Warm Up 2: Chapters 5 and 6 of Rose

1. What kinds of reading and writing did you see students doing in school? Why do you think Rose chose these assignments?

They were reading and writing things that sometimes were out of their comfort level as well as things that could help them relate to their pasts. Shakespeare, for instance, caused anxiety and angst as one student in particular couldn’t get a grasp on the language. When reading poems to the veterans, he seemed to choose things that would reflect on their own lives. One man on one of his phone conversations said the speaker of a certain poem seems like an old man that has led a good life. I think he chose these assignments to both challenge and build upon skills and knowledge while reinforcing works that could be relatable and more understandable. I think also that these assignments were in place to help build confidence. The young girl reading Shakespeare, after he practically dragged her through each scene, admitted that while she didn’t like the text, or didn’t know is she liked it or not, she did like knowing what it was about. Rose seems to be helping students build confidence in themselves and find ways to respect text even if they can’t understand them completely. The students were writing what they knew to begin with: who they are as people, what their hobbies are, what their families are like. From there, Rose encouraged them to branch off and discover new ways of writing and news things to write about.