Lil Johnnie Comments

from the students of Messmer High School

I think this program will help a lot of people through life… and it will help them answer a lot of questions.

I think this is a good program because it can really help people in need, people dealing with these kinds of issues. Some people may get ideas about how to deal with their situation. So I think this is a good program for schools.

I believe this reading system can help students get a better understanding of the problems of life and how to solve them. These problems happen in many Black families, so this book should be taught in class.

Lil Johnnie is a good learning experience.

Yes, it’s a good reading system because it helps people comprehend more of what they are reading.

This kind of reading is so cool because we learned about other people who are suffering in their lives. We can look at other people’s reasons for doing what they want to do, and see why we shouldn’t do it.

It think this program would be really good for a school because it gives a message to teenagers about real life.  They might see how things could happen to them,

and so they could change and get help. This program

is EXCELLENT for everyone, but especially kids.

I recommend it to my friends.

I really liked Lil Johnnie. It was an eye opener because I realize what some people go through.

Stories like “Randy and Richard” would work well because teenagers would learn not to let children around that kind of environment.

This would be a good program because I think lots of people would like it. The school should use it. The program would be successful and I would like to take part in it. It was interesting for me to be here in this class.

I would recommend this activity for the school because I feel part of it. It would help my confidence.

It was really interesting. It’s real life. It keeps your mind focused on how life is out there.  Just keep it real because now or later you would have to make choices.

I think you should use this in school because some teenagers are going through this stuff now.  They can relate to real life things. If they had this class at school,

I would take it.

A couple teachers who sat in on a session said the following...

"The material is very engaging and real. I think the students would enjoy this literacy program. Adults don’t read fiction or non-fiction unless it’s relevant to their lives. Why should young people?"

I like the way this program is laid out, especially these features:

• The discussion questions before hand
• The invitation for students to share with the reading out loud, after the presenter modeled by reading first.
• Working with the post-reading questions. There was positive feedback for all answers. It gave students a sense of courage to state their real feelings.
• Content:
  • It’s very topical for our students.
  • The stories are pulled from their background.
  • The stories might have really touched a cord with the students.
• Challenges:
  • Hispanic students have limited ESL (English as a Second Language) skills, however I feel they gained a lot from the questions and answers.
  • It’s important to keep all students involved in the conversation process.