Living Books

George Rogers Clark School is one of the Chicago Public Schools that educates neighborhood students with a focus on fine and performing arts. We are a small learning community of nearly 350 students with grade levels ranging from Pre-Kindergarten to Eighth Grade. Our broad age range of students provides a platform for cross-grade collaboration in ways to go beyond team-teaching to service learning. The Living Literature project will provide ongoing opportunities for fifth through eighth grade students to create audio books for their younger kindergarten through forth grade peers. The middle school students will use an Apple computer and Logitech headsets with microphones to record literature selections that are critical to the primary department’s curriculum. The use of the Apple computer with the Tiger operating system allows students to create recordings using the integrated GarageBand software. The software enables innovative recording options including adding sound effects that will augment the spoken word and aid the younger students in creating mental images of literary works. The recordings will be seamlessly converted into MP3s and loaded onto 2 GB iPod Nanos, portable audio players, for their use in learning centers. The recordings will also be uploaded to the school’s website for at-home listening opportunities. The production of each literary piece will develop the fluency and comprehension skills of each age group while establishing a passion for reading. All students deserve the opportunity to access literature and make connections to what they read. The Living Literature project enables the students of Clark School to connect with literature in a positive manner.

The Living Literature project offers the students that are producing literary recordings an opportunity to reread selections from earlier in their educational careers with new experiences, background knowledge and connections, thus allowing them to be more critical readers. As the students plan the production of the recording, they will dissect the author’s literary tools including character motivation, author’s use of theme, the importance of understanding setting and more. During production, the students will model fluency strategies including rhythm, pitch, volume, pausing and rate. These essential fluency skills take all readers beyond sight-reading to making meaning of what is read. Upon completion of the production process, the younger students will benefit from using the listening centers as they engage with literature. Students that use traditional listening centers must all listen to one selection at the same time; however, the Living Literature project allows each child more flexibility in their listening experience. By allowing each small group of students to listen on their own independent player, they can work at their own pace to meet the goals for the listening session. One expected outcome of the project is that the younger students will begin to mimic the fluency strategies that were modeled by the older students. Additionally, the readings will help the younger students comprehend the literary tools used by various authors. All involved students will improve their reading skills through active engagement in the project. The Living Literature project nurtures the art of story-telling, customizes the learning experiences for the students and teachers, fosters service learning and builds on our commitment to the fine and performing arts.