Crash....crash....crash......

Reading and Comprehension in Crash by Jerry Spinelli: An Analysis of the Important Balance of Athletics and Intellectual Development in American Sporting Culture

The important quote taken from Spinelli’s commentary on the predominance of American sporting culture is defined through the main character, John “Crash” Coogan. John has earned the nickname “Crash” because he embodies the primal physicality of the all-star athlete at his middle school. When Spinelli writes: “On the football field I don’t run around people, I run through them. Life is football” (Spinelli 83). Of course, Crash is very popular, but he finds a counter-cultural force in Penn Webb, a vegetarian and pacifist Quaker. Crash constantly makes fun of Webb, but he soon learns that brute force does not equal power or genuine respect by his peers. Spinelli provides a young adult forum for disabled students to connect with Webb as the victim of Crash’s initial crudity, but more so, to understand how he transforms into a compassionate person that respects intellectual and/or creative people. This is one way in which Spinelli writes well in that he shows a subtle awakening in the Crash character as  means of forging a balanced view of intellectual and athletic respect in the student reader. In regards to the primacy of sporting culture often trumping intellectual development in American popular culture, disabled students might find a role model in Crash as a person wiling to let go of rigid stereotypes and to learn to respect others characters, such as Webb, that enjoy reading and participating in sporting events, such as track and field.

The reaction of disabled students to the bullying experienced by Webb from Crash is one that would certainly bring up emotions of anger and frustration. In this regard, I would implement a strong character driven analysis of Crash and Webb by the students to understand both sides of this athlete/intellectual duality:  “I think aloud and demonstrate how I analyze a character’s decisions and motivation [and] make personal connections to a conflict” (Elliot and Dupuis 32). This is one key factor in character analysis, which can bring down the stereotyped barriers that have been conditioned in student behavior. Spinelli is utilizing the characterization of Crash and Webb to break down dualistic mindsets, which can be merged and diversified in a polarized learning culture. In the classroom, this can be a very important tool in stimulating intellectual growth and respect even though sporting culture appears to dominate most American learning environments. Through the changes that Crash experiences in the book in respect to artists and creativity, classroom analysis of sporting culture can become more balanced in the school’s culture. Certainly, I do not intend to trump one activity over another, but the predominant American sporting culture can be equalized with an increase in student vigor to read and find diversity in the comprehension process.  By respecting both aspects of athleticism and intellectual pursuits in reading education, Spinelli’s young adult novel can help to encourage disabled persons at the middle school level to understand the importance of all facets of schooling environments.

 

Love.....dog.....

Free Verse Novel Love That Dog by Sharon Creech and Mary M. Dupuis

One of the most important quotes in Creech and Dupuis’ novel about reading comprehension and poetry is based on her main character, Jack, and his confusion when reading abstract poetry. When trying to read William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”, he assumes that there is a complex and incomprehensible meaning that alludes him in the text: “I don’t understand/the poem about/the red wheelbarrow/and the white chickens/ and why so much’ depends upon/ them” (Creech 3). This is directly related to the way that Creech and Dupuis uses “free verse” style in order to show the student that it is actually a more simplified style of writing (Elliot 148). Soon after, Jack begins to more easily comprehend poetry and the mystique of complexity and difficulty in comprehension disappear. In the classroom, Creech’s text is invaluable in building a bridge between the oftentimes humorous and over complicated interpretation of poetry written by adults and simple reading exercises. For instance, the student can focus on free verse verbs and noun usage instead of conjunction interjections that might confuse the reading comprehension process. For the disabled student, the compound language of poetry could be a key style of writing that can increase reading comprehension, rather than be a deterrent. I feel that many students might initially react in a similar way jack in Love that Dog, but the “hostilities” would soon be abated after analyzing the simple poetry of William Carlos Williams in “The Red Wheelbarrow” that Creech and Dupuis exemplify in Love that Dog.

 

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?

