Going for Heart-Felt Humor this Semester with @TrevorNoah's BORN A CRIME @RHCBEducators. Literate Learners 2022

Every semester I choose one YA text to use as a mentor text with history, science, math, language, and English teachers exploring ways to develop readers in middle and secondary school. A year ago, I listened to Trevor Noah's Born a Crime and laughed out loud at his humor, but became more mesmerized by the writing and the incredible human being he is. Yes, I knew he was a funny guy and had a talk show, but I was more interested in his storytelling of S. Africa, particularly interested in possible Hoops4Hope curriculum that might come from it in the future.

Ah, that's when I realized Penguin Random House Children's adapted the book for young readers. In fact, a teacher at Harding High School made a Go Fund Me page for the book and I got on it rather quick. Then, looking ahead to my semester, and the students I had, I thought, "Why not jump on the bandwagon?" So I have. As we read Gholdy Muhammad's Cultivated Genius, Beers & Probst Distrupting Thinking, and Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas's Best Practices for Adolescent Literacy Instruction, we'll be thinking about the content behind Trevor Noah's memoir. I am looking forward to the ways the texts talk with one another. Sad that the 2022 version of the Hinchman & Sheridan-Thomas book isn't out until February, though, as I have a chapter in the new edition!

I have found that aligning a shared reading such as Born a Crime with scholarly texts helps all of us to grow more savvy with what is possible pedagogically in content areas. And what is up for day one? A comedy routine on Tacos, of course.

Yes, I'm in a Covid slump, and no, I don't know if I will make it through the day, but I have found more pep in my step with the joy to come with a little comedy reading. We shall see how this goes.