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Five Stars For Sports Literature At Wells
Ghost: Running for his life or from It is a National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.
The book, by Jason Reynolds, is about a boy named Ghost who wants to be the fastest sprinter on his elite middle school track team, but his past is slowing him down.
John Clark’s sixth grade Sports Literature students are a cross section of students from Henry H. Wells Middle School–some of them love to read, some only read graphic novels, some of them don’t read at all, some of them love sports, some of them are just spectators, some of them don’t play or watch sports at all. However, they all agree that Ghost: Running for his life or from it deserves five stars.
Clark’s hope is that books about sports will draw students in and make reading more appealing. Judging by a sampling of student reviews, he is on to something.
“I love to read,” said Savannah, “I like this book because it’s fun to watch the main character do stuff and it’s well written.”
“I didn’t think I would like the book, but I really do, '' said Gia, '' I can relate to Ghost.”
“This book is interesting. Lots of stuff happens to Ghost. This book got me more into reading,” said Darwin, “I started reading Harry Potter because of Ghost.”
Edgardo said “I like reading about sports because I play soccer.”
Sports Literature is a new class this year at Wells. Principal Christian Hernandez proposed the idea and pitched it to Clark–clearly, he is the right teacher for the job. Clark loves sports. Specifically, he is a Mets fan. In the classroom, there are Mets banners, Mets bobbleheads (Ron Darling, Pete Alanzo, Tom Seaver, Mrs. Met) and other memorabilia.
He also loves to read. On his bookshelves are some of his favorite books for middle schoolers: The Hobbit, The House on Mango Street, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Sounder, Of Mice and Men, I Love Funny.
So, teaching a class combining two of his favorite interests was a cinch. He believes
through reading sports stories, kids can relate–they are engaged in class discussion, share their ideas, listen to one another, and have fun. Mr. Clark elicits class discussion by reading from the book and then asking questions.
To get the students started, he hands out a sheet with empty boxes for the motivations and challenges of Ghost, Ghost’s mom and Ghost’s coach. Mr. Clark then asks the class to make it personal and reflect on themselves: What is a challenge that you or someone close to you has faced in your own life? What did you do to overcome that challenge? What did you learn from that experience?
Besides the riveting subject matter and entertaining book discussions, Mr. Clark has assigned articles about other athletes such as Usain Bolt, Jackie Robinson, and Michael Jordan. He has also brought the lessons of Ghost outside the classroom. In the book, Ghost ran a 100-meter dash in 9.58 seconds.
Mr. Clark told his class that if they could run it in under 15 seconds, he would throw them an ice cream sundae party. With anticipation, they gathered outside on the field in back of Wells, got the stop watch out and ran at top speeds. Keegan got to the finish line in 15.37 seconds. The class went wild! Although they did not get their ice cream sundaes, Mr. Clark handed out lollipops.
Dillion admitted it was tough, “I was wiped out afterwards and I wasn’t even close.”
Sports Literature is a win-win for Clark and the class. It works because it isn’t just about sports, it’s about life.