Entry 1: Transacting with Literature

Readings:
Mike Roberts, "Teaching Young Adult Literature"
Mary Rice, "Using Graphic Texts in Secondary Classrooms: A Tale of Endurance"
Sarah Herz, "Directing Vs. Exploring"
"How Do I Judge the Complexity of a Text?"

While the title of this section is 'Transacting Literature,' the theme I truly focused on during these readings was 'Selecting.' The article on judging complexity exposes the ideas we need to consider when evaluating what to provide for students, and this is something that is always in flux depending on their reading levels. Herz uses Rosenblatt's support to establish the argument that text selection is based on the "tools" available to students as well. Rice makes a strong case for the inclusion of graphic novels as well, but the overall philosophy to take away is that we need to be open to different kinds of texts regardless of their form. After being among ninth graders for a couple of weeks, I can say without hesitation that many of them would benefit greatly from slowly transitioning toward more challenging canon texts; many of them struggle to simply identify important themes in the texts they read, and it only makes sense to get them started with more currently relevant readings they can readily adjust to.

I think Mike Roberts raises the best point of our readings when he states that YA Lit has "improved substantially, and the genres and topics addressed blossomed exponentially" (101). When I was in grade school, smaller-form novels without a lot of substance were all the rage in children's literature, but today we have a very valuable resource available in the young adult fiction market. Why should students have to be implicitly told only the works of the canon have literary value when there are obvious examples to the contrary all around them? Perhaps my favorite aspect of the market is that there is so much variety. Even within one umbrella genre like dystopian fiction, we have solid books about romance, programmers, young kids, older kids, non-humans, and more. The only reason to keep our students fixed on a single text instead of allowing them their choice among many is to make our assignments easier to plan. This is why we need to develop methods that can be generalized to account for a variety of text selection. I selected my example for this week based on this principle.

Do:
These readings coincided with my CT's Research Paper unit, meaning my students have not been transacting with anything but informational texts, which puts me in the position of needing to think toward the future. After observing a class for a few weeks and seeing how classes tend to go, the problem of fitting in time for YA Lit on the side has been eating at me. I want to foster an environment where students become readers because they want to be readers, and like it or not this does mean sacrificing some extra time spent on more pointed assignments in class.

I was a big fan of the Book Club circle selection process we used in our 786 class meeting. Thinking about how to group the students for the initial book selection circles, I remembered an assignment my CT had given her students to both allow them to practice research methods and get to know them better. This artifact is a mock-up of a version I might try with a future class. This worksheet would be an exit slip, most likely submitted via Edmodo. The purpose of this assignment is to gather information about my students that can lead to text selection (including selection of songs during poetry studies). Their interests, their likely reading levels, and their competence levels with very basic research methods. It would be distributed digitally over Edmodo.

Mr. Hall English I CP                             Researching Ourselves                                                

Follow the directions for each question carefully. You must use internet searches to complete each question. Submit your responses to your Edmodo backpack. All images attached must be things you could show your grandmother. If they aren’t, I can quite easily show them to the principal. :)

1.      What is one of your favorite movies? Name it and search the internet to fill in the indicated information.

Movie:                                                                             Director’s Name:
Year of Release:                                                                           Rottentomatoes Score:

2.      What is your favorite current television show? Why do you like it? Search the internet for a picture of your favorite character from the show and link to the image below.

Show:
Why do you like it?


Image link:

3. What is one of your favorite musical artists? (bands or solo artists) Search the internet to find the artist’s primary genre of music, then list some of the other major artists in that genre.
Band/Artist:                                                                                   Genre:
Who are some other artists in the genre that you discovered?


4. Think back on all the books you read during middle school and at home. What were some that you liked reading? Use the internet to find their authors and explain one thing you liked about each of them.
Book 1:                               Author:                               I liked…
Book 2:                               Author:                               I liked…
Book 3:                               Author:                               I liked…

5. What would you say is one of your hobbies or main interests? Perhaps something cool you did over the summer? Look up the hobby or interest on the internet and locate three websites that look like official resources that have information about them. Why do the websites seem official to you?

Hobby/interest:

Website 1:
This looks official because…

Website 2:
This looks official because…

Website 3:
This looks official because…