As compelling as Jackie Robinson's story might be, if students don't understand the text well enough, or if they fail to imagine vividly enough the trials of a young African-American baseball player breaking the Major League Baseball color barrier in the late 1940s, they will not identify with Robinson as a hero, or be inspired to discuss his struggle in much depth, and they will not be willing to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they have the strength of character to maintain focus and respect when they face similar adversity in their own lives.
Sixth grade Ethics teachers VaLonda Harris and Justin Harbour understand the importance of successful reading as a precursor to a fruitful discussion and effective Ethics lesson overall. This morning, I observed the effort and energy that each of them put into today's sixth grade Ethics reading.
While his students read aloud, Mr. Harbour paused frequently to check for understanding, showing patience and persistence in ensuring that every last student was following every last word of the text. In order to make certain his students were reading the text silently along with the out-loud reader, he broke the reading up unpredictably and called on different students to read--sometimes even changing readers in mid-sentence. You had to follow along with the group or you would not know where to pick up reading aloud if Mr. Harbour called on you.
There were the usual pre-prepared comprehension questions build into the reading, and Mr. Harbour addressed all of these with his students, but Mr. Harbour also went well beyond these questions to attack potential areas of confusion that the author of the lesson may not have anticipated. For example the word "segregated" appeared early in the text, and the concept of segregation played a pivotal role in the meaning of the text. While it is likely that many 6th grade students do know the meaning of "segregation," Mr. Harbour was not comfortable with the assumption that everyone in the room would know. So, taking at most two minutes, he very quickly led a couple of students to explain "segregation" and asked for its antonym (which would appear later in the text). A student was able to supply "integration" and an example. But it was clear during this brief micro lesson that there were students who did not understand the terms accurately. It would have been very difficult for them to get the full impact of the text, to appreciate the work of Jackie Robinson, and to contribute productively to the discussion that came after the reading.
Once you can be sure that all of your students know what all the words mean, there is still the work of effectively engaging their imagination, to get them to feel what Jackie Robinson must have felt.
Ms. Harris interrupted the text from time to time, not only to check for understanding, but to check for appropriate engagement with the text. The text read, "...but through it all, Jackie Robinson never lost his cool."
"He never lost his cool," Ms. Harris repeated and let the words sink in a bit. Then, she helped her students conjure the scene in their minds. "Imagine what that must have been like... Imagine being called every racist insult you've ever heard--even by your own teammates--imagine opposing players sliding into you with their spikes up, cutting into your leg, the umpire calling you out when you are safe stealing second by a mile, the fans throwing their trash at you, screaming insults at you, booing you... And you are able to keep your cool, brush yourself off, and focus on what you need to do, focus on your job..."
Now the students got it. Now they understood the story.
Every week, middle school teachers at Boston Prep are handed a plan and a pile of materials for an Ethics lesson. A bunch of papers with a bunch of words. But it's the singer, not the song. It's what the teacher does with the words on the page that really matters.
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