Date: Fri 29-Nov-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-reading-travel

Full Text:

with cut: Students Read Their Way Across America

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Here's a paradox for you.

A total of 92 eighth graders in cluster 8C at Newtown Middle School recently

spent 12 weeks traveling at high speeds, covering thousands of miles across

the United States of America, seeing the sights and learning about people and

places - and they did it without ever leaving their Newtown classrooms.

Every day between noon and 12:20 pm, during the regular time-out-for-reading

break known as "SSR" (Sustained Silent Reading), the students sat quietly in

their chairs, while the words, pages, chapters and miles just flew by.

"Reading Across America" was the name given to the cluster-wide

interdisciplinary project initiated this September by 8C English teacher

Lorrie Arsenian. Mrs Arsenian also planned the project as a motivational tool

to "get them into reading and reflecting about what they read."

The students were allowed to choose any novel they wanted (with their parents'

permission). They set individual travel goals referring to United States road

maps as their guide.

Every page they read meant five more miles on their cross-country journeys.

They traced the routes onto their maps, using an atlas and American Automobile

Association (AAA) books to help compute mileage. Rulers helped in estimating

distance.

"In English class, we kept up reading response journals and discussed literary

terms like theme, plot, story and irony in the books they were reading," Mrs

Arsenian said.

She and math teacher Jeanne Cavallaro worked over the summer to plan the

interdisciplinary unit so that all subject areas could become involved, Mrs

Arsenian said.

In math class, Mrs Cavallaro had the students compute their reading speed

against numbers of pages read and time expended. They also had to convert

miles to kilometers.

"We had to work the metric system into this, too," Mrs Cavallaro said.

Class discussions in social studies centered on the students' "Reading Across

America" travel goals. The project definitely helped increase their awareness

of geography, people and places, said teacher Wendy Mercurio.

"It was a way to get them thinking about places they might like to go someday.

Drawing their travel routes on maps, they realized, `Yes, I could actually get

to that place.' Some students need that extra reinforcement," Miss Mercurio

said.

Science teacher Chris Canfield talked with the students about the physical

features they would encounter along their journeys.

"When we do interdisciplinary work, usually it's science and math that get

involved. This was fun, adding English and social studies," Mrs Cavallaro

said.

Assistant Principal Al Cashman was most enthusiastic about the

interdisciplinary unit, which he called "very unusual and exciting."

"We'll definitely do it again next year," said Mrs Arsenian.

When their books were completed and the cross-country routes mapped and

decorated (some with sequins!), special book covers were designed for display

alongside the maps.

Books The Students Chose

Letting them choose their own books was critical, Mrs Arsenian said.

The students agreed.

"I hate it when they assign books," said Tom Oristaglio, an avowed Michael

Crichton fan, who read The Sphere for his project.

Other Crichton titles displayed on the student-designed book covers that were

posted in classroom A8 were Jurassic Park, The Lost World and Congo .

"I was surprised they didn't read more Stephen King," said Mrs Arsenian.

Several classics were selected, including Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary

Shelley's Frankenstein and Jules Verne's Mysterious Island .

"The girls liked Mary Higgins Clark (A Cry In the Night, A Stranger Is

Watching, Where Are The Children?) and the boys seemed more taken with S.E.

Hinton (The Outsider!) and H.P. Lovecraft.

Student Faith Hunt was proud to have completed a 1,000-page novel in the

Dragonlance fantasy series and Colleen Davis said she enjoyed reading an "old

Nancy Drew mystery" titled Death By Design.

The program goal, Mrs Arsenian said, was to develop reading independence and

to give every student a "chance to succeed."