Student Survey

Like many of you out there, I felt like I have a pretty good idea about the trends that lie among adolescents. I gave the survey to my fifth grade class, as they are almost middle schoolers. After giving the survey, I noticed that the books that popped up more than once was Twilight, 39 Clues, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which are three books I have not read. I think Twilight is popular due to the Tension versus Shock Effect characteristic described by Pam Cole. I have heard my students say they can not put it down and they just want to read more. This reminded me of a book that is going around my class called "Found." Probably 8 of us have read it for fun because it has that characteristic--you just don't want to put it down. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has the sense of humor factor that Cole describes. The humor in it is appealing to the adolescents, personally I think it is kind of crude. I really do not know much about 39 Clues, but it is a series I would like to read. It was interesting to me that all of the books were series or sagas. Students seem to like books that can lead them into another book.

The Blind Side was the most popular movie. I also enjoyed that movie and I was not surprised that my students picked a recently released movie as their favorite. I was just happy they didn't say Superbad or Hangover like many others of you saw. The video games were pretty split. Most of my girls said their favorite game was on the Wii or Mario Bros. Some of my boys said sports games, but others said Halo and Call of Duty. I have played both of those games and they are very graphic and extremely violent. In the new Call of Duty, my partner was shot and his brains splattered across the screen--not exactly appropriate for 11 year olds, or me really.

Looking at the trends, I am pleased to know that I was familiar with almost all of the answers. It helps to now the trends, so I can relate examples for lesson to the things my students are interested.