Title: Teaching Literature in Middle/High Schools

PRQ: ENGL 547 or consent of department.

ENGL 646 provides information about approaches to teaching literature in grades 6-12 and offers students opportunities to select some of the most promising approaches for practice. We will also examine controversial issues surrounding the teaching of literature such as text selection, appropriate methods for engaging students with limited reading proficiency, the introduction of contemporary critical theory at the high school level, and the use of texts incorporating graphic representations.

Regular attendance and active participation in discussions and small group activities are mandatory.  Students will respond to assigned readings, create and present lessons to the class, collaborate with other students, prepare materials, practice leadership, and make satisfactory progress with their English Certification Portfolio.

How to Read Literature Like a Professor—Thomas Foster

Deeper Reading—Kelly Gallagher

Writing about Literature, 2^nd ed. —Larry Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, Carolyn Calhoun Walter

Reading Shakespeare with Young Adults—Mary Ellen Dakin, NCTE, 2009

Romeo and Juliet—Cambridge School Shakespeare, 2^nd edition, 1999

The Reading Zone—Nancy Atwell

Raisin in the Sun—Lorraine Hansberry

The Great Gatsby—F. Scott Fitzgerald

American Born Chinese—Gene Yang

One of several young adult novels to be chosen in class, course pack of additional materials, electronic versions of canonical short stories on the web, articles in electronic form