Friday 14 February 2014

Why SILENCE is BAD for Reading Anne Cassidy



The only time I ever talk to  a complete stranger is when I notice them reading a book that I’ve read or want to read.  I was waiting to see a doctor once and I was next to a woman reading a Kate Atkinson book. We talked for ages about the book, her other books, crime books in general. It was a good way to pass the time but it also gave me a huge amount of pleasure. When I got home I found myself looking at my Atkinson books again, thinking about the characters, stacking them neatly in the order in which they’d been written.
Book groups are like this. A meeting at a book group can spark an interest in a writer you’ve never thought of, a book you’d dismissed in the past, a genre you wouldn’t usually touch with a bargepole.
The TALK about books is the trigger here. Hearing a book talked about makes me interested in reading it. Talking to others about the books I’ve read also gives me huge pleasure. When I meet friends for lunch we talk about books. It’s not just the passing on of info ABOUT the books, its summing them up, unpeeling their meanings, picking a teasing bit of the story lines to interest my friends.
Where am I going here?
Teenagers need to be able to TALK about books. In my view this might be JUST AS IMPORTANT as reading them. Many schools do sterling jobs of promoting reading among their students with great libraries, class libraries, book groups and so on. What I’d like them to do is provide time for students to TALK about the books they’ve read/would like to read.
Instead of putting twenty minutes aside for quiet reading what about putting the odd twenty minutes aside for students to talk to each other about the books they’ve read. It could be done in a number of ways.
1.       Pick six students to give brief talks on their two favourite books.
2.       In pairs the students come up with a list of books they’d take to a desert island.
3.       Play JUST A MINUTE where random students talk about a book for one TIMED minute.
4.       Have a book in a brown paper bag (are there such things any more?) The student holds it up and talks about it without giving the title. People try and guess.
5.       TIME THIS. SPEED BOOKS (like speed dating). Everyone has a different book. You sit with someone for ten mins and talk about each book. At the end you fill in a form to say which books you are interested in reading.
I can feel teachers groaning. This is not so tranquil as asking them to read quietly for twenty minutes.
But if this kind of ‘BOOKTALK’ becomes the norm then the reading will go on elsewhere. If books are TALKED about they will be read; in bedrooms, in armchairs, on buses, in lunch hours, in libraries and even, under the desk, in other lessons!

10 comments:

Heather Dyer said...

I love it. I'm having to come up with ideas for new lifelong learning courses on Monday, and I was thinking of doing something similar: getting together to discuss the work of x, or books around one genre. It's inspiring and leads on to conversations about people, life and... everything! Exactly what teenagers need and want. Good idea.

Lynda Waterhouse said...

As soon as I catch up with old friends one of my first questions is 'What are you reading?' Recently in a meeting with people I hadn't met before I found myself 'bonding' over Dodie Smith's Town in Bloom. Booktalk is important and I love practical ideas for teachers.

Nick Green said...

So very true.

The reason why so many people devour dreadful stuff like reality TV is that, for all its banality, it fulfils a human need: the need to talk with fellow humans about a common point of interest. We'll do it about Big Brother if we have nothing else; many millennia ago we probably talked about flints around the water-cooling hole.

But give kids something of substance to talk about, and they'll talk about that instead. Just because people in generally talk about shallow things doesn't mean they wouldn't prefer to talk about an alternative topic - if only they had one.

Sue Purkiss said...

Hm. it's a great idea, and with the right class would work a treat. But, thinking back to classes I have known - I'm talking secondary here - how would you manage to include all the children, when many of them don't read much (and never did)?

But yes - with the right group, lovely!

Stroppy Author said...

I love the speed dating idea!

Sue Bursztynski said...

I agree with Sue - a lovely idea, but assumes all the kids enjoy reading. For some, it would just be another chore like writing a(groan!) book report. At least I don't do that with my kids, though some of them would probably like it because it doesn't require much thinking. At the end of Literature Circles, I offer a number of options - book trailers, films, fan fiction, sometimes even an interview with the Author, if I know him/her, and they're willing, which I publish on my blog and offer them promo as a sweetener.

But some of these ideas you mention might work with a library book group.

Miriam Halahmy said...

I think these are great ideas and well worth sharing with teachers and librarians - I know that in some settings the kids might not settle well, but I have found even with kids with learning difficulties, they have a knowledge of books and stories and with the right encouragement, could participate in all of these activities. I will be promoting these ideas in my school visits and many thanks Anne for a wonderful post.

Miriam Halahmy said...

I think these are great ideas and well worth sharing with teachers and librarians - I know that in some settings the kids might not settle well, but I have found even with kids with learning difficulties, they have a knowledge of books and stories and with the right encouragement, could participate in all of these activities. I will be promoting these ideas in my school visits and many thanks Anne for a wonderful post.

Miriam Halahmy said...

I think these are great ideas and well worth sharing with teachers and librarians - I know that in some settings the kids might not settle well, but I have found even with kids with learning difficulties, they have a knowledge of books and stories and with the right encouragement, could participate in all of these activities. I will be promoting these ideas in my school visits and many thanks Anne for a wonderful post.

Sue Bursztynski said...

BTW, Anne, I have some of your books in my library and the kids seem to enjoy them and ask for them. :)