Inspirational and Informational Pieces

Save The Classics For The Classroom

I think it’s time to draw some attention to summer reading. Exciting, right? Yeah, umm, no! Enough with assigning the classics as summer assignments. I mean, it’s summer, everyone wants to have fun, not be bored by Shakespeare, Twain, Dickens and others. Summer is a time to enjoy things, not to be bored. I’m not saying get rid of summer reading assignments, or even the classics. I’m saying it’s time for a change, a fun one.

Here’s the need-to-know basics. You don’t know how many times I wanted to throw my summer assigned books out the window; they were so boring and I had so many questions with no answers right when I needed them. I had to email and check it constantly to see if I had gotten help yet.

At the same time, I was reading the Hunger Games series as well as Delirium and Matched and the books that followed them, all by modern authors like Suzanne Collins, Lauren Oliver, and Ally Condie. These are best sellers, sold internationally, and one even has a movie deal. That’s not all, though.

I’m willing to bet your summer assignments included analyzing texts and reflecting on key concepts by answering question after question. I’m not saying it’s time to get rid of those; I’m saying it’s time to make answering these questions fun. Those three series I mentioned earlier all had something in common. They taught how conforming to society isn’t always best and that going your own way can work out for the better. Look at Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and even Haymitch, or Lena, Alex, and Julian, or Cassia and Ky, and see how their actions made their life better in the end, see how conforming to society isn’t always best, see how unconformities aren’t always bad. Now, have the students analyze those types of texts, with modern, easy-to-follow language, captivating details, and many online sites providing answers to any questions that may arise. There’s no need for a student to have a dictionary glued to their side, no need to wait for a reply from a teacher, and, certainly in my case, no need to force myself to read. Students will enjoy their summer reading if you move to modern authors and modern books.

Now, like I said earlier, I’m not saying that we need to get rid of the classics. I do have a solution. Read them during the school year, when teachers are readily available for help, when students without internet access at home could use school computers, and when peers can analyze and bounce questions and ideas off other students. This way, communication skills are built and teachers can see what their students need help in, whether it’s vocabulary, analyzing, reflecting, or anything else.

So, let’s save the classics for the school year, and enjoy our summers with modern books. Sure, it’ll take time to decide which novels are best. You might not want to assign any of the books from the Twilight saga by Stephenie Meyers, or the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, or even Meyers’ other book, The Host, because what lessons do they teach? Magic, vampires, werewolves, invading aliens… none of that’s here on Earth and likely never will be here. But many Twilight books, and The Host, and many of the Harry Potter books deal with prejudice, with teamwork, with spilt-second as well as thoughtful decision making moments, and other aspects people deal with day-in and day-out. I know so many kids that have fallen in love with these series. There’s also the added benefit that if the teacher then wanted to show the book-based movie, they can without it being in black-and-white or poor quality.

These are just some possible books for English Language Arts, but what about Social Studies and World History? Let me introduce you to author Esther Friesner. She writes realistic, historical fiction with some novels based in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, recounting traditions, events, and places in accurate details, like in Nobody’s Princess, Nobody’s Prize, Sphinx’s Princess, and Sphinx’s Queen, following Helen of Sparta and Nefertiti in Egypt. Personally, I love her works and the in-depth view she gives readers. There’s likely other historical fiction authors that I’ve yet to discover, but they would be more enjoyable than just reading books compiled with document after document. These modern authors have facts and details that make you feel like you’ve traveled back in time rather than read note after note from some guy that’s been dead for a century.

So, I say it’s time to save the classics for the school year, and let summer be fun again. Give these modern authors a chance, and watch as the handed-in summer assignments get better and the teacher-student communication can develop during the school year at a better pace with face-to-face communication rather than emails that take hours to days for replies. Let’s save the classics, and embrace the modern texts and authors. Once you do that, you’ll be opening a whole new door for students.

My cousin hates reading, especially the books that teachers assigned him. However, ask him how he liked the Hunger Games. I hope you have some time on your hands when you do. Ask me what I thought of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and then ask me about Earth Girl by Janet Edwards. I’ll tell you that I wanted to float the first one down the river with Huck and Jim and that I wanted to be at the dig sites with Jarra in the second one, right there getting in on the action.

One more thing I wanted to point out is this is coming from a self-dubbed author-in-training. I love books, but even I have troubles with the classics and I do need my teacher’s assistance with them, just like many other kids. However, if you throw something modern at me, I’ll have it read in a week with the questions answered in half that time. That’s if I have to work. I can spend hours writing or reading, but only if I can understand them. There’s where the problem lies. So many classics are, well, old. They have old language, follow old ideas, and use old beliefs. I might be pointing out the obvious here, but we’re new. We have new ideas, new beliefs, and new languages. Crossing those makes obstacles that sometimes need a teacher’s assistance.

Now I’m not saying let’s change the entire system up right away. But let’s look at the teachers who do save the classics for the classroom, the teachers that don’t, and the students personal opinions and experiences. Look at the results and I think you’ll agree that I might be on to something here.

Like I said earlier, as a self-dubbed author-in-training, I would love it if more students enjoyed reading, because they could understand my love for books and discover their own, as well. Besides, isn’t there a saying someplace that readers are leaders? So let this reader help the other students. I bet you’ll see a difference.

*A/N I'm submitting this to my school advisors, who are in charge of putting together summer assignments, once I have some of my previous ELA teachers see if it makes sense and say they'd be willing to make the change. I'll keep you posted until then, ok?

UPDATE: One of my teachers has... drum roll please... given her support and urged me to send it on to my principal once school starts back up!! YAY!!! So, once again, I will keep you all updated as this progresses, alright?