Speed Selection Games for MS Reading

Heard about speed dating? Not with 7th graders...hence "speed selection." This is the 7th graders first introduction to the library that they'll be using for the next six years, so why not make it memorable. On library blogs and listservs, around February and Valentine's Day you start seeing suggestions for speed dating library activities. The premise is that students have access to a preselected number of books. They have a few minutes to choose, then a few minutes to read. You run through several rounds, until everyone has found a selection they'd like to take home for the next few weeks. It's kind of a competition, but not really, and different enough than coming to a silent library so it draws the attention of the boys.

There was a fair amount of forethought that went into this, not the least just moving tables and obtaining enough green tablecloths. I decided on several general categories, based largely on what has interested Middle Schoolers in past years. There were so many ideas, but my final signs are: sports/adventure, worlds gone wrong, realistic fiction (both heartbreaking and hilarious), nonfiction vs. graphic novels, read around the world and into the past, and down the rabbit hole-magic, fantasy, and other worlds. There's also one "blind date" table: Don't Choose a Book by its Cover. This was a chance to showcase books with ugly or uninteresting covers. All of these books were covered with black paper. There is a drawing or map or poem or other short description on each. I was honest with the kids and told them that this was for fun; I didn't want it to be all about grabbing those books and just opening them to the title page right away.

There are about a hundred books at the ready, enough that there are options for the students, but not enough to inspire the dreaded look of overwhelmedness that has surfaced in years past when they are let loose in the entire fiction section. (Which was always a nerve-wracking moment for me anyway, since there are books there that are much more appropriate to 17 years olds than to 13 year olds.) It worked to have three minutes of selection the first time around, followed by four minutes of reading. All subsequent selection times were reduced to two minutes. I noticed that this was enough time for students to wander between tables and smile at their friends and page through books, but it wasn't enough time for them to get entirely off task. Some did wait until the 10 second warning, and then they grabbed the closest book at hand. Also, it started to look a bit like a game of musical chairs as kids rushed to the circle ringing the books. I was prepared for this, and there were double the chairs needed. This hasn't become a contact sport. :)

Lessons learned: 
Dystopias are still reigning in popularity. Next up, football!
Make this a lesson on print books. I wanted to get all of the students logged into Overdrive on the same day (what can I say?, I'm excited about the service) but this ended up being much more efficient focusing solely on print. Next month's activity can be entirely electronic instead. 
Students will still ask for books that they want if they don't see them. Ironically, this provided more time for readers' advisory than simply letting students loose in the stacks. 
My high schoolers are begging me to talk to their English teachers because it's something they didn't get to do in Middle School. I haven't yet had a high school English teacher bring a class in to get books for completely recreational reading. I welcome that opportunity. 


 

Cedarkirk---an exhaustive and exhilerating Middle School Experience

Thank goodness that College Weekend falls right after the Middle School’s immersive field trips. 8th graders spend 4 days in Boston, and the 7th graders spend 4 days at Cedarkirk, an outdoor retreat center. There are low- and high-ropes courses, as well as opportunities for swimming, canoeing, and tree climbing. Boys and girls each have a dorm for sleeping, but other than nighttime, you’re pretty much outside. As you’re probably able to guess, I was invited to chaperon this year, and it was a fun and worthwhile, although exhausting, experience. Potential future chaperons, plan on portioning out about 16 hours sleep throughout. I immediately headed to Baltimore upon my return, and I slept for close to 10 hours Thursday night.

(Putting out a fire after Mission: Survivor.
Students had one hour to orienteer to a safe space, practice first aid, build a fire and shelter, and boil water.)

The whole experience makes me question most public school reform techniques. I understand the thinking behind tying success and test scores together. But it's not enough. So much learning takes place outside the classroom. Remembering back to my own 7th grade year, I realize how much more effective my teachers would have been if they had lived with us for four days and known our habits and our interests, not just how well we performed in English or Math classes.

7th grade is hard. Not only are students able to begin understanding critical thinking projects, they're hitting puberty and trying out new identities. When observing a classroom, you don't get a full sense of the drama behind the scenes. Students are jockeying for academic placement and social status. In schools like ours, when many of them have known each other since toddlerhood, they're figuring out ways to reshape a mold where they may have been placed years before. Cedarkirk is good because it takes students out of their comfort zones and into a new (and neutral) environment. They're forced to interact with students outside their social groups, and they begin to see their teachers as well-rounded individuals.

(No, this is not a statement on my energy level at the end of the trip. I was "injured" on the trail during Mission: Survivor. A team of students needed to use their first aid skills to take care of me and get me back to the group shelter. This student did an excellent job caring for me. She even spent about 20 minutes dabbing my face with cool water and later formed a human shield over me to protect me from the storms. In case you're wondering, here's the back story. I was bitten by a snake while hiking and tripped over a log. I hit my head hard, and I have a concussion and a possible neck injury---if they're going to practice first aid, why not give them a challenge.)

Calling all 7th graders!

In keeping with the theme of sustainability (from the other night) and the Atlas Initiative, I took pictures of these posters when I visited a junior high school (grades 7-9) in Okinawa.

Guess what I found in the student artwork section on the wall.
I KNOW that's something you learned about during your 6th grade IQ last year. You don't even need to read Japanese to know what it means.

I also found this sign nearby. I'm a little less sure of its meaning, but I think it's asking me to stop leaving lights on unnecessarily.