Read Aloud Sessions: Tackling Sensitive Issues through Literature Author(s): Joanna Sullivan Source: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 40, No. 9 (May, 1987), pp. 874-878 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199656 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 13:29 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Reading Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.223.28.163 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 13:29:06 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Transcript
Read Aloud Sessions: Tackling Sensitive Issues through LiteratureAuthor(s): Joanna SullivanSource: The Reading Teacher, Vol. 40, No. 9 (May, 1987), pp. 874-878Published by: Wiley on behalf of the International Reading AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20199656 .
Accessed: 28/06/2014 13:29
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Wiley and International Reading Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Reading Teacher.
http://www.jstor.org
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adjusting to their new surroundings. Mrs. Sheitel is sensitive to her pu
pils' feelings. She is quick to identify those who come to school troubled, those who are happy and well adjusted and those, particularly the slow learn
ers, who have difficulty gaining ac
ceptance from others. She is aware that more than half of her class are unsu
pervised after school because their
parents work. She also knows that a
third of her pupils have lived through divorce and are now from single parent homes.
Mrs. Sheitel has seen dramatic
changes in Sandy's behavior since her
parents' divorce. Sandy has become withdrawn. Her grades have dropped; yet she has never discussed her prob lems with Mrs. Sheitel, who is eager to give her support. Mrs. Sheitel has seen Pete change, too. He has become
aggressive and disruptive lately. Could it be that he has had to forfeit much of
his parents' attention to his new baby sister?
The value of discussion Since she spends more time with these
youngsters than any other adult, Mrs.
Sheitel believes that she can help them work through some of their problems. She considered using bibliotherapy, as she sees value in using stories to stim ulate discussion concerning social is sues.
In exploring bibliotherapy research to learn of its effectiveness, she found the results to be generally positive. Schwartz (1977) supports the notion that literature helps children expand their viewpoint on certain social is sues. Caffee (1975) and Penna (1976)
reported improvement when reading was followed by discussion. Other
characteristics, however, including as sertiveness and self confidence, did not change as a result of bibliotherapy (Tillman, 1984; Schrank and Engels, 1981).
Mrs. Sheitel concluded that al
though personal characteristics may not change, students are sensitized to
certain issues through the bibliother
apy process, providing that discussion follows reading.
Fitting into classroom routine After examining the implementation of a bibliotherapy program, Mrs. Sheitel found that it required management techniques and resources unavailable to her. She therefore decided to modify these procedures and introduce a series of read aloud sessions with the entire class. In this way, she could hold half hour sessions twice weekly, or an hour session once a week, without disturb
ing her established program and her
daily routine. She decided to schedule these sessions in the afternoon before dismissal time for that reason.
Again, the purpose for this program was not to entertain pupils, but to use
carefully selected books as a catalyst for discussion in the hope of sensitiz
ing her pupils to current social con cerns and helping them seek solutions to their own problems.
Initial planning of the program in volved (1) informing and involving parents, (2) making book selections, and (3) reviewing each book and se
lecting passages to read aloud that would capture the pupils' attention and stimulate critical discussion.
Involving parents Since the program introduced contro versial topics, Mrs. Sheitel knew the
importance of involving parents, not
only to inform them of the program, but to encourage them to continue dis cussions on these selected topics at home.
Therefore, she wrote a brief letter to
parents explaining the purpose of her
program and why books on personal issues should be addressed in the class room. To encourage parents to con
Parents responded favorably to Mrs. Sheitel's letter with such comments as:
A good idea as long as these books are
read within a guided environment so
that sensitive interpretation is provided.
Great idea! We, as parents, should be
given a list of the books discussed in class so that we can add to the discus
sion at home.
Since our children are confronted with
these problems every day, I certainly ap
prove of discussions on these topics.
Making book selections To maximize student participation, the selection of books must be a joint ven ture. Pupils must have their say.
