Category Archives: teaching literature

School Ruined Reading. Ellison Brought Me Back

I recently went through the books on my shelves in my office at school. There on the shelf, back behind a stack of assorted novels, was Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. It was not just any copy of this book. … Continue reading

Posted in literacy, reading, reflections, teaching literature, teaching reading, workshop teaching | 3 Comments

Student Feedback: How my students said my class helped them as readers

I’ve been putting off this post, even at one point thought I could just not write it. But I must–this is the weak link in my classroom. I have umpteen ideas and plans about how to help my students become … Continue reading

Posted in engagement, making change, muddling through, reading, reflections, student feedback, teaching literature, teaching reading, using data, workshop teaching | 2 Comments

Science Suggests Measurable Benefits To Reading Serious Literature: From the NYT Blog

For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Chekhov – NYTimes.com. This article from the NYT Blog was sent to me by three different people. So I guess I had to share. It’s interesting science. But what really struck me … Continue reading

Posted in cultivating real learning, literacy, reading, research, society, teaching literature | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reading, reading, reading…

We have been reading Penny Kittle’s Book Love and talking a lot about how we might set up our classes so as to encourage more reading. I know in my honors level 11th grade class, if the students only read the … Continue reading

Posted in 21st century teaching and learning, cultivating real learning, making change, reading, teaching literature, teaching reading | 2 Comments

Huckleberry Finn’s ending? Psychology and artistic interpretation from Sci Am Blogs

This article, offering a psychological take on the problematic ending of Huck Finn, rolled up in google reader and made for an interesting distraction this afternoon. I have long agreed with the critical viewpoint that the ending of the novel … Continue reading

Posted in literacy, reading, stories, teaching literature | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Cool Summer Reading Flowchart

A friend of mine sent this too me the other day. I want a high res poster version for my classroom.   Via Teach.com and USC Rossier Online From Teach.com

Posted in literacy, reading, teaching literature, things made of awesome, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

An argument against testing from a New York City language arts teacher…

From a NY City Language Arts teacher: Better yet, we should abandon altogether the multiple-choice tests, which are in vogue not because they are an effective tool for judging teachers or students but because they are an efficient means of … Continue reading

Posted in teaching literature, testing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

There’s more to a book’s “reading level” than the Huffington Post Suggests

Says the Huffington Post in a recent article: American High School Students Are Reading Books At 5th-Grade-Appropriate Levels: Report This is a terribly inflammatory piece. It summarizes a recent report done by Renaissance Learning (brokers of Accelerated Reader) regarding the … Continue reading

Posted in reading, teaching literature | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Why I Teach Literature

I fight against the danger of the single story. We must read many stories that challenge other stories’ views of our world.

Posted in stories, teaching literature | Tagged , | Leave a comment