[LM_NET] HIT --> MID --> Elie Wiesel and Night appropriate for 6th grade

["Erin L. Glover" <erin.glover@TUS.K12.PA.US>]

Dear all,
Thanks so much for your helpful responses!  I got quite a few that basically 
reiterated my feelings and suggested appropriate substitutes or websites for more 
information.  Overall, it looks like Night by Elie Wiesel is a popular 9/10/11 
grade reading choice, and not so much in the middle grades.  Again, I really 
appreciate everyone's input and advice - it's so nice to have the support of this 
group!
I got a request for a hit, so the responses minus contact info are below.
_____

I know that in our middle school, that book is covered in 8th grade.  Perhaps 
another book to compliment Number the Stars, but more kid-friendly, would be Maus 
and Maus II.  I haven't read Night myself, but I have heard it has difficult 
material for younger readers.

____
A colleague and I were talking about Night this morning. We have a 9th grade 
teacher (our whole 9th grade reads it) who does not feel comfortable even  reading 
it with her 9th grade. This English teacher thinks that they cannot handle it.
I personally think you are correct--it is too powerful for  6th graders. I would 
think that Daniel's Story by Mazer would be a good replacement for Night. I do know 
that we have had 9th grade parents complain about their children reading it even in 
9th grade.
____

Boy that is interesting! Our high school teachers teach this book so I am surprised 
that at such a young age a teacher is teaching it! I personally feel that they lack 
the maturity to understand and fully appreciate this powerful book!



_____

My high school studies Night in the 9th grade.



_____
I don't know how helpful this will be but I work in a high school and our freshman 
read Night.

_____



Well, if you are getting copies from the high school - and not from other schools 
that have 6th graders, that would be a powerful argument for not including it in a 
6th grade class.  Our juniors read and discuss it each year.

I would query the high schools you borrow the copies from to see when it is used 
there.

I just did a quick Google and checked out various places like Follett, Scholastic 
and other book review - all listed it as YA or grades 9-12.  Only one had  a 7th 
grade level.



I agree, it is a bit deep without a lot of guidance.



Here are some of the sites I checked: (sorry for some of the long urls)

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/resources/booksR4teens/book_reviews/book_reviews.php?book_id=79

http://unabridgedsdl.lib.overdrive.com/526EE548-45A0-4C31-88D2-70F966EECEB5/10/366/en/ContentDetails.htm?ID=%7B46EE922A-3499-420E-B0E2-982421D13663%7D

http://academic.kellogg.cc.mi.us/mandel/Kern.htm



http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/viewWorkDetail.do?workId=425



If the teacher still insists- direct her/him to this site- lots of useful stuff 
that may make it a bit better for the younger students.

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/wiesel.html (even this site says grade 8

up)

Good luck ...
____

In Novelist, the online reader's guide, a reviewer writes of this book, "there is 
no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance".  He was 
comparing Night to the book, Diary of Anne Frank and said that there was nothing to 
offer anyone a hopeful vision after the awful details of the book.



This reader's service recommends it only to adults, the grade level of the 
vocabulary notwithstanding.



Good luck.

____
I don't know if this is helpful, but in our district, Night is part of our 9th 
grade English curriculum.  I think that is the youngest that I would recommend it 
for.

____
Night is a book used in many high schools.  However, it was written for adults.
I would NEVER recommend that book for a 6th grader.
Do you have a curriculum coordinator who could  be approached about this?
I would like someone with "authority" to step in and make the call instead of 
you...just because it will have more meaning for this teacher.
My final thought is this: maybe the teacher has not read any other books on the 
Holocaust and relies on this one as known quantity?

____
I agree. I taught 7th grade English for 30 years and now teach freshmen. Night is 
part of our 9th grade curriculum. I would not have been comfortable teaching it in 
7th grade.

____

I agree with you - Night was written for adults not young people although it is 
considered acceptable for young adults.  It appears in Wilson Senior High School 
catalog , not the Junior High.  In most schools it is a high school class novel.  
In our district this means we aren't supposed to let teachers assign this title in 
the lower grades.  I have no problem with my 8th graders reading it on an 
individual basis and I have it in my collections, but I would strongly hesitate 
before checking it out to a 6th grader without parent consent.

____
In response to your concerns about Night (and this is just my opinion), I read the 
book as a college sophomore and it deeply disturbed me - the images and the ideas 
in the books are simply too adult for a 6th grader.  There are other books (like 
Number the Stars) to introduce the Holocaust that are more age-appropriate!

____
Is in our freshman curriculum. It is not appropriate for 6th graders, in my 
opinion. It is wonderful literature, but could induce nightmares in younger 
children, imo.  A better alternative would be Upon the Head of the Goat. Think of 
it this way..Night won the Pulitzer. 6th graders don't normally read Pulitzer Prize 
Winners.

____

I agree with your assessment of the book.  Has the sixth grade teacher actually 
read it?  My guess is she hasn't, or she read it long ago and doesn't remember how 
mature it is.  Becky

____

I would not use it with that level... the concepts are too deep to comprehend...I 
am still struggling with them. I think it does a service to a book when it used at 
the wrong level.



But then, I think the Giver is really a high school book - again the concepts are 
so deep - and can generate so many in-depth discussions.

____
Thanks again, everyone.


Erin L. Glover, Librarian
James Buchanan Middle School
Mercersburg, PA
erin.glover@tus.k12.pa.us<mailto:erin.glover@tus.k12.pa.us>


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