Mrs. Sheitel was fully aware of this and decided to take a vote on books to
be read and discussed. She selected 4 books on each of the following topics: (1) divorce, (2) problems with rela
tionships, and (3) overcoming handi
caps. She then briefly discussed the content of each and asked pupils to vote for 1 of the 4 books on each of the
topics. The books selected by the class
were: (1) Judy Blume's Its Not the End
of the World, a book about Karen's ad
justment to divorce; (2) Louise
Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, a book about conflicts with peers; and (3)
Armstrong Sperry's Call It Courage, the story of a teenage Polynesian boy
who is rejected by others for his handi
cap.
Once aware of having a say in what is read, the class eagerly began sug
gesting their own favorite books for the read aloud program. Judy Blume's books were suggested by a number of the 4th graders. These novels are par
ticularly popular, perhaps because the characters are so completely realistic and humor is so deftly woven into sen
sitive situations. To encourage their
enthusiasm, Mrs. Sheitel told the chil dren that they'd have a chance to intro
876 The Reading Teacher May 1987
duce their books after those on the list had been discussed.
The read aloud session Read aloud time is a special time. The
reader, like the storyteller, attempts to
captivate the group in a spirited, per haps dramatic way. The reader's voice
helps create the essential mood. To further capture attention, the
reader might open each session in a
unique way. Showing slides or trans
parencies of the story's illustrations or
using puppets to dramatize its intro duction always excites a group.
Basically, there are three steps to im
plementing the read aloud session:
(1) Previewing the story with the class to create interest in the character's problem.
(2) Selecting 2 or 3 passages from the story that reflect some aspect of the problem that the class will discuss.
(3) Stimulating open discussion on
each passage after reading.
In no instance were children pres
sured during discussion to relate their
personal experiences to the class, yet they were free to do so if they wished.
Previewing the divorce theme
Openended discussions are guided by a clearcut structure that leads the dis cussants from the story to life's appli cation. This structure can be likened to a pyramid. The pinnacle is the story's problem, followed by its application to
life, and finally it's application to one's
personal experience. Teachers may want to display such a pyramid to help a class visualize these stages. (See Fig ure.)
"Adjusting to divorce" was the first theme for discussion and Mrs. Sheitel
began the session by previewing It's Not the End of the World, the story of
13 year old Karen who senses that a di vorce is imminent but can never pre dict all the unknowns that she must
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face when the time arrives. The teach er's previewing objectives are to:
(1) capture the attention of the class
by drawing them into Karen's sit
uation,
(2) lead pupils to examine Karen's
problems, and
(3) apply her situation to problems that actually occur.
Mrs. Shekel attempted to draw pu pils into Karen's situation by stating: "Sometimes when we're really afraid that something like a divorce is going to happen, we do things to try to un
derstand the situation better. What Karen did was to write things that hap pened between her Mom and Dad in her diary. She thinks that this will help her understand things better. Let's lis ten to a passage from Karen's diary and think about what she writes and why she feels it's important to write it."
She read from the passage:
I try to be fair about my parents' fights. Tonight was definitely my mother's
fault. She should have been nicer to
Daddy when he came home. She
shouldn't have hollered when Amy spilled her milk, that can happen to any one. .. .The time Mom threw the cake on
the floor was Dad's fault. He started that one by saying that he hated mocha icing.
Reading a brief passage such as this is about all that is needed to introduce discussion on this issue.
Stimulating openended discussion Since the purpose of the read aloud session is to stimulate discussion on
critical issues, Mrs. Sheitel attempted to sensitize pupils to ways in which the
story's characters cope with their situa
tions, to examine why they acted as
they did, and to predict what we would do in a similar situation. She, there
fore, continued discussion on Karen's situation by leading the class to ana
lyze Karen's motives: "Why do you think it's important for Karen to write
things like this in her diary?" Steven said that Karen wants to be
fair. "She can't change anything, but at
least she doesn't want to hold a grudge against her Dad if the fight is her
Mom's fault."
