We recently finished White Fang in 6th grade literature, and as we closed our books, many of us were trying to speak to each other through our tears after we finished. Because many of us were speechless, many others had hundreds of things to say, and still others were working to put their thoughts together, I did something I haven’t done before: I stopped the conversation and had them use the last five minutes of class to jot down any thoughts they had about the book. I wanted them to simply dump it all out on a piece of paper.
Here are some excerpts from their word-dumps:
“The first three parts are so cruel, and the last two are so full of love.”
“White Fang loved the pain he had to bear to protect his love-master.”
“White Fang clings to life like the bulldog once clung to his neck—with an iron grip.”
“Love has finally dominated White Fang.”
“I love the way that White Fang turns out. He loves Weedon Scott so much that he nearly gives up his life to protect him. This is the one part in the book that I can thank the Wild, and Grey Beaver, and even Beauty Smith for turning him into a super strong magnet, clinging to life.”
“This is the best book I’ve ever read.”
“White Fang fights for love, for life, for his master. He clings to life with an iron grip because he loves Weedon unboundingly. His highest purpose is to love his master, to protect, to fight for love. He loves the weights he has to bear because they needed help of love. Even if he is taking the lading of a single pain, taking and receiving Weedon’s hardships, he loves it because he is showing love to Weedon, and helping the man who helped him find his greatest purpose: Love.”
“Through the whole book, White Fang has struggled and toiled, but always he has been wanting one thing without knowing what it was. That thing is love. White Fang has always wanted to hold onto life and now he has found something to live for.”
“White Fang shows us that you can take a monstrosity and make it something beautiful with love.”
“White Fang loves Weedon Scott to the brink of death and back.”
“White Fang tore wildly around, trying to shake off the bulldog’s body.”
I loved this experience, and will probably do it again in the future. This “word dump” allowed my students to just get all of their thoughts out and be okay with organizing them later. Our end of book discussion was one of the most exciting ones I’ve ever had, and I think it was due, in no small part, to the fact that they could reference the initial reactions they wrote down.
This experience is a good reminder about the value of time and space to think in the classroom. Sometimes, I get so excited to discuss a topic that I forget about how important it is to allow for time to consider the question at hand. It doesn’t always occur to me that they might not have fully-formed thoughts yet. For children who are learning how to participate in group discussion, it is helpful to have moments like this to slow down and consider their thoughts more purposefully before they are expected to speak.
I wrote about a very similar topic way back in 2019, shortly after I started Tending Roses. It was my second blog post ever! Click here to read a much younger Grace’s take on the value of a teacher’s silence in the classroom.
