Okay, picture this:  Five sixth-grade boys from vastly different social circles, different cultural backgrounds and a wide range of reading levels all brought together over football.  The story of their group began by one student selecting a football article to read in class as part of his text collecting (the students are responsible to bring in material to read with groups or independently).  I’ll call him Boy 1.  He is Asian and has little experience with organized sports.  He is someone that can be found most often playing cards at lunch and recess with students that are just like him.  I saw him pull out this article and I was interested to know why he chose this particular article.  As we scanned the pictures, it was soon clear he had a litany of questions.  Enter boy number 2.  He was sitting at the table with boy 1 and interjected with “Yeah, why do they always tackle people anyway?” 

Boy 1: “Yeah, what is that about?”  They now began a chorus of questioning, almost at the same time.  Enter boy number 3 (who happened to be wearing a football jersey).  He was sitting close by and came over to speak to their questions, 

Boy 3: “There are two teams.  One team tackles to stop the other team from scoring.”

“Ohhh,” Boys 1 and 2 respond knowingly.  The next minute went like this: question posed, answer given.  The new answer sparking a new question, then leading to a new answer, new question, new answer.  You get it, right?  This volley went on until they were brought to a halt by this game stopper: “Why is there a punter and a kicker?”  Suddenly, a formation of stumped faces looked up to me. 

“Don’t look at me,” I said, “I don’t know much about this game.”  But I knew we had experts in our midst. “Hey, who in here is a football expert?” I said in a voice slightly above a whisper to catch the eavesdroppers.    Enter students 4 and 5.  Having heard my solicitation, both strolled over confidently ready to answer all the questions they boys had. 

Of course, as excited students typically do, their voices got out of control and the stage was set perfectly for a unison reading proposal.  “Hey, how about you guys get into a group all about football?  You can find texts about the game and read them together.”  They organized themselves by giving each member a text finding job. First, they agreed they needed a text that would explain the rules of the game.  Then, maps of plays and the history of the game.  Finally, some current events detailing the latest from the new season.  

The following day, they had their first text and their first session. I explained the rules of unison reading which are to read together in sync so that others can hear you, to stop the group when you are confused or have something important to say, and to act in ways that promote others learning. Then I said, okay, whenever you’re ready,” and I put my head down and got ready to write (the unison reading protocol involves taking notes on the group process).  I participated in the group as a “go to” person and note taker, but in this case, I knew they would carry the bulk of the conversation and didn’t need me to be an active participant. 

So, student 5 pipes in and says, “okay guys, you ready?”  And they all nod yes to student 5 who seems to have silently declared himself ‘the leader,’ and they begin reading. Student 5 takes the lead in answering all questions, redirecting his groupmates back to reading when they veer “off task,” and also speaks with the most confidence and the most frequency whenever the group stops to raise questions.  Most of the stopping is done by student 1.  He has some confidence as a reader, but is the least familiar with the game. He is just really interested in joining up with football at recess so there is a clear necessity for him to learn.  There’s something about the way he asks a lot of questions and soaks up the answers that makes me think this student has an eagerness to fit in.  For example:

Boy 1: Wait, what is half time for?

Boy 4:  Oh, that’s when someone comes up and sings and the players rest.  It’s like intermission.

Boy 1:  What’s intermission?

Boy 3:  it’s like when the game stops for a time out.

Boy 1: Ohhh, so is that when all the good commercials come on?

Boy 5:  Yeah, but that’s only for the Super Bowl.  That’s where the good commercials are.

Boy 1:  The super bowl?  What’s that?

I am moved by Boy 1’s honesty and determination. His intrinsic curiosity reveals itself every time he stops the group to ask a question. It’s clear that he’s here because he really wants to learn how to play football.  This young boy, who is probably last picked in gym class, if picked at all, seems to be looking for an opportunity to fit in somewhere else besides the Yu-Gi-Oh table.  He is using this unison reading experience to find a new niche—to make some new friends.

This is the power these types of experiences have. I used to organize reading groups based on what I thought students needed. Unison reading groups provide comfortable social spaces where kids can make choices about the things they want (need) to read and join reading groups that interest them. Boy 1’s freedom to make text and group member choices based on what he needed, not what I thought he needed, allowed him to expand his knowledge of a specific subject area, explore his sense of self, and develop his social skills. He may never be a number one draft pick, but he might now be able to gather with friends on Sundays and chat about the ol’ gridiron.  Isn’t that the opportunity most people want anyway?  We all want to find where we fit.  Unison reading offers students opportunities on a daily basis to reconfigure the social puzzle to find out where their pieces belong.