Reading novels is hard but creating engaging lessons can sometimes be even harder
The Start of the Trouble – Background Day
Typically when I, or other teachers I work with, start teaching a novel we focus on prepping students on the novel for academic purposes. There is nothing wrong with that, and in a standards-based world, it makes sense. Often, teachers discuss background, author details, time period, or vocabulary. All of it designed to help students have a better understanding of the themes and ideas within the novel. We pave the way and make it easy on students.
Sometimes giving background information, if done in the right way, can be a lot of fun. However, as all teachers know, there isn’t an infinite amount of time to teach a novel. We are often limited on time. When I have additional time, I will have students take a more researched or fun approach. For example, on The Outsiders I sometimes have students research 60’s slang, dress, and music. They get an understanding of the vocabulary and the time period. I have the students create a Google Slide and present it in a group. It is fun, but might take 2 or 3 class periods. Sometimes, I don’t have that luxury of time.
When I don’t have the luxury of time, I do all the research and present it to the students. I might do a short gallery walk, have the students discuss the picture that they see, play some songs from the era, or show a short video. Students can sometimes get into it, but as anyone knows teaching post-Covid, it is a struggle to get participation. These types of background days are boring, but sometimes necessary. There is nothing wrong with either approach, it is just a matter of what works for you and what you have time for.
The real problem is my struggling readers. Background day is the start of the struggle with my students. For my struggling readers, they often get anxious when they see a new novel. They take a close look at the page numbers (how thick it is, how small or large the writing is). Then they look at the background vocabulary words, and wonder if they are going to remember all the slang terms, or if they need to know history to read the novel. They start off complaining (loudly I might add). When you try and encourage them, they start shutting down and saying they can’t do it. And it’s no wonder! For those who struggle to read, starting a novel is terrifying.
The Problem with Novels – That Long Exposition
Think about today’s movies and tv shows. Do you notice how quickly the action gets going? At the start of the movie there is usually a fight scene or a fast-action scene within the first ten minutes. Children have grown up with quick-paced movies and tv shows. Video games are faster and more exciting. Everything moves quicker for kids nowadays (boy do I sound old!)
Here’s the problem, typically expositions in a novel don’t move that quickly. We might spend 30 to 50 pages building up a character or world before there is ever a serious moment of action. While that is rapidly changing with the next generation of writers, exposition still takes time in novels. We have to get to know the characters, understand the time period, and experience the place before we can really get into the big problem. It took 33 pages for Harry Potter to get the mail and see one addressed to him. For a struggling reader, they may not make 30 pages.
While authors are clever about engaging children in the exposition, for a struggling reader, that 30 pages is a massive hurdle to overcome. I have known plenty of kids who give up before page 30, and even with Harry Potter, he doesn’t board that train until page 94. So even if a student made it to the first moment of real action, they might not get to the start of the adventure if it takes too long.
But great books need time to build, so we have to get students over that difficult exposition.
My Solution – Start in the Middle
I too struggle with teaching novels. I love to read them, which is why I don’t always understand my struggling readers’ apprehensions. I think, If they would just open the book, they would find characters like them, far off lands, and amazing ideas. But while I am thinking about how incredible books are, my struggling readers are thinking, I read too slow to keep up with the class. I don’t know all the words. I won’t be able to participate in the discussion. This is going to be so much work. Will my grade go down? Why can’t I just watch the movie?
I always preview my novels before assigning them, and I had a particularly struggling class. I chose Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. I thought that my struggling readers would love it because it is a novel in verse (a series of poems that create a novel). So I read the book, and it struck me that even though I loved the start of the book it was kinda boring and very history oriented in the exposition. Some kids might struggle with the poetry format, or with the colloquial language, or with the idea of such a severe historical drought. I was frustrated while reading because I realized that I had to get my students through the first 60 pages before it became an amazing story. My only thought when I got to page 60-61 was, Why can’t I just start the novel here! It would work so much better. Once that thought crept in, I realized that there was no reason not to start in the middle.
