Young Adult Literature Project

 Written By
Ben Cigler
May 6, 1998

Book Summary

For my young adult literature project I chose to read Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. This book is about a boy named Billy Colman who lives in the foothills of the Ozarks. This boy has a problem; he has "puppy love." Not the kind when young boys start noticing girls, I mean real "puppy love." He is obsessed with getting a pair of redbone coonhound pups. After he gets repeatedly turned down from his parents because times are tough, he saves his money for two years so he can order them from a magazine ad that he discovered. He trains them to hunt and has many adventures with them as he hunts. He hunts for the pleasure it gives him, for a bet he makes with two peers, and in a tournament to prove that his dogs are the best in the Ozarks. As the book goes on Billy grows from being a young boy to a young man.

Reader Response

I liked this book when I read it back in sixth grade. I still liked it when I read it again for this project. At first I was going to just skim the book to refresh my memory, but after I started the book again I just could not put it down. I read the book in two sittings, which really surprised me, because I do not see myself as a person that can sit down and read a book for a long period of time. The first time I read this book I was in sixth grade. This time I was an adult reading the book with different ideas, values, and beliefs. This time I was able to relate to the book in a different way. The first time I read Where the Red Fern Grows, I put myself in Billy’s place and lived his life as he hunted with his dogs. The second time I read this book, I related to the lessons he learned as he grew up. I learned things as I grew up too and I will probably remember them as long as I live, just like Billy did. I was also able to see the meaning behind the story and a lot of the subtle links between things in the story that I did not get when I was a younger reader.

Rationale

I would most likely try to integrate Where the Red Fern Grows as a part of a unit dealing with the animal kingdom and the wilderness. I t could be used in either biology classes or any science type class. That is one of the things that I liked about this book, it traversed across a lot of lines to relate to a number of different topics. I could use this to help with a number of classes. For example, it could be used in a biology class, a natural science class, or even an English class.

There are a few other things that I think make this book perfect for a young adult literature book. One thing is that a person does not have to be a biology or science lover to be able to get into this book. In fact I know people who hate biology and science that love this book. This book does not limit itself to just biology and science material, it touches on many other things that make it such a valuable book. I think that both junior high and high school students (grades 6-10) would understand this book because of its strong yet simple messages and its compelling story line. I also believe that this book is equally compelling to males and females. I say this because it is more than just a boy and his hunting dogs. I also got a strong sense of family when I read the book. There are also many other things that make this book appealing to everyone. The story involves his whole family and even his grandparents. It easily draws a person in and is a hard book to put down once the binder creaks open.

Student Activities

All students will read Where the Red Fern Grows, some parts may be read out loud. (The students are more than welcome to read ahead if they want to.) Good chapters for read-alouds include: chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 16, 19, & 20. On days where read-alouds are done, the students will have the opportunity to read silently to themselves or work on revising or rewriting their papers. I would also like to reserve the right to have short, relatively easy quizzes to make sure that the students are keeping up with the assigned reading.

There will be a lab that will deal with the identification of different animal tracks. The animals will consist of animals that are in the book with the possibility of a few others that are likely to be found in the same biome as the setting in the book. The duration of the lab will be two to four days long and will consist of the teacher showing the tracks and telling about the animal and how its tracks can be distinguished from other animals. There will be a written quiz on the final day of the project to test the student’s knowledge about the lab.

About a quarter of the way into the book there will be an assigned written project. It will have the theme of: "The Importance of Teamwork." The students can chose any setting for the use of teamwork such as in sports or on a job. The students have the option of peer or teacher response for editing. The final draft will be due one week after being assigned.

After the paper about "teamwork," the teacher should lecture on habitats and ecosystems and the importance of inter-relatedness within them. This should take anywhere from three to five class periods. After the lecturing is done there should be a discussion (approximately 15-20 minutes) about the habitat and ecosystems in the "river bottoms" and the Ozark Mountains described in the book.

Field trip or Guest Speaker: perhaps travel to a petting zoo or animal shelter with raccoons and other animals and have the students learn more about these animals. This might take more than one class period worth of time-the teacher may need to arrange for a large block of time to take the entire class to the site. Another possibility is to have a DNR officer come in to the classroom and talk about the topics of hunting, trapping and the laws regarding each one. This will take only one class period and involve a ten minute time interval for questions from the students.

