During my senior year of high school I went to a middle school everyday for an hour to help a teacher in her 5th grade classroom. Throughout the year they read many different books, but the one that sticks out the most to me was the time in the year when they read "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls. I don't remember if I read it in the 5th grade because I went to the same middle school that I was helping out at but it was the first time I heard and took it in as more of an adult than a child. Just a brief summary of the book if it is not coming back to you is that there is a little boy named Billy and he raises enough money to buy 2 coonhounds so he can use them to go hunting so he can sell the hides. After many adventures, Billy is attacked by a mountain lion, and with the help of his dogs he escapes but one of the dogs is fatally wounded and the other dog dies with a heartache. What Ican remember most if the different reactions of the students. Some of the children just did not really care and were doing it because that is what the assignment was and they had to do it. But other students cried because the dogs were not just Billy's dogs but I think they felt apart of the adventures with the dogs. It just really showed me that books can mean so many things to different students and me being a future teacher, I need to be able to handle all of the different attitudes and emotions of the books I use in my classroom.
3 comments:
I read Where the Red Fern Grows when I was in middle school. It is one of my all time favorite books. I have been trying to get my mom to read it for years (I give her books to read all the time) and she had been putting it off. This summer she finally picked it up and read it. When she finished it, first, she yelled at me for not telling her it was sad and that she was going to cry. Then she said how good it was and regretted not having read it earlier. Books such as Where the Red Fern Grows can have an effect on people of all ages, and they mean different things to different people. It's interesting to hear everyone's points of view on different books.
I will always remember this book because my grandfather read it to me when I was in the 3rd grade and I would always make my parents read it to me, but my grandfather did it with such enthusiasm that my parents could never satisfy me with their weak impressions
I also remember reading this book and naming it one of my favorites. I will never forget how I used to read the book in chapters in my 5th grade class, then go home and play with my dog in the woods "looking for coons". I live out in a rural area full of woods and wildlife so in a way I related closely to the story's setting and enjoyed it even more.
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