Slice of Life: Reading Inspiration

Today I had the privilege to go watch some of my students present in the local science fair.  I was blown away with some of the topics that were researched by this group of seventh graders.  However, one of the most memorable event of the science fair was a discussion that I had with a group of random students.  One boy, who is in my language arts class, excitedly approached me to let me know that he finally finished Allegiant.  When I asked him about the ending, he paused and was quickly interrupted by a student that I had never met, so that they could share their opinion of the ending.  Within thirty seconds, there was a group of at least twelve students gathered around debating the effectiveness of the ending of Allegiant.  Opinions were varied, but after much discussion back and forth it was decided that the ending made sense for the overall theme of the story despite the disappointing turn of events.  As we were wrapping up the discussion, a random adult approached this animated group of students and reminded them that this was science  fair, and not a book fair.  Without missing a beat, a student responded that reading is what made him interested in his topic for the science fair. I was thrilled about the random book discussion that had just taken place, but even more impressed by this student's response to some random person about how reading can inspire all aspects of our lives.