Topic: General Interest
Author: Geeta Padmanabhan, ClassOf1Subject Matter Expert.
Teacher's choice vs. student's choice
Eiden (the Grade 8 student) and I were discussing book reviews the other day. He is a voracious
reader and his house is strewn with books – for all ages and tastes.
ClassOf1 provides exert guidance for College, Graduate and High school homework and live online tutoring on subjects like
Finance, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and others. Check out more solved problems in our Solution Library.
Eiden complained that the book that he has been assigned to read and review was “dense” and
“boring”. “I cannot move beyond page 4,” he said. And after a pause, “Why can't I choose my
own book and write a review? Won't that be a more genuine attempt?” I had no answer.
This piece of news from GA will warm Eiden's heart. A Jonesboro, south Atlanta teacher,
according to a report, “has turned over all the decisions about which books to read to the students
in her seventh and eighth grade English classes.”
The report says the teacher Lorrie McNeill will not assign students to read “To Kill a
Mockingbird,” a must for all middle-schoolers. Instead the students wrote a book-list of their
own that included “James Patterson„s “Maximum Ride” books, plenty of young-adult chick-lit
novels and even the “Captain Underpants” series of comic-book-style novels.” The more serious
ones have picked up “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines and “The Bluest Eye” by
Toni Morrison.
www.classof1.com
*The Homework solutions from ClassOf1 are intended to help the student understand the approach to solving the problem and not for submitting the same in
lieu of your academic submissions for grades.

Topic: General Interest
“It's all part of the reading workshop sweeping through the country,” said Eiden, explaining the
change. “You pick the book you will read and discuss it with the teacher. As you read, you put
down in a journal your reaction to the portion of the book you're reading. Your review is based
on this journal.” He added mischievously, “Guess teachers are trying to catch up with the text-
speak kids use these days.”
This revolutionary method to teach literature in school is being implemented in schools all over
the country with local variations. Some schools allot kids a period of time every day/week for
reading books of their choice. A lot of schools already let their elementary and middle school
kids choose their own books to review. Depending on the result, this experiment will be
expanded to include all classes.
Understandably, the let-them-choose approach to reading has gone into some debate.
Traditionally, the teacher would pick a book for the week and get the entire class to read it for
assignment. In a class discussion, the merits of its content, style, historicity and other features
would be analysed. This way, teachers ensure that all the students are exposed to books of
quality and complexity. There will be books from different periods of the language's growth and
change. They also learn the fine art of literary criticism when questions about the book are
thrown open in a classroom. “How else do we prepare them for standardized texts?” teachers
ask.
www.classof1.com
*The Homework solutions from ClassOf1 are intended to help the student understand the approach to solving the problem and not for submitting the same in
lieu of your academic submissions for grades.

Topic: General Interest
Teachers who have embraced the new reading-workshop methods counter-argue: they claim
students show more enthusiasm for reading when they pick books. It allows them freedom to
pace their reading choices, does not show them up for inability to follow the nuances of “heavy”
literature in class discussions. “Asking them to read books of their choice develops a life-long
habit of reading, one that wouldn't even start if the teachers' choice is thrust on them,” say the
new-age-reading promoters.
Eiden's case, as you can see, is different. He already is a good reader. It's just that he doesn't want
to read books that he finds completely irrelevant to life today. “I want to read contemporary
books dealing with contemporary issues,” he said. Of course, when Eiden says “contemporary”
he means books on fantasy, set firmly in the future.
** End of the Article**
ClassOf1 provides exert guidance for College, Graduate and High school homework and live online tutoring on subjects like
Finance, Marketing, Statistics, Economics and others. Check out more solved problems in our Solution Library.
www.classof1.com
*The Homework solutions from ClassOf1 are intended to help the student understand the approach to solving the problem and not for submitting the same in
lieu of your academic submissions for grades.