Bonus: When teachers stay on the road, students develop a special interest in literature. Teachers sign it too. But it’s good to have teachers anyway.
Marte Metet won the Uprisen Prize this year for her novel Welcome, takes place in World War II. The award was presented during the Literature Festival in Lillehammer recently. It’s high school students across the country who nominate uprising titles, and they’re the ones who decide the winner. We had a chat with some pupils and teachers at Rees High School in Oslo. They participated in Uprisen 2023 with 240 students – the entire ninth grade at the school. The students speaking are: Ella Silbo Weyergang, Maria Lucius, Julia Johnsrud-Landgraf, and Sophie Feely.
The nominated titles were:
Cold blood. Half the kingdom 5 Written by Anne Gunn Halvorsen and Randy Vogelhaug, Ashehog 2022
Like me – first time Written by Anne Wisloff, Caplin Dam 2022
high pressure Written by Jan Tor Noring, Gyldendaal 2022
Welcome By Marty Metet, Omnipacks 2022
fragment By Hilda Michaelpost, Samlajet 2022
Student experiences
Students agree that it was very nice to read books in Norwegian classes and that it was useful to read a lot of books in a joint project between the whole school. Teachers see the benefit.
– How was it working with Uprisen?
Sophie: I love reading and feel more engaged. We get to explore genres that we wouldn’t normally choose. It’s a good thing we had to read it. Otherwise, many people would not take the time to read a lot of books.
Ella: The pleasure of reading has increased and I notice that I read faster. We’ve also learned that we need to stop judging books by their covers. The title must be analyzed, and what is its relationship to the book? The connections between titles and content are exciting.
Maria: We sitting here already have a relationship with reading books, but for people who can’t read, it can be more difficult.
Sophie: Uprisen has both long and short books, which is good, because a lot of people aren’t used to reading.
Ella: More girls than boys participate in the award. Four out of five books have girls as main characters. Maybe Uprise would have been more appealing to boys, if there had been more boys as main characters?
Maria: Just high pressure It is aimed at boys, but I would argue so Welcome It is a book for boys, perhaps as much as it is for girls. But book it Cold blood There are more girls who pick up than boys. Boys don’t get pregnant. It’s about the tools in the book. Cultural reactions target girls. high pressure He is best liked among men.
Julia: If most books are aimed at girls, it’s no wonder most girls read.
– You participated in Full Step and You’re Nine Parallels, how did that impact your reading?
Julia: This created cohesion between the classes, as we shared books and talked about what we had read.
Ella: It was nice to have a project that everyone was working on at the same time. The class often works on a topic, but now no one outperforms the others in Norwegian.
Sophie: Those who are interested in reading have spent time reading. But not all. Many of them found it a burden to take books home with them.
Ella: Welcome It was for a long time. Many thought there was too much to read.
Sophie: But it’s nice to be forced to read. You learn a lot. We’ve gotten better at thinking about books, and we’ve learned a lot about judging whether a book is good or bad.
Julia: We also learned a lot from reading in Nynorsk. during fragment We learned many new words and how to write them. Later we had fewer typos than we normally do.
Ella: We’ve learned that we have to read more than ten pages before we can decide whether we like a book or not.
Sophie: The first pages in Welcome It was a little heavy. After the first fifty pages, the teacher took the summary. Then we discovered that it is wise to take a break and think about what we are reading. Welcome It was really worth reading.
Ella: In terms of reflection, it’s great to stick with you. We learned about World War II and the youth of that time. But it’s also relevant to the discussions we’re having today.
Sophie: We were able to draw threads between social studies and… Welcome. We visited the White Bus Museum in Greenland, at the same time as reading about the White Buses. Welcome. Welcome Based on a true story. Although there was less homework, we learned a lot through books. in fragment We learned about waiting care and about coming out. It is lifelong learning.
– Did you become better at defending your own point of view after the project?
Sophie: With us, many people have become much better at thinking about what they have read and defending their opinions. We learned a lot from Jori (Feldberg) about her ideas, and it was nice to have someone who knows so much about books visit us. She was good at teaching us how to evaluate books, and was very keen to get everyone involved in the discussion.
