Children Learn Through Reading
In a political climate when the arts are called into question and funding is threatened, I am reminded of my days teaching my 12-year-old 7th graders. Many of these students had never read a book on their own but once they did, not only did they become better readers, they also became wiser human beings.
Each year I struggled to survive yet another year of teaching challenging 12-year-old children while trying to give students the language arts skills they needed. I discovered my students had learned some very important things from reading The Cay by Theodore Taylor, a novel included in the Struggle to Survive unit, part of 7th grade language arts.
After students had read this book, I asked them the question,
What did you learn from reading this book? These excerpts below are in the words of my students:
I learned…
· Not to prejudge people but to get to know them.
· It helps to have a friend and that you should be cautious.
· I shouldn’t take things for granted.
· You learn things when you lose things after taking them for granted.
· No matter how hard the world holds you down, you have to keep trying.
· Even if you have a disability, you can still do most of the stuff normal people can do if you try.
· Not to judge someone by their looks or how they talk.
· You should always help others if they need your help.
· You can change things about yourself by spending time with one person for a while.
· Not to be racist.
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· It takes something like blindness to let you really see the world that surrounds you.
· You should never give up because hard work pays off.
· If you use what you have wisely, you can survive.
· If you are not brave, strong and conservative, then you will definitely not survive.
· No matter how hard the task is that is in front of you, you can always finish it.
· It doesn’t matter who you meet or what you think about them, when you see them, it’s what’s inside that counts.
· It’s important to always have confidence in yourself. Always believe you can do anything, no matter what.
· It is important to stick together and have patience.
· You have to be independent.
· People are the same on the inside no matter what they look like on the outside.
· No matter what happens or who you’re with, you must always have faith.
· Blind people are just like us but just can’t see and that does not make them any less of a person.
· Even if you don’t like someone, you can learn to live with them.
· There was more prejudice around the world, not just in North America.
· You always have to be positive because if you just sit there and say you’re going to die, that’s not going to help you to survive.
· If everybody works together, you have a better chance to survive.
· You shouldn’t judge people by their tone of skin but by their wisdom, spirit and love.
