I am still getting feedback for my Feb. 02 Roll of Thunder request as well as
requests for a follow-up so I will let you all know how things went for that
concerned parent.
To review-
I had a parent who was concerned that her second grader was assigned Roll of
Thunder, Hear My Cry in her guided reading group. This little girl had an
exceptionally high reading level for second grade and was capable of reading and
comprehending the complexity of the book; however, the parent was concerned that
just because the child is able to read it, doesn't mean she should read it. No
letter was sent home prior to the book being handed out nor was a syllabus-style
list sent home at the start of the year. I asked the following questions: Is the
book appropriate for second grade? If not, how should the parent approach the
teacher? The parent is anticipating the teacher taking the book away from her
daughter, thus singling her out to be the only one not allowed to read the book.
Additional Information that was shared to some responders—
The parent is a co-worker of mine, and her daughter attends a different district
than ours. The parent has taught the book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in a
sophomore class and was required to send a letter home to parents prior to allowing
the students to read the book so is well aware of the content and its implications.
The child’s district has only one media specialist who divides her time between
four different buildings and teaching keyboarding at the middle school. Each
building’s library has a paraprofessional who basically covers the check in/out
process. There is no curriculum director available to consult.
LM_Net’s general response –
The overwhelming response was “What was that teacher thinking?!” and all but one
responder felt that children under 5th grade were not emotionally mature enough to
handle the situations addressed in the book. Only one LM_Net responder felt that
the child should be able to read whatever she wants.
Parent’s Action –
I compiled all of the LM_Net responses for the parent, as well as contacting our
district’s curriculum director for her opinion on the matter. I also compiled a
list of alternatives for the parent to offer in place of Roll of Thunder. The
parent met with the teacher and gently asked why that book was selected and the
teacher said that she was desperate for something to challenge her top readers so
she had pulled the book from the middle school’s guided reading selections because
she remembered her brother enjoying it when he read it in junior high. The parent
explained that it was leveled a middle school book for more reasons than its lexile
level and offered to purchase a set of books for the group so they could switch to
something less mature in content. The teacher admitted that she had not reread the
book before handing it out to the group and was shocked to know what dangerous
territory she was leading 8 & 9 year olds into. The teacher agreed to collect the
books from the students and start a new book that she already had available. Guess
what book the child came home with – Freak the Mighty. I think we have some more
work to do.
Thank you to everyone who responded and let this situation serve as a prime example
to why districts need media specialists so teachers can tap them for help in these
situations!!
Janelle Hermann
Media Specialist
Pine City Jr. Sr. High School
Pine City, MN
jhermann@pinecity.k12.mn.us
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