help us to learn even more about dinosaurs.  In fact, one day just such a scientist may once again say, "Boy, were we wrong about dinosaurs."

 

I found a lesson idea that looks like a great kinesthetic exercise at the Chicago Children’s Museum web site: http://www.chicagochildrensmuseum.org/Dino_Activities.pdf.

Give students an assortment of pasta and allow them to construct a dinosaur skeleton.  They could then glue the pasta on a piece of construction paper and name and write about their dinosaur, describing its size, method of moving, type of food eaten, etc.

 

For a math extension, students could research the length of several types of dinosaurs.  Once average lengths are determined, take the students outside.  Use a rolling distance measure wheel or measure out string with yardsticks.  Have students pair up and measure out the length of the dinosaurs on a grass field.  This will give them a visual of how large these animals were.  Students can predict how many of them it would take lined up lying down to make one dinosaur.  Compare the lengths of the various dinosaurs.

 

This book would seem to work well holding students' interests.  So many children have a natural interest in these ancient creatures and are willing to work at learning activities to discover more about them.