Text Sets: A Smorgasbord

Have you ever had one of those conversations that gives you energy? The kind of conversation that begins with, “I’m thinking about…” and turns into, “And we can do this, and this, and this!” I had one of these conversations recently with my friend and colleague, Amira. Actually, Amira and I have these sorts of conversations often. This one began with a visit to our school’s book storage room. It ended in a very animated conversation about Banned Books Week and many of the titles we currently own. (More on Banned Books in another blog entry.)

That led us into talk of other banned books that we use, possible activities we can plan, buttons, t-shirts…then we had to stop, because this idea grew bigger and bigger, and quite frankly, a bit out of control. And we were standing in the book storage room amongst boxes and tubs of books, holding heavy stacks of books I planned to take home and read. We will, no doubt, revisit the conversation at another time. Hopefully when our arms are empty.

This type of conversation also happens in my own head. I think of a piece of literature that I might want to use with my students. Then, that piece of literature reminds me of another story, or poem, or novel, or film, or video clip, or piece of artwork. Then, my mind moves to what I can do with these things, what I can ask my students to do, and this one piece of literature turns into something much bigger. Sometimes, my ideas become lofty. Other times, they are difficult to manage due to the cost of materials. More often, they turn into something worth using—worth teaching. In all cases, they are a good way to come up with text sets.

I love the use of text sets. Bundling texts together because of a certain theme or idea or feeling is a good way to cause really rich discussion after reading. I like to include in my definition of “texts” anything that can be read, viewed, or somehow understood. Text sets help us to make sense of the things we read and view. Text sets take away the wonder and confusion about a book or story that is simply plopped in the middle of other things with no apparent reason for its being there. These sets fit together and absolutely beg for a small group discussion, a debate, a Socratic seminar, or a blurted, “Oh my God! That’s just like…!” Here are a few text sets that I hope to use at some time with my students. A few of them came from my conversation with Amira. See if you can figure out why I feel that they would work.

-Fahrenheit 451 with “The Veldt” and “Zero Hour”—all by Ray Bradbury—along with ads for huge plasma or projection TVs, tablets, smart phones, Air Pods, and any other tech gadgets we tend to use daily.

-The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins with “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, and information about Tik Tok Giveaways and other raffles.

-Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt with “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” by Nathaniel Hawthorn, and any ads for face lotions and serums as well as plastic surgery.

-The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke with Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, and “August Rush” a movie with Robin Williams, Jonathon Rhys Meyers, and Keri Russell (I have put this idea on the back-burner for now, because Oliver Twist feels a bit ambitious for most 7th or 8th graders).

Over the past few years, I have used the following text sets, and had success with all of them.

-The short story “Seventh Grade” with the poem “Oranges”, both by Gary Soto.

-“Zoo 2000” by Richard Curtiss with “King of Beasts” by Phillip Jose Farmer, and use of information from our science classes in their genetics unit.

-“Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, articles about the real ride of Paul Revere, and then “Sybil’s Perilous Ride” by Erick Berry.

-“The War of the Wall” by Toni Cade Bambara, Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”, and The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.

Employing text sets makes literature make sense to my students and to me. We can find a common thread and concentrate on it, or we can find differing attitudes or ideas and study those. In all cases, a text set appeals to most students, because almost everyone can find something in the set that they like. The work isn’t centered around one piece of literature that may or may not resonate with each individual student. It is kind of like a smorgasbord of literature and other related things. My students can taste everything, but really dig into the things they like.

This year, I will be working with a high-achieving population in both seventh and eighth grade, teaching what our school district calls Extended English. My hope with these students is to build some text sets, but also to ask them to add to the sets. I will ask them to find and distribute any poetry, short stories, short videos, ads, artwork, etc., that they find fitting the profile of our existing sets. We will add to our text sets, giving us more information for discussion and achieving greater depth in our understanding. I believe the resulting conversations will be very lively. I hope I am right.

I hope that you will try to build a few text sets for the coming year. I hope that you enjoy the challenge of finding things that fit together. Or, you can simply use the sets that have worked for me in the past. Open your smorgasbord. Let your students taste. Then, see where the conversation leads.

And if you come up with any really good text sets, share them with me!