Professor Jon Roux

“It’s difficult to separate the components of language arts in my mind,” he says. “My favorite thing to do is reading to and with students. The excitement that comes from reading a well-written book is contagious.”

As an example, Professor Roux explained how he might conduct a book discussion with children.

“I feel that a successful book/story discussion begins with good modeling by the teacher,” he says. “As a teacher, my excitement about a book influences my students’ engagement. I begin my book discussions by showing the book I’m reading and trying to make a real-life connection.

“I just finished Jennifer Chambliss Bertman’s Book Scavenger. I’d show the book and talk about the picture on the front cover (a window in a San Francisco Victorian row-house, showing the silhouette of a book and a girl holding books and a magnifying glass). I’d then have a brief discussion about codes and ciphers I’ve used and show a coded message on the board for the students to figure out. Once we’d done that, I’d continue to share the premise of the book, read a few segments of cliff-hanging action, and then let the students get into the book.

“I like to get students to share the ‘what happened’ portion of what they’ve read and tell why they liked it,” he continues. “Students can also talk about characters and setting, but I’ve found that this comes through naturally as they talk about the action. As they talk I ask what they thought when they started the book and how they felt as they read through it. Was there a point that surprised them? Was there a part where they felt they were right there in the book too?

“Using a book is a great way to show students how to write,” he continues. “Books used in this fashion are often referred to as mentor texts. This does not require reading an entire book to students, but allows teachers to give book commercials and read excerpts from various books to teach and demonstrate writing qualities, parts of speech, and so on.”

Professor Roux is just finishing his doctorate in literacy at the University of Minnesota. He’s been sharing his love of literature and language arts with hundreds of MLC students, teaching pedagogy courses in language arts, reading, and children’s literature. And now he’s excited to expand the conversation to include inservice teachers.

“I’m looking forward to fostering relationships, supporting teachers, and growing through a shared body of knowledge and insights. I believe that educating individuals can happen and does happen at every age. There is no end to learning.”