Teachable Moments

Ms. H glanced at the clock and said, "Please pack up to go home. Once you are finished, if you maintain quiet, you may read anywhere in the room you want to." Grins and thumbs up all over the classroom, as this freedom of movement is a special treat, even if many feel ambivalent about what they are supposed to do after they move around.
"Mrs. MandM, afer what we talked about in [guided] reading today, I have the words now to explain to you what I have been trying to explain to you these days!"
"What do you want to explain, William*?" I asked (*The names have been changed to protect the innocent).
"These books that I have been reading," flashing the latest The 39 Clues book he was reading and continuing, "these books are supposed to be mysteries, right? And I now know how to tell you that these books are supposed to have problems and have some solutions --some right and some wrong, that's the trick for us. I also know there are supposed to clues along the way about the problem. Well, Mrs. MandM, that's the problem. I have gotten Book One back out to read because I figured out that I did not understand what the clues are. I don't know if I even understand the problem. So these books are driving me crazy!" William said frantically, as if he were announcing his hair was on fire.
"William, what a great idea to go back to where you first felt like you missed some clues! I have another idea and I don't know if Ms. H will let us, but I have a suggestion. Do you want to hear it? If you like it, we could then ask Ms. H if she would let you proceed, or go through with, the idea."
"Oh yes, because I am dying about these clues!"
"You have many friends in here who have also read or are reading the books in this series. I wonder if they have the same question about the clues that you have? I wonder if you talked about what the problem is together, would you have the same ideas?"
"That would totally help, like in reading group! Can we ask? Please? I got to start figuring out these books better!" bouncing now on his toes as he tried to get the words out as fast in English as he speaks in Spanish. "You ask for me because Ms. H will listen to you quickly."
I nodded, "Ms. H, may William gather his friends who are reading the same series as he is and ask them a question about the book that he is grappling with?"
"Ok, but William, you must still remain quiet so that our other friends may continue reading."
William looked at me with pleading eyes. Usually, I would coach him to gather his friends, but we only had a few precious moments before buses would be silently announced on the Smartboard.
"Give me 5. William has a really good question about The 39 Clues books he has been reading. If anyone who has read any of The 39 Clues books would like to talk with William about his question, please meet with us at the back table. His question is so good, it made me want to start reading these books tonight!" This last part was painfully true.
A few boys who have been reading these books grabbed their books and raced to the back table. William looked at me expectantly. I repeated that he had a really good question and I asked him to repeat it to his friends. As he did, most of the other readers nodded their heads. Now, I should pause to explain that if anyone had surveyed the students surrounding the table, I think only one of them might have defined himself as "a reader." They started raising their hands and I encouraged them to treat this like reading group (one of the times in their day when they were allowed to discuss educational things without raising their hands). So they began to share common confusion or their ideas about what the problem and the clues were.
"Wow. There are so many ideas about what the problem is that it does sound confusing. Maybe I don't want to read these books," I said grinning.
"No, no, no, Mrs. MandM! The books are really good, even if they are sort of confusing. Hey, guys, I think we should talk about what the problem is in the first book. Then, she'll understand."
"The problem has to do with these kids searching for bones."
"Why are these kids searching for bones?" I asked, as one friend who had painfully discovered that these are "someday" books quietly came and hovered by my side.  All the 39 Clue readers began to talk. "Will this work if everyone shares at the same time?" They looked at each other and nodded toward the boy who had started answering first.
"You see, there's this person name Grace who died and the kids have to go look for her bones. All over the world, I think..."
"Yes, because this book goes to Egypt and"
"and this one goes somewhere in the Amazon, I think it is, or maybe some other rain forest thing or"
"or what about the clues of the bones?"
The discussion continued and one of the boys suggested that the cover of the book offered visual clues to the problem of finding Grace's bones. Another suggested they should put the books in the series order (a math and science happening too!) and see if that idea was true for all the books. Frantic, excited agreement as they fanned out across the room. Ms. H briefly reminded them to not strong arm books out of classmates hands, but invite them to the table with their books.
Soon, well more than half the class was gathered at the back table with many hands ordering the books. The students continued to take turns discussing the validity of whether the author provided picture clues on the art "stuff" on the cover of the books. Another kid announced, "This series feels like a puzzle to be solved! The clues are the pieces that go out of one book and into another book in the series. We should do the puzzle together! Can we stay after school, Mrs. MandM?"
Both secretly rejoicing that these children, these children, would spontaneously ask to stay after school to discuss books and also mourning that they could not, I said, "I am afraid that you have to go home the regular way at dissmissal time. But, I too think it would be awesome if you could work on this puzzle together. I think you should talk with Ms. H about whether this is feasible, whether this can be done."
They stormed poor Ms. H's desk. She said they would try to figure out a way. The kids, now girls and boys, streamed back to the table with me and continued their discussion for a few more seconds before silent dismissal began. They were talking excitedly with each other about the "clues" and the "puzzle pieces" of the series as they walked out of the class in small groups for the different buses, walkers and car riders.
Does it get any better than this?