An important passage in Who Killed Mr. Chippendale reveals the powerful means of showing the student/teacher relationship within the classroom. Glenn (1996) writes about the experience a teacher named Robert Chippendale that allows the student to experience the inner thoughts of an educator: “By the babble of two thousand students--/Not a melting pot, but a multicultural mix,/Slouching its way toward Tower” (Glenn 2). This passage moved me because of its flow as a story of a teacher/student relations in the classroom (aka.The Tower), which reveals the more human side of teacher’s complex interactive stance on the school’s multicultural background. Narrative poetry can be an excellent way in which to easily communicate short and descriptive sentence to persons with special abilities that I work with in the classroom. With middle school students at this reading level, it is possible to more easily bring them into the multicultural tensions found in Glenn’s story. Narrative poetry has a way of capturing powerful emotions and ideas in short compact sentences. More so, the line-by-line poetic structure makes it easy to compartmentalize these ideas for students with reading comprehension cognitive disabilities. In this way, “students may enjoy a poetry in a familiar narrative form” (146), which can  be applied to Glenn’s poetry as a way of connecting the teacher to the student through the inner thoughts of Mr. Chippendale. Perhaps middle school students can find a stimulating means in which they can see that teachers are also human and that more intimate relationships can be developed when teaching reading skills in the classroom.

References:

Elliott, J. B., & Dupuis, M. M. (2002). Young adult literature in the classroom: Reading it, teaching it, loving it. Newark, Del: International Reading Association.

Glenn, M. (1996). Who killed Mr. Chippendale?: A mystery in poems. New York: Lodestar Books.

Wimpy Kid

Teenage Alienation in Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Kinney’s Dairy of a Wimpy Kid had a major impact on my perspective as a teacher that educates middle school persons with disabilities. While Kinney’s main character, Greg Heffley, is not a disabled person, yet his sport-loving father and his classmates alienate him because he likes computer technology. More so, Greg is a literary example of an alienated teenager that has alternative skill sets as a “computer geek”, which are often disrespected in American sporting culture: “Every time Dad kicks me out of the house to do something sporty, I just go up to Rowley’s and play my video games there” (Kinney, 2007, p.26). When teaching this type of literature in the classroom, Kinney’s (2007) own use of real life experiences makes his characterization of Greg an authentic and often humorous commentary on the hedonistic use of computer technology for young people: “Greg's faults are my faults, but he is a fictional character” (Murphy and Glantz, 2012, p.22) This perspective provides a way to teach tolerance and respect for students with different talents than what is normally accepted in American culture. In the classroom, some athletic students can also tend to alienate more artistic or intellectual types of students because they different than the norm. Kinney’s (2007) story provides a means in which to encourage tolerance and understanding through literature and reading comprehension. While some students react with contempt to others that differ from them, Diary of a Wimpy Kid accomplishes the goal of encouraging a diversity of differing personality variables in classroom learning.

                   References:

Kinney, J. (2007). Diary of a wimpy kid. New York: Amulet Books.

Murphy, B. and Glantz, S. (2012). Author Profile: JEFF KINNEY- The Real-Life Wimpy Kid?. Library Media Connection, Vol. 30 (Issue 4), p20-23.

Monster.....Racism

An Analysis of Teaching the Problem of Racism for African American Middle School Students in Monster by W.D. Myers

     

Myer’s moving story of African American youth Steve Harmon illustrates a powerful representation of the persecution of people due to the color of their skin. Harmon has been falsely accused of being a “look out” for bank robbers that murder a drug store owner. Through a literary perspective, it is illustrates how a predominantly white criminal justice system can turn an innocent young man into a criminal at a moment’s notice: “You’re young, You’re black, and you’re on trial. What else do they need to know?” (Myers, 1999, p.79). For middle school African Americans and other minorities, Myer’s storyline can provide a means in which to discuss racism as a serious problem in American culture in which to "study books that reflect their cultures.”(Elliot and Dupuis, 2002, p.47). Myers (1999) book teaches the student about the injustice of the criminal courts, which can help make more minority students overcome these obstacles in the classroom. After teaching students the story of 16 year-old Steve Harmon, they can be better prepared to deal with possible racist incidents in society. More so, basic reading by Martin Luther King and other anti-racist Civil Rights leaders can be read in conjunction with Myers’ story. In my experience persons with disabilities at the middle school level, many African Americans become angered at the racism aimed at black people in the example provided by Myers. However, they often come to realize that Myers is exposing injustices that they see on an everyday basis in their neighborhoods. Through literature and education, these students can utilize Myers’ Monster to overcome and become more aware of the complexities of “white-on-black “ institutional racism in American culture.

          References:

Elliott, J. B., & Dupuis, M. M. (2002). Young adult literature in the classroom: Reading it, teaching it, loving it. Newark, Del: International Reading Association.

Myers, W. D., & Myers, C. (1999). Monster. New York, N.Y: HarperCollins Publishers.