Summit Academy Operations Coordinator Amy Smialek was selected as a presenter at the Ohio Middle Level Association annual conference, November 7-8, in Columbus. She will share “Novel” Ideas, a treasure trove of exercises, activities and projects to help teachers and students reap the rewards of engagement, retention, comprehension and information application from reading classroom novels.
The topic has been an important one historically to intermediate school educators, says Smialek, explaining that the length, depth and breadth of novels do not always meld with the mindset of a middle schooler.
“Middle school students don’t always have a long attention span. You need to keep things exciting and changing to make them feel there is a reason to go into the classroom every day,” explains Smialek, a former principal and literacy instructional coach for Summit Academy – Lorain.
In that spirit, Smialek will provide educators tips for keeping their students interested and involved in reading novels. For example, a small group of students might be assigned as a particular character. They would then create a scrapbook on behalf of that character.
“The scrapbook would describe someone you love, your family tree, who your friends are, where you live,” Smialek describes. “Not only is it a great presentation at the end that they have cumulated together but it gets students eager to come to class every day because they can add to their scrapbooks as they read.”
Searching for details in a novel helps students retain information they read because they are putting themselves in the character’s shoes and placing themselves in the story, explains Smialek. “Not only do they comprehend it and it stays with them, but they tend to do better with tests or essay assignments associated with the novel,” she says.
The scrapbook exercise is one of the many Smialek will share with her conference audience. As a literacy coach, Smialek worked with her teacher colleagues using similar techniques. As a former high school and college English teacher, Smialek devised tips to help her students through the challenges of reading comprehension, including writing summary notes.
“Every time they read a page they would write a summary sentence. Handwriting forces us to think,” Smialek explains, admitting she wishes she applied the “summary notes” tip when she was a college student reading dense works like Nietzsche.
But for tween and early teen students, reading comes with distinct competition, Smialek says. Students are not always comfortable in their own skin, concerned more with fitting in and finding the right friends over education, she explains. If a teacher can pique a child’s interest in reading, it may serve as a healthy escape from those societal pressures.
“Reading blocks out all that is going around them. It’s a personal comfort to the soul, an escape, an opportunity to learn about a different culture or life lesson,” Smialek says.
Smialek brings more than two decades of experience in English and literature instruction and education leadership collectively to Summit Academy. She holds a master’s degree in English from Cleveland State University, where she also earned her Principal License. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and minor in Communication Studies from Baldwin-Wallace College.
An active contributor to the literary community, Smialek tutors students for standardized tests. She also serves as a contract editor, creating resources for Great Lakes Theater and was a ghostwriter/editor of two published books. Beyond her professional endeavors, Smialek volunteers as the Executive President of the Cleveland Theatre Conference, reinforcing her passion for the vast opportunities for literature education excellence.