Initially printed November 2024
By Krisandra Johnson
I turned an English instructor as a result of I like books. As a baby and teenage, books had been magical and libraries had been a haven. As an schooling main, I wrote, somewhat naively, in my philosophy of schooling that I used to be going to introduce college students to tales they cherished. They only wanted somebody to assist them. Overzealous? Maybe. However that zeal is why it’s an uncomfortable fact to confess that now, a decade later, I completely detest the novel research.
The hatred doesn’t stem from the books themselves, however slightly attributable to all the challenges a novel research presents. It’s exhausting, and I do know different academics have skilled comparable conditions. Solely having one class set, so all studying should be completed throughout the 55-minute class interval. That whole interval is spent studying, so there’s little time left to debate. I really feel I’m pressured to guide weeks of studying like a steam engine chugging towards a vacation spot. I image myself throwing wooden to flame, afraid to cease and be derailed.
Pupil absences are the dying of productiveness in a novel research. My very own absences are even worse. To not point out if a pupil doesn’t just like the novel, they now need to spend practically 9 weeks studying and analyzing it. Even I, at occasions, could be sick of the ebook midway by way of.
The Discovery
A number of years in the past, I went so far as denouncing the novel research. “We received’t learn any complete class novels this 12 months,” I advised mother and father at back-to-school night time. “College students will learn at the least 4 selection novels independently. However we’ll learn brief tales, articles, and poems collectively.”
It labored nice for a few years. College students learn library books, journaled about their themes and characters, and answered every other standards-based questions I requested. On the finish of the quarter, they’d select from their completed books to do a bigger venture. All was nice.
Then I found a classroom set of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief whereas clearing out my classroom closet. The set and some copies of the graphic novel had been boxed and saved by the earlier educator in my room. Having missed the Percy Jackson hype a couple of years in the past, I hadn’t learn the sequence myself, however now I used to be intrigued.
I started to flip by way of it alone throughout impartial studying time at the start of sophistication whereas college students learn their library books. As I learn, I discovered that this ebook seemingly had all of it: a likeable major character with relatable flaws, motion, a fast-moving plot, allusions to numerous myths, and the traditional archetype of the hero’s journey. Who wouldn’t love such an entertaining story?
Modes of Storytelling
The 12 months I learn The Lightning Thief was a turbulent one. I had began it off on maternity go away, and now that I used to be again within the classroom, I discovered myself struggling to encourage studying motivation in college students. I wanted a great ebook to tug them in. Going in opposition to my unyielding place about classroom novels, I made a decision to offer the novel research one other strive.
I ended up introducing college students to Percy Jackson within the spring semester. Sadly, this meant I didn’t have a complete quarter to dedicate to studying it in school. I wanted a solution to make the novel research shorter, however I didn’t wish to simply learn a part of the story, nor did I wish to summarize some chapters to the category. Then, on a night whereas I used to be watching the movie adaptation to see if it was applicable to point out elements to the category, an thought was born.
I started organizing: watching the movie, rereading chapters of the ebook, and labeling sections of the graphic novel with corresponding plot occasions. As a substitute of studying the novel in its entirety after which watching elements of the movie, we might interweave the completely different media types all through the unit: the category would begin by studying a chapter from the novel, then a chapter from the graphic novel, after which we might watch the subsequent chapter within the film. As they labored their means by way of the story, contemplating character and plot, college students would additionally examine the three completely different mediums, analyzing the advantages and the pitfalls of every.
This concept of blending media was born out of a necessity for extra class time. Nevertheless, after instructing the unit, I used to be pleasantly shocked at how a lot I, and the scholars, loved evaluating constructions. We had been capable of have broader discussions concerning the modes of storytelling.
I discovered college students speaking about how the graphic novel allowed for extra visualization, however provided much less of the plot as it’s shorter, leaving out essential elements of character growth. They spoke of how movie might use music and different components, however needed to depend on the actors’ expressions and dialogue, whereas the novel gave first-person intimacy with Percy.
College students had been even going again and studying novel chapters after they’d completed a chapter from one other kind as a result of they felt just like the graphic novel or movie didn’t wasn’t adequate and wished Percy’s narration. They had been hungry for extra; a number of college students even requested the second installment, Sea of Monsters, on the faculty library after the unit had ended.
These deeper conversations about storytelling wouldn’t have been potential with solely the novel. By providing the opposite two modes, college students had been capable of zoom out from the plot to investigate how the story was being advised, which was made simpler by having variations to check.
(It also needs to be famous that, since I first started instructing this unit, The Lightening Thief was additionally tailored right into a TV sequence. The second time I ran it, the category watched episodes from the present as a substitute, because it extra intently follows the plot of the ebook.)
The Advantages
Any such unit doesn’t simply need to be narrowed to solely Percy Jackson. Miss Peregrine’s Residence for Peculiar Children, The Giver, The Nice Gatsby, and numerous different books have graphic novel and movie diversifications as properly. Nevertheless, I’ll say that Percy Jackson is a superb novel to introduce to college students for a lot of causes.
To start with, college students love the story of Percy. He doesn’t slot in. He’s a little bit of a misunderstood hassle maker. I’ve discovered that Percy’s character attracts in a few of my not-so-fond-of-reading college students. Additionally, the story’s motion is unmatched. Each chapter presents one thing thrilling, which retains the tempo of the novel going. Youngsters are desirous to see what occurs subsequent.
The Greek myths alluded to within the novel enable for supplemental studying that may be differentiated. Myths have been rewritten and printed so many occasions; it’s straightforward to search out the story of Theseus and the Minotuar, for instance, written in a number of studying ranges. When reteaching or working towards expertise resembling outlining plot construction, discovering themes, and so on., myths at differentiated studying ranges may help academics put together that “good” problem of a textual content for each pupil.
Lastly, the Percy Jackson sequence is so standard throughout the globe that it has been translated into many different languages. I used to be capable of buy each the novel and the graphic novel in French and Spanish! This allowed my newcomer college students who solely spoke these languages to be assured of their understanding of the plot and be extra able to answering the questions I requested of them.
General, the Percy Jackson novel research has been met with optimistic suggestions, and is usually a favourite amongst my college students. On the top of the 12 months surveys I hand out, one pupil even wrote that, “I want we had learn Percy Jackson at the start of the 12 months. Then, I’d have had extra time to complete the sequence!”
This goes to point out that the dream of connecting youngsters with nice books isn’t lifeless or not possible. With some creativity and reconsideration, it may be inside our attain in spite of everything.
Krisandra Johnson teaches eighth grade English in Speedway, IN. She encourages her college students to jot down about what they love, so she writes about what she loves: instructing.