Greg Cantwell

OWP July 2001

Book Report #3

Going Bohemian by L.Baines and A.J.Kunkel, Editors

Going Bohemian is based on a wonderful concept. It is an edited work containing a collection of the very best lessons from a wide variety of teachers. The lessons are grouped into sections or categories, such as poetry and point of view and tone, to make them easier to reference. Each lesson is clearly laid out and labeled by type, ranging from individual to group. The format of each lesson is similar to a lesson plan and contains the following parts: objective, materials, set-up, procedure, summary, and enrichment.

Like with any book, some things are interesting and adaptable and others are not very realistic or applicable for a variety of reasons. Since teachers from many different grade levels and different types of schools contributed to this book, some of the lessons are unrealistic for me at this time in the middle school setting. Some would be management disasters and others are too involved for me at this time, especially the ones that require trips or independent work outside of the classroom.

One of my favorite lessons from the book is called Thermometer Reading, by Tom Stewart. This is an individual prewriting activity in which students are given a drawing of a thermometer and asked to rank their ten best experiences in order up from zero degrees and their ten worst experiences down from zero degrees. This thermometer is then used as a list of writing topics to create essays. The list is kept throughout the year in case a student has difficulty choosing a subject for a later assignment.

This lesson goes well with the presentation of OWP participant Laura Delp. Her lesson generated a similar list, but the lesson in the book takes it a little farther. It does this by providing the printed thermometer for visual learners and it requires students to think about their experiences and rank them in order to figure out which ones are at the extremes of best and worst and how others fall somewhere in between.

I am seriously considering buying this book. It is a rare find to have a wide variety of lessons presented in such a compact and accessible format. As I gain more experience, more of the lessons will probably seem possible to manage and make my teaching better and more beneficial for students.

Baines, Lawrence and Kunkel, Anthony J., Going Bohemian. International Reading Association, Delaware. 2000