Ella: We have learned to use arguments other than saying that something is good or bad. Now there must be a claim and justification.
Sophie: The award included a larger number of students than the average Norwegian project, as a cross-classroom project attracts more people to participate. Even those who feel weak in the Norwegian language are part of the joint project. Pupils who had not previously had such strong opinions were forced to express an opinion. The fact that everyone gets to vote on what grade a book should get means that everyone gets to evaluate.
– What are the highlights of working with Uprisen?
Ella: For me it was reading Welcome. At the end of the book, when Nora goes out to find Ben, she arrives at the cemetery. That was exciting.
Sophie: To be allowed to be on the grand jury. She competed with two other boys to be on the jury in Lillehammer. And Welcome It gave me a lot of pleasure. Almost all classes got first place. We had reading charts where we looked at books.
Julia: It’s fun to be here and be responsible for Reese’s representation. This is the highlight.
Ella: I’m going to book an author, and I’ve never spoken in front of this many people before. I’m excited to see how it goes. I hope we’re not criticizing football writers too much. We put it in fourth or fifth place. It seemed trivial, and it wasn’t a proper book, as it seemed. She tried hard to get boys involved and was targeting boys who went to football. Cold blood It was a richer novel. When I read it, I thought about the plot.
– How are you now before the grand jury meeting?
Maria: Not well, we’re a bit nervous, but in a good way too. There are many who want to participate. We also had a grand jury in Reese. It was a nice dress rehearsal for this grand jury. I think it’s very positive that we can find out which book is the best in a fair way. We have read well and participated in the project. When will we get results from it?
Teachers’ experiences
Some of the teachers who participated in the uprising at Reiss High School were Agnete Dorthea Jørstad Andersen, Tore Kjeilen and Amalie Tessem. We were curious about their experience on the project:
– Why did you apply to participate in the jury stage, and did the project live up to expectations?
Anetti: We applied because we participated as a critics class, and it was fun to write book reviews, so we thought it would be helpful to participate as a jury class. The students thought it was great that their voice mattered in the uprising. Maybe they can help influence young adult book authors? Pupils are becoming more aware of what they like and what criteria are important to them when judging a book. This increased the desire to read.
Amalie: When they say what they don’t like, they say what they like. For some, these are the first books they have read. Others read four books during summer vacation. Consider the experience of those who are now readers. The students participated for four months. The time pressure was a challenge for some.
Anetti: I’m impressed that they took the job seriously. Even if there are books they wouldn’t normally choose or finish.
Tor: A lot of people think it’s perfectly acceptable to talk negatively about books. To do this, they need to read it too.
– Did the project have any impact?
Tor: We have a number of students who cannot read and who have become readers by participating in the uprising.
Anetti: Some were readers through elementary and high school, and they’ve rediscovered reading. In topic discussions, students are often concerned with agreement. We have now experienced that they have become more powerful in their ability to disagree.
Tor: The students were excited when the critical shepherds visited us. They fight over their favorite book. That hour could be another hour. They have become better at arguing. Books have become more than just a story, as a medium, books have become a little more accessible compared to other media we have today. But books have become a reality this spring, which means that reading has gained greater dimensions. They can take that with them even further.
Amalie: There are many people who are curious about what I, as a Norwegian teacher, think about the book. But students get authorization in Uprisen. It is important that we adults do not mean anything.
My Song: Students think it’s interesting that there is such a big difference between an adult reader and a young reader. Boys became more aware of what they liked, and gained a voice, “We boys like action-packed books.” They built the reader’s identity.
Tor: In my class, the kids loved it gay I preferred girls Welcome. That everyday life has a place in it Welcome They were so excited. In social studies, much revolves around the great battles of war.
Anetti: The Reese’s grand jury worked very well, they were trained to argue and speak out about their favorites. We have to manage the reading in such a project, but the teachers have to hide. Here we will not find such and such instruments in the text. Teachers’ opinion should be withheld.
Uprisen i Osloskolen is a collaboration between Foreningen!Les and DKS Oslo/Developing Pedagogical Competence at the Norwegian Education Agency in Oslo Municipality.
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