Calame-ity at Platte City Middle School

E-Mail This Link

Enter recipient's e-mail:

Close

Email

Print |

Reprint/License |

Subscription |

RSS |

Share

Kelly Miller May 4, 2011

With a year of classroom teaching under my belt, I noticed a disturbing trend among my students at Platte City Middle School (PCMS) in Missouri: girls loved to read and boys just didn't. After the school year ended in June 2009, I began to focus my research efforts on finding books for my reluctant male readers. I knew these books had to be edgy, current, realistic, and most importantly, humorous.

I begin my search by Googling the phrase "funny books for boys." Swim the Fly came up near the top of the list, and I immediately ordered it. Once I received the book, I started reading it—and didn't look up for the next six hours. I laughed so hard that I cried, and I knew that this book would be a winner in my classroom. I couldn't wait for August to roll around so I could introduce the book to my class.

In the meantime, I also lined up other boy-friendly books. I wanted to have a "go to" list so that if one book didn't work out, another would be ready and waiting. With 14-year-olds, accessibility and immediacy are key.

The first day of school, students began checking books out of my classroom library. I have more than 2,500 books and my students take full advantage of the fact that they're just a few steps away from literary escapism. I recommended Swim the Fly to a student who didn't hesitate to tell me that he would not be reading 30 books (that's our yearly goal for each student) because he only reads two or three books a year and those are the ones that he reads in a whole-group situation.

Perfect! This was exactly what I wanted to hear. I put Swim the Fly in his hands. He smiled slyly and I smiled back. I couldn't wait.

I set our classroom timer for 20 minutes for our Silent Sustained Reading time. I watched him. He yawned, opened the book, looked around and then looked back down to the page again. He read the first two paragraphs and I knew the exact moment when he got to the phrase "naked girl." His grip became tighter on the book, he brought it closer, he hunched down in his seat, his eyes began to scan the words a little faster and the pages began to turn and turn and turn.

Ding! The classroom timer went off and he didn't raise his head. I let everyone read for another minute. His head remained buried in the book; he didn't put down the book, even when I asked the class to close their books. Finally, a student shook his shoulder and he returned to our classroom from his literary-induced reverie. I didn't say anything, but I could tell he was a little dazed from his reading. It was obvious that this student had never "fallen" into a book. I was ecstatic.

Two days later, James entered my classroom waving a copy of Swim the Fly. "I read it in two days, Mrs. Miller!" he said. "Two days!"

He was ready for another book, then another, and then another-that's how our "reading renaissance" began. One student recommended Swim to another student and pretty soon, I had to order three more copies of it, then six copies, and then more after that because everyone wanted to read this phenomenal book.

I couldn't keep this excitement to myself. In June 2010, I wrote to the book's author, Don Calame: "...your book has started a revolution in my class. Not only is it the funniest book that I have ever read, I have students who have never really read before, wanting to read it and then wanting to read books that are similar to this book. One student recommends it to another, and then that student recommends it to two others and the passion for reading is exploding in my classroom!"

Don wrote back and told me that he forwarded my story to his editors at Candlewick. They had an idea: Why not hold a reading contest and the student who read the most books would get his or her name in Don's next book. I was thrilled, but I also realized that I had a problem on my hands. Odds were, a girl would win the contest. I knew that I had motivated female readers who could easily read two or three books a week-and that meant that my reluctant male readers would be left out in the cold. I wrote to Don, explaining the situation, and he came up with a wonderful solution—one boy's name and one girl's name would appear in his next story. I presented the contest to my students and the reading took off.

I wrote to Don again, about how Swim and the contest had really put my students' reading into overdrive. In October, he wrote back and asked if he could come and visit us. Our wildest dreams were about to come true—our favorite author would visit our classroom in spring 2011!

My students read and read and read. We planned Don's visit during this time. We wanted media coverage—this was big stuff for Platte City, MO! The Kansas City Star and our local Fox 4 affiliate agreed to cover the story—they were taken with our story of how Swim began a reading frenzy in our classroom. We planned many surprises for Don and finally, after months of waiting, on April 20 he walked through the doors of PCMS.

We ordered a 13-foot banner to announce his arrival. We had T-shirts made with his book covers on the front and "Don Calame Rocks" on the back. His arrival was greeted with standing ovations in classrooms.

He went to the library to take an Accelerated Reader test on his books and we all had a good laugh at the questions and answers to the test. We held our own "press conference" where the students were able to tell their side of the Swim phenomenon and Don added his perspective as well.

We put together a band from three boys who play electric guitar, bass, and drums, based on Don's second book, Beat the Band. Our band serenaded him with rock songs that Cooper, Matt, and Sean (characters in the book) would be proud to play.

(left: Zach Cull dressed up as "Matt" from Swim the Fly; right: Calame reading from Swim)

Don was presented with his own Beat the Band T-shirt, a shadowbox with Matt's pre-soiled boxers (you have to read the book), and other gifts that the book's main characters would love and appreciate.

When the bell sounded signaling the end of school, no one left the gym. We didn't want this day to end.

From the recommendation of the book Swim the Fly many months earlier, to finally meeting our classroom hero who penned the funniest book we've ever read, this was an experience that no one at Platte City Middle School will ever forget. (Editor's note: Calame told SLJTeen it was a completely unforgettable experience for him, as well!)—Kelly Miller, 8th Grade, teacher, Communication Arts, Platte Co. R-III Middle School

This article originally appeared in School Library Journal's enewsletter SLJTeen. Subscribe here.

E-Mail This Link

Enter recipient's e-mail:

Close

Email

Print |

Reprint/License |

Subscription |

RSS |

Share