CI 616: Literature for Adolescents

This book provides a step-by-step guide for teachers to implement an action-based curriculum, using young adult literature to engage students with contemporary issues. In addition to reading, ELA core standards including speaking and writing are addressed within this curriculum. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of the curriculum: helping students find their passion; guiding them in collaborative group reading of relevant novels; supporting them in researching, writing, and speaking about their topic; and helping them translate their ideas into action within their school and community. The book is set up in such a way that teachers can follow the curriculum from beginning to end—or, if they choose, incorporate only some of the chapters. The author brings the curriculum alive with teacher and student voices about their experiences. The appendix describes contemporary middle school and high school novels that address a variety of social justice topics. Ultimately, the book supports teachers as they inspire their students to examine issues with empathy, research potential solutions, and exercise agency as they take action to help address issues the students are passionate about.
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This edited collection explores LGBTQ+ literature for young readers around the world, and connects this literature to greater societal, political, linguistic, historical, and cultural concerns. It brings together contributions from across the academic and activist spectra, looking at picture books, middle-grade books and young adult novels to explore what is at stake when we write (or do not write) about LGBTQ+ topics for young readers. The topics include the representation of sexualities and gender identities; depictions of queer families; censorship; links between culture, language and sexuality/gender; translation of LGBTQ+ literature for young readers; and self-publishing. It is the first collection to expand the study of LGBTQ+ literature for young readers beyond the English-speaking world and to draw cross-cultural comparisons.

Written in an engaging style, this comprehensive text prepares K-12 teachers to address a wide range of contemporary social issues-such as violence, gender, war, terrorism, child labor, censorship, and disabilities-through multicultural children's literature. Each chapter includes sample lessons plans designed to encourage critical and creative thinking at the elementary and secondary levels and an annotated bibliography that makes it easy for teachers and librarians to choose multicultural children books that address specific critical issues.Key Features: The evolution of multicultural children's literature is covered, including discussion of controversies and issues around its definitions and uses.Reflection Questions for the Teacher provide readers with practical techniques they can use as they prepare lessons around a given critical issue.Sample Response Lessons demonstrate how to address critical issues using multicultural literature in K-12 classrooms. An Annotated Bibliography at the end of each chapter lists specific multicultural children's books organized around each critical issue.

This middle and secondary school methods text introduces pre-service teachers in teacher credential programs and in-service teachers pursuing a Masters degree in Education to the field of young adult literature for use in contemporary contexts. The text introduces teachers to current research on adolescent life and literacy; the new and expanding genres of young adult literature; teaching approaches and practical strategies for using young adult literature in English and Language Arts secondary classrooms and in Content Area Subjects (e.g. History); and ongoing social, political and pedagogical issues of English and Language Arts classrooms in relation to contemporary young adult literature.This text will prepare teachers to engage with student populations that exhibit greater social, cultural, and linguistic diversity than ever before. Teachers will learn to create effective learning environments using activity-based teaching approaches and strategies for diverse student groups. They will also learn how to incorporate discussions and strategies related to dynamic new literacies, including the digitally mediated texts and multimedia compositions that are so prevalent in young adult literature and in students' creative and critical responses to this genre.

In looking for an approach to teaching literature in high school, teachers largely fall back on the methods that they had experienced as students. These practices often involve a teacher assigning a complex work of literature and then assessing students'reading through in-class recitations or quizzes. Teachers typically dominate the discourse and sometimes take charge of the task by reading aloud whole swathes of texts to their students. We know from our own experience as teachers, supervisors of teachers and student teachers, and researchers in the field that students are often bored with these approaches and teachers are frequently frustrated with learners'unenthusiastic responses to the teachers'favorite works of literature. There has to be a better way. This book offers approaches to engage students in productive procedures for reading complex texts and provides sample activities to allow learners to practice those procedures.

Many tens of thousands of preservice and inservice teachers have relied on this highly regarded text from leading experts, now in a revised and updated sixth edition. The latest knowledge about literacy teaching and learning is distilled into flexible strategies for helping all PreK-12 learners succeed. The book addresses major components of literacy, the needs of specific populations, motivation, assessment, approaches to organizing instruction, and more. Each chapter features bulleted previews of key points; reviews of the research evidence; recommendations for best practices in action, including examples from exemplary classrooms; and engagement activities that help teachers apply the knowledge and strategies they have learned.   New to This Edition *Incorporates the latest research findings and instructional practices. *Chapters on new topics: developmental word study and the physiological, emotional, and behavioral foundations of literacy learning. *Chapters offering fresh, expanded perspectives on writing and vocabulary. *Increased attention to timely issues: classroom learning communities, teaching English learners, and the use of digital tools and multimodal texts.