Readings

TUESDAY, JULY 3: ON BEING A LITERATURE EDUCATOR

“7 Things I wish people understood about being a teacher” (Simmons, 2016)  

“Driving to school, the English teacher “ (Junkins, 1990) (poem)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 4: ON BEING A DYNAMIC LITERATURE EDUCATOR

Read before class: 

Tracey, K. N. & Menickelli, K., & Scales, R. Q. (2016). Courageous voices: Using text sets to inspire change. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(5), 527-536.

We’ll look at this in class: 

Spanke, J. (2016). To the loudmouth in room 114: An elegy. English Education, 48(3), 276-277.

Recommended further reading: 

“Why Gord Downie’s lyrics are worth studying in school” (Barclay, 2016)

“Let’s stop pretending To Kill a Mockingbird is progressive on race” (Davis, 2017)

“Demanding kinder classrooms doesn’t make you a snowflake” (Justice, 2017)

THURSDAY, JULY 5: MARGINALIZED VOICES: LGBTQ+ PERSPECTIVES

Read before class: 

Page, M. (2016). Teaching in the cracks: Using familiar pedagogy to advance LGBTQ- inclusive pedagogy. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 60(6), 677-685.

We’ll look at this in class: 

Excerpts from What I would have liked my teachers to know (Imber, 2013)

Recommended further reading: 

Curwood, J. S., Schiesman, M., Horning, K. T. (2009). Fight for your right: Censorship, selection, and LGBTQ literature. English Journal, 98(4), 37-43.

Rodela, K. C., & Tobin, J. M. (2017). On Anna’s terms: Supporting a student’s gender transition in elementary school. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 20(4), 42-57.

FRIDAY, JULY 6: INDIGENOUS LITERATURE

Read before class: 

Davidson, S. F. (2014). Prove them wrong: Why Aboriginal content matters. English Practice, 56(1), 7-9.

*Please note: for the Davidson reading, you need to look through the entire journal issue for the article.

We’ll look at this in class: 

“Strawberries” (short story) by Drew Hayden Taylor

“The terrible beauty of the reserve” (poem) by Billy Ray Belcourt

Recommended further reading: 

Burton, S. & Hunt, M-J. (2015). Indigenizing the English Classroom: One story at a time. English Practice, 57(1), 37-40.

*Please note: for the Burton and Hunt reading, you need to look through the entire journal issue for the article.

Recommended resources: 

Indigenous Storybooks

“There’s a massive free catalogue of Indigenous films online – and we have 6 picks to get you started.”

MONDAY, JULY 9: ON POSSIBILITIES WITH POETRY ~ 1

Read before class: 

Bowmer, M. E. & Curwood, J. S. (2016). From Keats to Kanye: Romantic poetry and popular culture in the secondary English classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 60(2), 141-149.

Mervin, S. (2017). Pondering ‘The perfect high’: Addressing drug literacy through poetry. English Practice, 59(1), 38.

Recommended further reading: 

Leggo, C. (2005). The heart of pedagogy: On poetic knowing and living. Teachers and teaching: Theory and Practice, 11(5), 439-455.

TUESDAY, JULY 10: ON POSSIBILITIES WITH (SPOKEN WORD) POETRY ~ 2

Read before class: 

Xerri, D. (2017). Combating voice poverty through spoken word poetry: An interview with Candy Royalle. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 30(4), 262-270.

Recommended further reading: 

Fiore, M. (2015). Pedagogy for liberation: Spoken word poetry in urban schools. Education and Urban Society, 47(7), 813-829.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11: FLEX DAY: WORKING ON TEXT PRESENTATIONS

For this class, we will take some time to prepare for our upcoming text presentations. If you’re already done with this, you can complete blog entries and/or work on your final project. I am here to support you in your work today, so please come with questions or items to discuss if need be!