After reading chapters ten and eleven the students will write a paper on whether they think Billy should have a gun instead of an ax. They must give reasons for and against regardless of their position on the subject. They will have three to four days for the entire process of drafting until they must hand in a final copy to the teacher. The teacher will hold the papers until after chapter 13 is read. It will be read out loud in class, then there will be a 20 minute discussion on whether they still feel the same way as they did when they wrote their paper.

After reading several chapters involving the hunting and trapping Billy did, the class will divide in half and have an oral debate. One side will be pro-hunting and trapping and the other side will be anti-hunting and trapping. The debate will take one class period. There will be fifteen minutes max. for each side to state their case, then after the 30 minutes is up each side will have about five minutes to provide a summary statement in closure. The teacher’s position will be to mediate and keep order in the debate.

After reading chapter 18, the students will act as reporters and write a newspaper column on Billy winning the coon hunting tournament and the trophy for best coonhound. The teacher will play the role of newspaper editor. Oral sharing can take place pretending it is a news broadcast in the region of the Ozarks or the student can provide a written excerpt in newspaper format. The students will have four days to complete this project.

This project will deal with weather and related topics. Each student will have a topic about a type of weather phenomenon or related a topic. The students may work in small groups if the topic they pick requires a lot of research. They will be given three class periods to research in the IMC and formulate a rough draft. They will then have a day or two to formulate the final draft. The students will present the reports orally or have the final draft copied to make hand outs for the class.

The last chapter will be read aloud in class by volunteering students and the teacher. After the book is completed, there will be an oral discussion about the book and what the students liked and learned from the book. The students will then write a final reflection about the book and what they took away from this experience. Students will have the option of peer or teacher response. They will have three to four days to write both a rough draft and to hand in their final copy. The time frames will consist of a 35-40 minute discussion and 10-15 minutes of brainstorming on their paper.

A second project for after the book is finished will be to write a paper on what they think will happen to Billy and his family next. They will hand a rough copy in to the teacher for revising and then have two days to write a final copy. They will then share the paper orally with the class.

The papers will be held onto and kept in a public folder labeled for the class. This public folder will be kept in the school library for others to view as they wish. At the time of the individual projects, some of them may be posted in the library to make others aware of the book and what is being done with the book in the classroom. I would also like to see the oral reports and the debate videotaped if possible to keep a record of them and also to allow future students to see what has been done in the past.

Reflection

In doing this project I have gone through a long process of thinking and decision making. At first I had a book that I thought would be great for this project. It turned out that the book I chose was not that great after all. I did not let this discourage me, I was just going to make sure that I was not going to be as hasty with the next book I chose. I looked and pondered on a few different books but none of them seemed like "the one." Then I started thinking back to my days of reading in junior high and I almost immediately came up with the book Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. I knew this book would work so I started to plan my young adult literature project.

I’ll have to admit that I did not think that I would use a young adult book in my class, but this project has opened my eyes and made me think about the possibility of using a book like this in my science or biology class. I will have to make sure it fit the topic, was at the right reading level and so on, but I have now found myself open to the idea of using a young adult book.

Coming up with the activities was the next step. It started off rough but as I got the first, second, and third the remaining ones flowed out as fast as I could write them. The best thing I thought was that I was allowed to make up the projects as I saw necessary. This free creativity was great because it made this project fun and exciting. As I look at it, I wonder what my reaction would have been to having this introduced into my class when I was in school. I think that it would have went over smoother in junior high than in high school because of the curriculum and standards that are present. I also tried to pick activities that would allow for the students to develop skills such as reading, writing, revising, peer response, presenting, cooperation and communication. These skills are related to every day life and will be useful to them in school just as much as outside of school. Another thing I liked about this is that it put me in a real teaching situation. I liked the practice of coming up with class projects and rubric. I have not had this opportunity yet and it was interesting and a learning experience. I think this project was a success. I learned a lot from this experience and I think that the students would too.

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