Monday. Seventh period.
It was the end of the period. The kiddos had put away their Chromebooks and were lining up at the door.
Elliot: "Oh my god! Chapter seven..."
The eleventh grade English classes are reading The Great Gatsby. I may have mentioned this once or twice. On Monday, they had a quiz on the first three chapters. And then we started reading chapter four together.
However, some students are reading ahead. I'm not sure why as we will be reading the whole thing together, but whatever. I'm not going to stop them.
Elliot's been a chapter or so ahead for over a week. He was kind of bragging how far ahead he was. But this day, he was blown away by the events of chapter seven.
And... Well... Yeah. I'm not giving spoilers for those of you who may be tempted to read it. But here's a link to the chapter summary for those of you who would like a reminder or aren't worried about spoilers. Anyway, chapter seven is a humdinger of a chapter.
I nodded in understanding. Dennis, who sits next to Elliot, was also a bit blown away, as he said he looked over at what Elliot was reading. Elliot pointed out that Dennis really needed to read the prior chapters as they set the scene for chapter seven.
"Just don't spoil it for the rest of the class, please," I asked.
Elliot: "Oh no. I want to see their reaction when they read it."
Me too, actually.
Although, considering how bland their expressions are, I rather think they won't visibly react. We'll see.
As for the quiz, they did pretty well. So, maybe they're not reacting, but it seems like they're following along with the plot just fine.
As a teacher that must be rewarding to have a kid reading ahead and clearly enjoying it; as I don't imagine that happens very often. Will be anxious to see how things go.
ReplyDeleteToday is chapter 7, so we'll see if they react. I'm kind of looking forward to it.
DeleteOh Elliot, that's fabulous! He's all caught up in the book, that's the best.
ReplyDeleteHe is. Hopefully he gets the reaction he's hoping for. (His class will read it tomorrow.)
DeleteWould it be correct to guess Elliot is a good (as in grades) student?
ReplyDeleteHe has a solid B. The class as a whole is doing pretty well.
DeleteIt must be a happy day when a teacher realizes a student has become absorbed in a required reading.
ReplyDeleteIt is.
DeleteI'm sure it's fun to watch the kids who really get into the books that you all are reading.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad he didn’t spoil it.
ReplyDeleteI’ve read the book twice, I remember the events but didn’t realize it happened in chapter 7.
There's no reason to know which chapter events happen in unless you're teaching the novel and have quizzes planned at certain points.
DeleteThis is Birgit…I’m so glad you decided not to stop them. They said that to my brother and he just stopped and coasted. I didn’t tell the teacher how far ahead I was and on to another book. I am looking forward to their reactions.
ReplyDeleteWell, so far, nothing. They've been pretty quiet, so that's not surprising. Sad, but not surprising.
DeleteThe end should be in sight for the kids, no? I know that here in Virginia, school wraps up for the summer shortly after Memorial Day.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see which parts of a book really grab the attention of students.
ReplyDelete