Making English Literature Engaging for Active Kids

How to make English literature engaging for active kids in middle school?

Heading into middle school is a difficult time for our children. Most of us look back on middle school thinking, “I’m glad to not be there anymore”. The demands of middle school increase greatly and some of our more active kids are not yet equipped to sit for long periods of time. Being still enough to read a long novel is like torture for them. Yet, there are ways we can make English literature engaging. Let me show you how.

If we are homeschooling parents, we can help by making English literature engaging by choosing novels that are more likely to appeal to our child. Depending on the state you live in, the requirements might be different for each grade. I live in New York State, so we will discuss the available options here. To find out the required reading selection for seventh graders in your state, look to your state’s educational website.

The Novels We Will Be Building Lesson Plans for This Year.

In New York I choose from the selection listed at this website. There are many options to choose from. They are broken down into types of novels. In my lesson plans we will be discussing the following novels for seventh grade. Firstly, I will include cliff notes on the plots and characters. Secondly, I will include activities and worksheets to help our children with comprehension and writing skills.

Keep in mind, I chose them based on the fact that I have a son. I will also list some novels that would interest predominantly girls later in this post.

• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
• Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
• Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
• The Dragon Quest by Anne McCaffrey
• The Forbidden City by William Bell

How to make reading English literature engaging by reading together versus watching the movie together?

While watching the popular movie of a required novel is tempting, it is not the most interactive way of understanding the novel. For example, if you watch the movie Oliver Twist directed by Roman Polanski, you will understand the main themes of the novel by the end of the movie. However, you will experience it from the director’s point of view not your own or your child’s.

When you read an English literature novel you participate in creating the setting and the characters, because you give a piece of yourself to the imagined place and people. You build them from your imagination and that is what makes it so engaging. Therefore, the places and characters feel a bit familiar. When you read a novel with your child you both play a part in building those characters from pieces of yourselves. This becomes an adventure that you go on together. As if you were traveling to England together and watching the character’s actions unfold. That is a bit exciting, because it provides a forum for discussion. You can discuss how you each see the characters, you envision the settings, and you each interpret the plot.

As our children move into the teen years direct conversations can become harder. In this setting you can discuss subjects through the characters without it being a direct conversation. It’s more comfortable. So it’s a bonding experience because you move through the journey together but you also build it together with your imaginations. I definitely encourage parents, if possible, to read novels together with their children. Even if you both read at separate times and come together to discuss it, like a book club, at least you can exchange ideas and connect.

It is always fun to watch the movie together after you both have finished reading the book. Then you can also discuss your thoughts on the movie and how you envisioned it versus how the director envisioned it.

How to make reading English literature novels together possible with our busy schedules?

In our busy lives today, how can we even find time to read together? It is no doubt a challenge to carve out the time. Yet, if we are able to make the time it will be well worth it. Even if we just carve out 15 minutes to discuss what we each read. We can also combine activities. We are often driving to various activities together, so we could take the drive time to discuss what we each have read and what our opinions are on it. Here are some ideas of activities where we could discuss the book portion we each read if we read it separately.

• Driving in the car
• Cleaning up the dinner table
• Getting ready for bed or at bedtime
• Eating breakfast together and discussion
• Waiting at an event
• Getting groceries together

If it is impossible to find time to read together, you can still discuss the novel together. Perhaps, you as the parent, can listen to the audiobook while you make dinner or while you are driving, Then at a later time you can come together to talk about it even for just a few minutes. Another nice thing about discussing what you are reading is it gives topics for conversation and connection that are not triggering. In short, it’s a neutral topic to discuss, one that doesn’t have to do with anything happening in your current lives that could be points for contention.

The Purpose of Discussing the Novel Together

Remember the purpose of this discussion is not to expect our child to understand everything correctly. The purpose of these discussion is simply to connect, and making the reading experience enjoyable. In fact, the more emotionally we feel connected to something, the more we will give it our attention. That is also true of our children. So as you ask them questions about their opinion they become more emotionally involved in the story.

Therefore, whatever our child says regarding the book, we can use it as a way to learn more about how they see things. There is no right or wrong answer, because it is their opinion. This kind of questioning allows them to feel comfortable sharing their opinions; but also encourages them to think as they read the novel. Since, they know you will be asking their opinions on things, they have to take the time to think about it. When you read together, you can have these discussions, while you are taking turns reading aloud.

• Do you like this character and why?
• If you were in their shoes, how would you handle this?
• How do you think this character is feeling right now (sad, scared, happy, embarrassed) and why?
• If you were writing the story, what would you do next?
• Would you have ended the story that way?

But what if we want to read the novel with our child but are just too busy? Is it possible to find rhythms in your day where you could carve out 15-20 minutes to read together. For example, during a mealtime, you could each take turns reading. During a drive, your child could read to you. As you prepare for bed, you could take a few minutes at the bedside to read together. These are just a few examples of attaching it to your regular routines.

When homeschooling how to choose the best novels for your active kids?

As a homeschooling parent you might have more freedom with choosing the novels. You can check your state’s education website to find the novel selection to choose from, for your child’s grade level.

For boys, you might make English literature engaging by choosing novels that are action oriented or have a main character that is a boy. For example, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer would likely appeal to a young boy. My Side of the Mountain has a main character that is a boy who runs away to make it on his own in the woods.

For girls, you might choose novels that have a main character that is a girl. For example, Anne of Green Gables. In this novel, she is a spirited young girl making her way in the world.

The purpose of middle school novels is to teach our active kids to think while they read the book. Once they get into high school they will be reading much longer and more challenging novels with many characters and multiple plots. We are building their ability to focus, assess, and analyze what they read.

The reality is that our kids will not like every book they read. But they still will have opinions on it. For example, my son hated Tuck Everlasting. Yet, he had many opinions on the novel, probably more than he would have had if he liked it. 😆

You can also check out my post here on how to make American History interesting.

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