One of the strategies that I would use when teaching “All American Boys.” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely would be shared reading. I have had teachers in high school who have used this method to give their students a chance to interact with the text. Not only does this give the students a chance to voice their believes about what they have just read, but it also gives them a chance to listen to one another and truly expand their horizons.
When using this strategy in my future classroom, I would split this story in to three weeks that we will study this material. During those three weeks we would read this story together in class, sometimes reading as a whole class while other times we would read as table groups. On Friday of each week we would discuss what we have read, with everyone getting a chance to voice their believes on what they have read. Maybe some will change their believes by listening to their classmates, or it could help strengthen their own thinking on the matter. With that being said, this strategy would be a during and after reading method, since the students will stop to discuss each day in this book twice (once after Rashad’s narrative and another after Quinn’s narrative). They will also take notes that will help remind them of what they felt during the readings, so that they can bring that into our discussions.
The best way to truly dig deep into the topic of racism, police brutality, stereotyping and power is just to come together and discuss it with open minds. I will teach these students that we all have different points of view due to our personal experiences. Some may not be ready to accept that racism still exists or that police brutality and stereotyping is still visible in our society, but that maybe just because they haven’t come face to face with it. This activity will help me teach students to be accepting of other points of view, even if they can’t agree with it. They must learn to voice their believes without fear and what a better place to do that than in an English class.
I had a teacher that always used this teaching strategy, yet through it all we knew that our teacher expected us to disagree with one another, but to always show respect when doing that. Students in that class had the chance to learn from one another while respecting each other’s experiences. That is how I would go about teaching this book in my own classroom, especially such a book that may cause disagreements and such lead to great learning opportunities.
Jennifer Buehler truly shows how instilling such an activity in my classroom would demonstrate YA pedagogy when she states, “Once students have identified their experiences and knowledge, teachers can help students build on them in approaching complex texts—including when their background experiences and knowledge enhance and/or interfere with their ability to read complex texts” (Teaching Reading with YA Literature 5). It is part of our job as aspiring English teachers to help our students make connections between their life experiences to the readings. By helping them make that connection they would be more interested in listening and as such learning. The best way to go about doing that is by encouraging discussions on the readings, so that students can share their thoughts and learn from one another.
Work Cited Page
Buehler (2016) Teaching Reading with YA Literature, Ch. 1
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