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WIU senior communication major Alisha Johnson, of Macomb, interacts with St. Paul sixth graders Oct. 17.
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WIU Students Collaborate With St. Paul Sixth Graders

October 21, 2014

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MACOMB, IL – What began with a tweet has resulted in a face-to-face dialogue between students in Professor Lisa Miczo's family communication class and sixth graders in Laura Cody's sixth grade class at Macomb's St. Paul school.

Both instructors assigned their classes to read the young adult book, "Wonder," by R.J. Palacio.

Cody, a 2008 WIU alumna, said she incorporated the book to reach her students on the topics of kindness, tolerance of physical appearances, compassion and the destructiveness of bullying. Miczo said she assigned the book as a supplement to the class textbook, seeking to "try a less traditional means of applying family communication concepts and theories to fiction."

The two classes came together after a post on Twitter was followed by Cody, prompting a positive exchange about the book. Students in Miczo's class then took a field trip to St. Paul school Oct. 17 to discuss the book and its wisdom about relationships and treating others with respect and kindness.

"The book is beautifully-written," said Miczo. "In my mind, it's age-appropriate for anyone because it emphasizes such key elements of what it means to treat others with love and respect. I chose the book because there are many ways to use it to discuss parent-child communication, sibling influences and family communication and closeness. The way the book is written, you are right there in the character's shoes, feeling what he or she is feeling; it's powerful. As we've gone through the book, it has proved to have even more ties to the material we are covering than I first realized: communication and roles, expectations and in-group/out-group dynamics, just to name a few. It's worked out great and, of course, I'm very pleased students have had such a positive reaction to it."

During the field trip, the WIU students sat amongst the sixth graders to exchange questions and insights about the book's characters and lessons they learned.

"The students from St. Paul really enjoyed connecting with the Western students, and I know that my students felt great coming out of there after the interaction," said Miczo. "They gave us a warm welcome, and the exchange between the two classes was neat to see. I don't think either group will forget the experience."

Cody said the work between the two classes fulfills a dream she's had.

"I'm a Leatherneck, and my master's degree is from WIU and I'm proud," she said. "It's always a good day to be a leatherneck. This was just great."


Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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