THURSDAY, JULY 12: GRAPHIC NOVELS ~ DR. KATHY SHOEMAKER

Please note: No required reading today. For this class, we will be meeting in the Multipurpose Room in Ponderosa Commons (room 2012). Please be on time!

Recommended further reading: 

Low, D. E. & Jacobs, K. B. (2018). Literature circle roles for discussing graphica in language arts classrooms. Language Arts, 95(5), 322-331.

FRIDAY, JULY 13: PLAYING WITH PICTURE BOOKS

Read before class: 

Hayik, R. (2016). What does this story say about females? Challenging gender-biased texts in the English-language classroom. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 59(4), 409- 419.

Recommended further reading: 

Marshall, E. (2016). Counter-storytelling through graphic life writing. Language Arts, 94(2), 79-93.

Recommended resource: 

“10 beautiful Indigenous children’s books to add to your library”

MONDAY, JULY 16: ON TEACHING FILM IN LITERATURE CLASS

Read before class: 

Ahn, C. (2014). Zooming in on film in the English classroom. English Practice, 56(1), 49-53.

*Please note: for the Ahn reading, you need to look through the entire journal issue for the article.

We’ll look at this in class: 

“Everything you know about me: The Asian character you’re not falling in love with in a Hollywood produced romantic film/tv show” (Ruan, 2017)

Recommended further reading: 

Coencas, J. (2007). How movies work for secondary school students with special needs. The English Journal, 96(4), 67-72.

TUESDAY, JULY 17: ON TEACHING DRAMA IN LITERATURE CLASS

Read before class: 

Grady, K. (2017). Why front? Thoughts on the importance of ‘Nonstandard’ English in the Shakespeare classroom. Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture, 17(3), 533-540.

Begoray, D. (2015). Lady Macbeth and Claire Underwood: Power as bridging theme. Journal of Reading Education, 40(3), 31-33.

*Please note: for the Begoray reading, you need to scroll down the page to find the PDF download. Having trouble? I’ve added a PDF of the Begoray reading here:

Begoray reading

Recommended further reading: 

Dulaney, M. A. (2012). Using a prop box to create emotional memory and creative play for teaching Shakespeare’s Othello. English Journal, 102(2), 37-43.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 18: ON TEACHING SHORT FICTION

Read before class: 

“The man in the black suit” by Stephen King

“The cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe

Please note: In class, we will be engaging in an activity with these stories designed by Ahrens (2008).

Recommended further reading: 

Ahrens, S. (2008). “Best practices”: Getting students involved in fiction. Eureka Studies in Teaching Short Fiction, 9(1), 172-176.

Crowe, C. (2003). Young adult literature: Can reading help? Discoveries: Fifty YA short stories worth reading. The English Journal, 92(4), 102-105.

THURSDAY, JULY 19: TEEN PERSPECTIVES & TEACHING YA LIT ~ 1

Read before class: 

Ebarvia, T. E., Parker, K., Schmidt, P. S. (2018). Carpe Librum: Seize the (YA) book. English Journal, 107(5), 92-95.

Roberts, M. (2013). Teaching young adult literature: YA literature belongs in the classroom because… The English Journal, 102(5), 89-90.

Recommended further reading: 

Anderson, L. H. & Crutcher, C. (2016). Trusting teens and honoring their experiences: A collaborative conversation. The ALAN Review, Winter 2016, 6-9.

Connors, S. P. (2015). Confronting the monster under the (text complexity) staircase. English Journal, 105(1), 92-95.

Deringer, M. L. (2003). Visual responses to YAL that encourage higher level thinking. Voices from the Middle, 10(4), 11-12.

Recommended resources: 

“4 YA books that deal with gentrification” (Doherty, 2017)

“10 young adult books that challenge racism” (Clayton, 2017)

“17 young adult books everyone needs to read at least once” (Cordova, 2017)

“Introducing the best books for teens 2017” (Glazer, 2017)

The New York Times Young Adult Bestseller List

FRIDAY, JULY 20:  TEACHING YA LIT ~ 2: CAROLINE HAMILTON, PHD STUDENT

Please note: No required reading today but please be on time!

