"I Like Middle School Read-Alouds, They Are a Good Waste of Time."

Those are the words that I heard as I let out a sigh of relief after completing my read-aloud. One of the girls was whispering (ok, it was pretty loud) to her classmates as I walked past and made my way to the back of the room. I thought it was funny on the one hand, but as with a lot of humor, it felt like there was some truth to her comments as well.  During the read-aloud, I asked the students if they had ever had any teachers read a-loud in middle school and only one student raised her hand.  I went on to explain that on our way to becoming teachers, we were reading many articles about education.  Some articles recommended that Middle School read-alouds be used in conjunction with science or social studies classes and their teacher was giving us some time at the start of class to try one out.  We had used over 30 minutes of her block science class and although we were hoping to activate and engage learning, it was hard to be sure.


I know that I spent way too much time over the last couple of weeks on my middle school read-aloud - probably more thinking about it than actually working on it.  I could not get comfortable with the idea of reading in one of my dyad math and science classes.  At first I thought about using a math novel for the read aloud, but could not find one that seemed to fit the level and subject matter of the students.  Then I considered a novel about astronomy for science class and spent time on the internet looking for book that would "match" the class.  I also spoke with my cohort members and decided that a magazine article might be a good fit (thanks Elizabeth!).


Finding an article was also a challenge.  I picked an article about the Big Bang Theory, but changed course when we realized that the schedule dictated we both do our read-aloud the same day.  After Sandy had the inspired idea to read a Native American myth about the stars and planets, I changed my article.  I would find something about how stars are formed and we could have a discussion of the different ways people make sense of what they observe in the sky.  Long story short, I will still revising the lesson plan at 5 AM yesterday before heading to school.  It went pretty well, lots of room for future improvement and we will have the chance next week when we teach our first lesson. I also learned from my Master teacher that he uses his librarian at school to help him select novels and other materials when he his trying to enhance content areas.  I needed a librarian consultation!


Next up, my vignette first draft.  I have a tendency to over analyze things (yes, I am a South) and so I am going to make a conscious effort to write more and think less - wish me luck!