SHADOWING -- THE MATRIX OF MEANING MAKING

Students initially saw the literature discussion time as an exchange between themselves and the teacher. As such, each only tolerated others' comments as an intrusion on their own time to talk. Soon, the desire to offer a connection with the teacher overcame the willingness to wait their turn, and mayhem followed. That is, until shadowing. Since re-articulation of thought is more likely to happen through discussion (Barnes,1976), and the possibility of learning new strategies lay in listening to those that others used, the challenge "to listen" was given to the class. If in listening to the connections of others new thinking could be generated, then the re-negotiated meaning would have provided two sources for thought (text and talk), validated the student whose thinking served as the catalyst, and equipped the student with additional strategies. The passion of the challenge equaled the strength of the conviction that the benefits would be enormous. But it did not happen. Not only was listening not on their menu, it was an art for which few had developed an appetite. They would have to be taught how to listen...with Carla's help.

On the day that I was being observed as the District "Distinguished Teacher," the entire literature discussion was trashed when Carla yelled (with grunts growing and hands waving), "We did it! We did it!" Attempts to continue the discussion were futile, so I treaded timidly into a dialogue with the one emotionally disabled girl who could turn every aside into a classroom adventure:

"What did we do Carla?"

"We shadowed."

"Uhhh...ok...what did we do Carla?"

"We shadowed!" (now with voice rising and falling, hands pointing.)

"What do you mean Carla?"

"Just then--we shadowed...when he said that, she listened and it made her say something!.

And indeed we had. It was the beginning of the class developing a taste for listening, and the feast was hosted by Carla. Verbalizing plays a part in learning by alerting our perceptual expectations (Barnes,1975). As students organize words into a whole, their thinking and writing become more complete and elaborate (Barnes, Britton, & Rosen, 1971). They learn to better control their thoughts by reflecting on their thought processes and developing a reflective awareness.(Barnes, 1976). In a class where students read, write, and discuss books, awareness of language is heightened, thereby helping students to develop an awareness of thinking which can lead to the intellectual self-control (Donaldson, 1978).

Shadowing was the matrix that alerted our expectations as a class, mended separate, disjointed connections, and provided the adhesion that book talk creates. In demonstrating reading connections to others, students reveal and shore up their interpersonal relationships (Spear, 1988). From that banquet Robby served,"That was the old Robby," comparing himself to the "new" Brian in Hatchet (Paulson, ). Stephen dazzled the class when he dished his "hype chart," a semantic graph showing the "highs and lows" of Big Red. The lives of the students gave meaning to the characters in the text. It is often through personal stories shared in discussion groups that a backdrop is developed against which stories and characters are judged (Short and Pierce, 1990).

Reading and writing are an integration of thinking, listening, speaking, writing, and viewing (Parsons, 1990). To isolate these components and continully expect students to write or read without viewing the whole is like being asked to eat without tasting. Since the way we talk and interact with others becomes internalized and determines the way we think and learn (Vygotsky, 1978), talking about books is as vital as reading the books. The mind is stretched, sharpened, and enriched as thoughts are generated and words are formed (Palmer, 1906). When the students share their thoughts and connections with text and realize that others value their thoughts, they come to value themselves differently (Short and Pierce, 1990). As a class, our thinking and learning changed as we became interwoven with book characters, plots, and themes. We discovered "the power of literature to take you out of yourself and return you to yourself-a changed self" (Huck,1990).

As Charlotte Huck states, "Traditionally we have recognized the influence of literature on our thoughts and feelings, but we have been slower to discover the role that literature plays in creating readers, and in actually helping children learn to read (Huck, 1990). Unfortunately, some of the most needy children find themselves wrapped in worksheets, denied the opportunity to dialogue, shadow, make meaning, re-negotiate that meaning, and be validated as a meaning maker. That's beyond worksheets...at the smorgasbord.

Barnes, Douglas. (1975). From Curriculum to Instruction.

New York: Penguin Books.

Huck, Charlotte (1990). The Power of Children's Literature in the Clasroom.

In K. Short & K. Mitchell (Eds.), Talking About Books (ch.2). Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann Educational Books.

Maxwell, Fred (1992). Learning From At-Risk Students in the Middle School: A

Qualitative Analysis of a Literature-Based Language Arts Curriculum. An

unpublished manuscript.

Palmer, G.H. (1906). Self Cultivation in English.

New York: HoughtonMifflin Company.

Parsons, L. (1990). Response Journals.Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann

Short, K., & Pierce, K. (1990). Talking About Books: Creating Literate

Communities. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann

Spear, K. (1988). Sharing Writing: Peer Response Groups in English Classes.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

---

IN CONTEXT

Although there is no one way to conduct a class centered around reading, the following has characterized classes in which I have seen literature used to develop reading strategies.

READ ALOUD

Read to the class for 10 to 20 minutes each day.

JOURNALS

At the beginning of the program I tell the students, "There are certain things that good readers do to make sense of what they read. We are going to be exploring strategies -tools- to help us to get more out of what we read." With journals open, I ask that they write a good healthy paragraph on what they think as I read. ( I have found that if a minimum number of lines of writing is suggested, that is exactly what most do...the minimum.

DISCUSSION

Understanding that the connections offered serve as demonstrations for the class, we listen. As students share their connections, I classify the type of strategy that was used, and write that type on the board. For questioning I may say, "Great...good readers do exactly like you have done; they ask themselves questions and then read to find out the answers to those questions." Questioning then ripples through the journals. We aim for five or six different strategies each discussion, and make a big scene the days when we go beyond our usual! Some days I will nudge students toward a new strategy by finding examples of it in the text and then sharing that during the discussion time, or by writing the category on the board prior to reading (like "musing"), illustrating it with examples, and then challenge them to use that strategy in the day's reading. Certain mediums, I might add, seem to draw out predictable types of connections. When we make eight page booklets from a sheet of paper, verbs, metaphors, vocabulary from context are featured.

FEEDBACK

It is essential that students receive honest responses to their journal writings. On Fridays, stack trays of journals have become Maxwell House den furniture. A constant schedule of responding diminishes student writing when the teacher goes to a new schedule. It is almost as if the students' writing becomes contingent upon having the teacher as audiance. This year in 6th grade we have tried peer responses, and it has been exciting. Following the read-aloud and discussion, the students "partner" (C. Ferguson), share their thoughts, and respond to each other in the journals.

ASSESSMENT

Journal writing has made up 25% of the grade in most classes. The peer responses count for half of that twenty-five percent.

The Maxwell House Family