Recommended further reading selected by Caroline:

Thomas, E. E. (2011). Landscapes of city and self: Place and identity in urban young adult literature. The ALAN Review, 38(2).

Glenn, W. J. (2017). Space, place, and the “American” legacy: Female protagonists and the discovery of self in two novels for young adult. Children’s Literature in Education, 48, 378-395.

*Please note: We’ll be reading this in class: 

Excerpt from Far From the Tree

WEEK 4 Content Note: This week, we will be exploring ways in which we might explore difficult subject matter in literature class. We will be reading short, or excerpts of, sexual assault narratives – a sub-genre of trauma literature – as an example of the kind of ‘risky’ and intense issue that can emerge, and/or we can create space for, in teaching. It is critical that you are informed so that you have time to raise any questions or concerns with me prior to these classes. Please feel very welcome to do so. My intention is to use this topic as an exemplar for how you might address a whole host of ‘risky’ topics. I want to assure you that I’ve not selected sexual assault and rape culture arbitrarily or to be provocative, but rather, this is an issue I’ve long privileged in my teaching and continue to focus on in my PhD program. In short, I feel: (1) very comfortable talking about this topic, (2) that rape culture is important to address with adolescents (especially now), and (3) this is the best way in which I might explore ‘risky reading’ with this class.

MONDAY, JULY 23 & TUESDAY, JULY 24: TRAUMA LIT & ‘RISKY’ TEXTS

Read before class: 

CHOOSE at least THREE of the following to read (these items will be emailed out to the class).

YA short story: “Charm” (Block, 2000)

Essay: (TBA) (Gay, 2015)

Memoir excerpt from chapter 3 of I am nobody: Confronting the sexually abusive coach who stole my life (Gillhooly, 2018)

Memoir excerpt: The weight offreedom (Leipciger, 2017)

Poem: “Mihkokwaniy” (Whitehead, 2017)

selected poems by Kaur (2015)

Graphic essay: “What we didn’t say” (Rosema, 2018)

We’ll look at this in class: 

Excerpt from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet

Recommended further reading: 

Alsup, J. (2003). Politicizing young adult literature: Reading Anderson’s Speak as a critical text. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(2), 158-166.

Hubler, A. E. (2017). It is not enough to speak: Toward a coalitional consciousness in the young adult rape novel. Children’s Literature, 45, 114-137.

Spalding, E. & Calton, B. (2017). Teaching Night: Humanizing the story of the Holocaust. English Journal, 107(2), 59-65.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25: 

For this class, I will collect feedback on what you would prefer to focus on. I aim to collect your informal feedback by Friday, June 6th.

Read before class: 

Lamb, M. (2010). Teaching nonfiction through rhetorical reading. The English Journal, 99(4), 43-49.

CHOOSE ONE of the following essays to read. OR, if none of these seem interesting, feel free to read and be able to speak to an essay of your own choosing:

“The good princess: What Diana taught me” (Sookfong Lee, 2018)

“My family’s slave” (Tizon, 2017)

“How I let go after my boyfriend ghosted” (Catchatoorian, 2018)

“The skin I’m in: I’ve been interrogated by police over 50 times – all because I’m black” (Cole, 2015)

Recommended further reading: 

Brown, M. D. (2007). I’ll have mine annotated, please: Helping students make connections with texts. English Journal, 96(4), 73-78.

“Teaching student annotation: Constructing meaning through connections”: A ReadWriteThink lesson by Matthew Brown

THURSDAY, JULY 26TH: PROJECT SHARING

FRIDAY, JULY 27TH: PROJECT SHARING

Please note: Syllabus is subject to change. If I feel I need to make adjustments based on your wants and needs, I will do so in a timely fashion and notify you immediately.