Patsy stated: "Maybe Karen thinks about whose fault it is because if it's al
ways her mother's fault she can talk to
her Mom and try to stop her." Mrs. Sheitel led the conversation to
a more personal level by asking: "If
you were in Karen!s place do you think
talking to your Mom and Dad would
help? If so, what could you say?" The children had varied opinions.
Most said that they would talk to their
parents about the fighting, others said that they would be afraid to talk about it.
Some diverged from the question and began to discuss their feelings about their own situations. Shelly said that even though she missed her Dad a lot she was glad that there wasn't any
more fighting. Most agreed that going through a divorce with their parents
was tough, but that, in time, they "got used to" living with one parent.
Mrs. Sheitel said that it would be hard to talk to their parents about
fighting, but that it was important to know that the fighting usually was not the children's fault: "Many kids feel
guilty when parents fight and divorce, because they think it's their fault, but the fighting is almost always due to other reasons."
Mrs. Sheitel was not concerned when pupils diverged from the ques tions, since it was more important to
tap the child's feelings and reactions than to have an intellectual discussion about the story itself. She continued the read aloud session by introducing a
passage about the feelings Karen expe rienced after the divorce occurred and led pupils to react to Karen's methods of coping.
She closed the session by encourag ing children to discuss their feelings about this topic or other situations with their parents.
Conclusion The difference between a read aloud session for therapeutic purposes and
simply reading aloud for entertainment lies in the focus of discussion. During the session Mrs. Shekel is more inter ested in having youngsters think
through today's critical problems than in motivating them to read.
Though this program should not be used as a form of therapy, the teacher
hopes to prepare pupils for what they might face and to become more sensi tive to those who are dealing with such
problems. Read aloud sessions are appropriate
at all grade levels, though themes dif
fer with concerns at different ages. By spurring youngsters to think more
deeply about critical issues, we are
providing them with the opportunity to think and react to situations that they
will undoubtedly face in their own
lives.
Sullivan teaches reading at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Flor ida. She has also worked with a biblio
therapy program at the university's laboratory school.
References Bohning, Gerry. "Bibliotherapy: Fitting the Resources To
gether." Elementary School Journal, vol. 82 (November 1981), pp. 166-70.
Caffee, Claude E. "Bibliotherapy: Its Effectiveness on Self-Concept and Self-Actualization." Doctoral disser tation, East Texas State University, Commerce, Tex., 1975.
Futrell, Mary, and E. Fiske. "U.S. Schools Put New Stress on Teaching of Moral Values." The New York Times, September 15, 1986, p. 1.
Penna, Robert F. "The Relative Effectiveness of the Class room Discussion Approach and a Tutorial Approach to Literature for the Development of Adolescent Ego Identity." Doctoral dissertation, Fordham University,
New York, New York, 1976. Schrank, Frederick A., and Dennis W Engels. "Bibliother
apy as a Counseling Adjunct: Research Findings." The Personnel and Guidance Journal, vol. 60 (November 1981), pp. 143-47.
Schwartz, Sheila. "The Adolescent and Human Values." Humanist, vol. 37 (July-August 1977), pp. 17-21.
Tillman, Chester E. "Bibliotherapy for Adolescents: An An notated Research Review." Journal of Reading, vol. 27, (May 1984), pp. 713-18.
The Joplin Plan good for reading groups The Joplin Plan assigns students to regular graded classes for most of the
elementary school day but regroups them for reading across grade levels. For
example, a reading class at the 5th grade-1st semester reading level might in
clude high achieving 4th graders, average achieving 5th graders, and low
achieving 6th graders. The research finds consistent evidence that the Joplin Plan increases student reading achievement.
This contrasts with the best grouping for mathematics, where research
clearly supports the use of within-class ability groups, especially if only 2 or 3
groups are formed. The positive effects of within-class math groups are slightly greater for low achieving students than for average or high achievers.
CREMS Report, June 1986, p. 3. (Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools, The Johns Hopkins University, 3505 N. Charles St., Balti
more, MA 21218, USA).
878 The Reading Teacher May 1987
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