In Case You’re Unfamiliar…
In case you are unfamiliar with Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, it is the story of a little girl going through the Dust Bowl with her dad. The farm and family are struggling, and then a terrible accident happens. Spoiler Alert: Billie Jo (the little girl) accidentally sets herself and her pregnant mother on fire. Page 60-61 – The Accident describes how the mom and daughter get burned. It is absolutely riveting, and both kids and adults are shocked at the end of the poem. You are left with this deep desire to know what happens next.
How it Worked Out
So rather than my usual background day, I had the students file in, do a typical warm up, and then I sat in a chair at the front of the room. I opened up the only copy of the book that was seen in the room. I didn’t introduce it. I didn’t talk about the author. I slowly waited for all my student chatter to die down just enough to be heard. Then I started to read. Slowly. Even if kids were chatting, they quickly shut up after the first three lines. I don’t stop and explain what kerosene is, or what is happening. I don’t make any inferences, or side notes. I just read slowly. I promise that you can hear a pin drop before you get to the end! I finish up with the last words of the poem, and close the book while starting to head back to my desk. Out of the five class periods I taught, not one class let me go two steps before asking me to read more or ask what happened next.
They were hooked. Questions spilled out of their mouths, and they didn’t like that I didn’t answer them. So I said that this was our next novel, and that this scene was after the exposition. I took the time to show kids a plot diagram, and explained that sometimes the best part of the books you have to wait for. I then introduced the novel and had kids do a gallery walk of pictures from the Dust Bowl.
The thing is, even my struggling readers were hooked. They worried about the novel like always, but they were too intrigued by what happened to let their fear stop them from reading. That is what we have to do for our students. We have to get them over their own fears and the exposition.
What You Can Do!
Now when I prepare for a novel, I often think about designing the first day with my struggling readers in mind. There are some Honors classes, and students that I start with a typical background day. Or if the novel starts off with a bang, then I can get kids going like usual. However, with recent literacy issues and dropping reading scores, I find that I have a lot more struggling readers. So I look for that spot of the novel where a big event happens, and you are left with questions right after.
You want to look for a section that is mostly self-explanatory at the moment. For example, in Out of the Dust, I didn’t explain what kerosene was. Many students didn’t know the term, but they understood that the mom caught on fire. There was enough context around the term that even struggling readers could get the gist. That is important for getting kids hooked. They need to be engaged right away, and if you have to give background to get kids to understand a passage, it won’t work.
You also need a cliffhanger that won’t give away the most important moment of the novel. In Out of the Dust The Accident poem ends with mom getting burned. However, it doesn’t say if she dies. It doesn’t tell you if the little girl dies. It leaves you with questions. If I had read two more poems for my students, they wouldn’t have bothered with the rest of the novel. Their main questions would have been answered. By the time that my students read through the exposition, they had started to like Billie Jo and the time period. They wanted to know more than just if the mom died. They needed to understand how Billie Jo would change because of the accident.
Giving away too much in the hook makes a student not feel the need to read the rest of the novel. The exposition allows students to care about the character. So your plan needs to be to hook, and then go back through the exposition so students actually care about the character and want to read until the end. You don’t have to read a whole chapter. You can pick a passage, and you can even combine two passages to make it work.
Final piece of advice
Don’t give in to questions. This was the hardest part of this lesson for me. When I see students engaged, I let my enthusiasm get in the way. I may not give away the answers, but I start to give hints about the whole of the novel. Don’t do it! Read the hook, let the kids go crazy with questions, and be silent in the face of them. Tell the kids that they have to read to find out. Do not give up the information. Hold your tongue!
Final Thoughts
We are all struggling with novels. We have policy makers and board members who hate the new novels. We have parents fighting us, and central offices ripping novels out of our curriculum. If you do get the chance to teach a novel, then use that opportunity to make it as exciting as possible. Kids remember novels. My students talked about Out of the Dust until the last day of class that year. Years later I would meet a student I taught, and they reminisce over the book. That kid was a struggling reader, and they found their love of literature in my classroom.
Sometimes starting from the middle of the book is what you need to make students really see a novel for what it is: a new world to explore.
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