Title: Teaching Literature in Middle/High Schools

PRQ: ENGL 547 or consent of department.

Course Description: This course equips prospective teachers with the procedures for the planning and delivery of instruction related to the reading and analysis of literature for students in middle school and high school. Participants in this course will study the competing approaches to the study of literature, and will plan experiences that will involve adolescent learners in the interpretation and evaluation of texts.

Note: 646 may be counted as an applied literature course toward the doctoral requirement for “at least two courses required for the Ph.D. with a pedagogical or applied component from two of the fields of language, literature, and rhetoric” (Graduate Student Handbook 19).

Requirements: The course requires regular attendance, the completion of assigned readings, and preparation for active participation in class discussions and demonstrations. The series of short papers require responses to the readings and the synthesis of thought about the instructional issues explored in class. Each class participant will prepare instructional plans that will support clinical experiences and student teaching.

Beers, K. When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do: A Guide for Teachers 6-12, Heinemann, 2002.

McCann, Johannessen, Kahn, & Flanagan, Talking in Class, NCTE, 2006.

Wilhelm, J. & Smith, M.W. Fresh Takes on Teaching Literary Elements: How to Teach What Really Matters About Character, Setting, Point of View, and Theme. Scholastic, 2010.

Additional materials contained in the course pack.