Lord of the Flies, Library Edition

So how best to make classic literature come to life in the library? Thanks to Ms. Vicie Records (here is the shout-out I promised!), here is an idea....

Forget the traditional sign-up for technology...

Forget reserving a chromebook cart....

Who needs to reserve the library for research in advance...

Make it first-come, first grab!

Can you imagine the chaos? Teachers would line up at the door (or bribe someone with a master key to let them in earlier and earlier). Fist fights would erupt over who touched the cart first.  Students would be sent to claim the computer stations. Chairs would be overturned.

It would become survival of the fittest as the teachers struggled to maneuver uncooperative carts through the doors (and hallways).

YIKES! It's the stuff of nightmares (or of a new reality TV show....hmmmmm).

However, it does bring about thoughts of ways to bring old books to life for students. Although many of us love classic literature, the books we grew up with or learned to love as adults, for students the traditional high school books aren't always as exciting or eye-catching as the new titles that seem to be instant blockbuster movies.

We need to look at these books with fresh eyes ourselves. How do you take, for instance, a book by one of the esteemed Bronte sisters and make it relevant to today's teenagers? Or help students relate to Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Faulkner, Steinbeck, and Hemingway when there isn't a dystopian society fighting against a teen protagonist intent on saving or destroying the world with explosions and death on every other page?

Too often, when returning the classic books (with the exception of Night by Eli Weisel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck) students chat in the line about how they only read Sparknotes online rather than even opening the book. This is depressing for several reasons and showing a need for change.

Here are some possible solutions:

1. When choosing classic literature, give students a choice of several books with similar themes. Put them in reading groups based on the books and have them form a book club where they discuss openly the passages they should have read. This gives accountability to all members of the group as well as some ownership to the book they have chosen. 
2. If you still want to read one book with the entire class, give book talks (maybe even make some book trailers) and generate interest prior to starting the novel. Have students vote after watching several book trailers. The more ownership, the more likelihood students will open the book. 
3. Finally, find a modern book OR MOVIE that connects with the classic book. Promote both. When students see the relevance or the connection, they are may buy into the classic literature and hopefully read it.

When all else fails, bring the novel to life through scenarios in your classroom...unless it's The Lord of the Flies....