This article won second place in the 2024 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
Students enrolled in advanced classes are no doubt stretched thin. The stress of completing rigorous coursework and remembering complex material can be difficult to deal with. While teachers cannot completely alleviate the stress, one educator found a new tactic to bring more entertainment and relaxation into the classroom while also implementing the class material.
To switch things up in the classroom, Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Compositions and AP Literature teacher Audra Whetstone has been reading a variety of children’s books aloud to the students. She is delighted to transition from the structured forum of the class and give her students more choose.
Whetstone has introduced the new method as “Tuesday-Choose Days” to emphasize the variety involved.
“I like to give choices with everything, so I just have a bag of books [and let the students choose]. Unless a student gives me a book, I just pick two books and they choose one to read,” Whetstone said. “Either I’ll read it out loud or if a student wants to read it they will.”
It may seem like high school AP students would frown upon children’s books in class, but it has been a hit. Whetstone acknowledges the significance of storytelling for students as well as the benefits that come with it.
“I think it’s just important to connect with each other as humans. For the students, it is fun to revert to childhood and remember the books and the stories,” Whetstone said. “As humans the oral tradition of storytelling [is important] and a lot of it comes with hearing it read aloud and even seeing visuals. To have that is good [for students], and you can’t always do that with the novels we read in class.”
Since Whetstone started bringing in the childhood books, the students have grown fond of it. Having time out of class to enjoy entertaining books from their past as well as having an opportunity to do a more laid back activity in a rigorous class is something they love.
Senior AP Literature student Brooklyn Prill appreciates having a more relaxed activity in class.
“It’s cool to unwind and just get to read something fun, with a little bit of meaning. AP classes are so stressful trying to prepare for the tests and get all your assignments done, since it’s such a driven class,” Prill said. “It’s nice to take a step back every once in a while and just relax, and just have something fun every once in a while.”
Whetstone was originally granted the idea to read aloud kids books at a National Conference of Teachers of English (NCTE) in Columbus, Ohio.
Lisa Pinkerton, an English Literature professor at Ohio State University, originally gave Whetstone the idea to read children’s books to advanced students at the NCTE. She began her interactive reading aloud when she taught elementary school and has loved doing it ever since.
“My fourth and fifth graders just absolutely loved [reading aloud] and I felt like it turned them into readers. Since then I’ve always read aloud to whatever grade level I’m working with. I just haven’t found anything else that teaches kids and human beings to think and to feel like reading aloud,” Pinkerton said.
Pinkerton emphasizes that the kids’ books are an effective approach to foster community building and fabricate creative and developed thinking in the classroom.
“We are in a current educational system that is hyper focused on teaching standards, like the common course standards. The way I like to do interactive reading aloud is where kids are invited to think widely, deeply, creatively, and critically and there is no wrong answer because there is no right answer,” Pinkerton said. “I am just asking students what they are thinking and what they’re wondering about the story. Everyone else gets to build a deep conversation about a text that is not so controlled and directed by the curriculum or the teachers.”
Thes conservations no doubt instill lessons and connections. Prill sees the “Tuesday-Choose Days” as a way to connect more with her classmates, and hopes to continue it the rest of the semester.
“I one hundred percent want to continue doing it. It kind of brings in a little bit of joy [to class] because sometimes we’ll have students read aloud the books,” Prill said. “It’s fun when someone will read something funny and we’re all laughing and it just feels more like a class activity instead of independent reading.”
Throughout the semester, Whetstone hopes to consistently apply and build on the “Choose-Day Tuesdays” every week.
“I know I need to work on being more consistent. I was doing it almost every Tuesday in December and then with break and coming back we haven’t done it yet,” Whetstone said. “I’d love for students to continue to take hold of it and take ownership because then it’s that much for fun.”
It is important for students to practice the AP Literature material using something more attainable. Whetstone feels that “Tuesday Choose-Days” allow them to do this.
“It still connects to the skills we have to get to in Literature, which are themes that connect to life. It’s not even so much the reading part and them listening and reverting back to that, but we have a follow up conversation about the themes, the character development, and the structure,” Whetstone said. “In AP Literature, we have those themes and a lot of those we can decipher within a children’s book and it’s just quicker and approachable. So when they do something that’s hard and old and in depth, they’ve had some more practice.”
Overall, the implementation of kids books in an advanced class like AP Literature has brought a lively feelings towards the class.
“With the kids books, there’s just an element of building community, joy and doing fun things in English,” Whetstone said.
