Mon, August 31

Book choice?

Lousie Rosenblatt: Check the resources listed on the right.

Considering Rosenblatt

p. 16—“The average student spontaneously tends to pass judgment on the actions of characters encountered in fiction.”—Consider Chopin’s “The Storm”

p. 33—What role should imposing literary standards onto students play in our ELA classrooms?

p. 47—What is the relationship between “literary creation” and “literary experience”?

p. 55—What is “understanding” in relationship to text/literature? How might that be demonstrated BY students FOR teachers?

pp. 57-58—Is appreciating literature as a student effective as a spectator sport?

p. 60—How is Rosenblatt’s criticism of ineffective literature study a microcosm of larger educational problems?

p. 64—Even though her work originates from 1938, what does Rosenblatt suggest about classroom environment and the form of student writing about literature?

p. 65—“The little formula provided by the teacher as a guide had instead divorced the youngster from her actual experience of the novel.”

pp. 68-69—Among whom should classroom discussions of literature be conducted?

pp.70-71—Literature as goal, or literature as experience?

p. 78. . .—“What, then, does the adolescent bring to literature?”

p. 92—Distinguishing for students the need to create meaning from the text OUT, instead of imposing meaning ONTO the text—

Welcome to YA Lit, Fall 2009

Just an Op-Ed of mine recently in The Greenville News:

Understand the "research" about school choice

Newbery Award discouraging young readers?

Maybe so—read this.

FINAL EXAM Monday December 15, 6:30

Just a reminder:

Submit ALL WORK identified on your portfolio/final grade sheet by December 15, 6:30 pm.

PLEASE email me when and how you are submitting your work ASAP.

More lesson planning help

Wonderful resource for lesson plans and examples of lesson plans:

ReadWriteThink from NCTE

Our YA Literature Experiences

The Giver, Lois Lowry

Night, Elie Wiesel

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Sold, Patricia McCormick

Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson

Breaking Through, Francisco Jimenez (study guide)

Uncle, J.P. Martin

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, Judy Blume

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Story of a Girl, Sara Zarr

The Loud Silence of Francine Green, Karen Cushman

Small Steps, Louis Sachar

Tamar, Mal Peet

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

Gossamer, Lois Lowry

Heaven, Angela Johnson

Flight, Sherman Alexie

Inexcusable, Chris Lynch

Academic and Intellectual Freedom in the Classroom

How the survey played out:

1) I remain quiet in class discussions because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (8) Rarely (21) Occasionally (20) Often (7) Always

2) When I talk in class discussions, I express ideas and beliefs that are similar to the teacher/professor’s even though the ideas and beliefs are not necessarily my ideas and beliefs because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (14) Rarely (25) Occasionally (13) Often (4) Always

3) On written test/exams, I express ideas and beliefs that are similar to the teacher/professor’s even though the ideas and beliefs are not necessarily my ideas and beliefs because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (8) Rarely (14) Occasionally (18) Often (11) Always (5)

4) My teachers/professors are aware of their own assumptions and biases, and they make serious efforts not to allow their ideas and beliefs to impact negatively how they grade their students.

Never Rarely (7) Occasionally (19) Often (25) Always (4)

5) Most students express (orally and in writing) primarily what they believe teachers/professors want to hear/read instead of saying or writing ideas and comments that may contradict the teacher/professor because students fear differences of opinion negatively impact students’ grades.

Never Rarely (2) Occasionally (18) Often (34) Always (2)

6) I am more likely to change my views by what my peers believe or say than what my teachers/professors believe or say.

Never (4) Rarely (17) Occasionally (17) Often (16) Always (2)