Reading for Intermediate and Advanced Learners, Fall, 2011

I enjoyed reading this article and I believe it brought up some valid points. I do believe that young adult literature can help teens deal with life's many issues and problems. I am a firm believer that you can learn valuable life lessons from this kind of text. Some teens have no one to turn to when they are experiencing a problem and simply reading a book can help individuals cope with everyday issues. I believe it is a great idea to teacher students literary elements while also teaching them lessons that will help them deal with their teenage years.

I started the Master's in Reading program because I had a question I couldn't answer. I wanted to know why I couldn't get some of my students to read -- no matter what I did or tried. "Why won't they read?" was a question I asked myself over and over. I was not alone. Others in the English Department at my school asked the same question.

It seemed simple to me at the time. "Study reading," I thought. "That will help you understand and then you will be able to get your students to read."

My studies have begun to answer my initial question, but they also have raised many others. Such is life. As for my first question, it is unfortunate that the answer is not a simple one. In fact, it's not even just one answer. There are as many answers as there are resistant readers or nonreaders. Some of my students won't read because they can't. Clinic taught me that. Some of them can read, but not well, so they resist the task because it is difficult. But what about those who can read well but won't ? I think this article speaks to that issue. They can read, but they won't because school reading has given them so little pleasure or engagement over the years. I believe modern young adult novels could change that, and more students would engage and read. I would like to see more of these texts in schools, but that is a long time coming. Institutions change very slowly. I suppose the best I can do is to do my little bit and hope it helps my students.

I enjoyed this article as well. I liked how librians and language arts teachers could work together! I love the idea of book talks, writing reviews, and doing author studies. That type of class sounds more inviting than analyzing everything about a book. If I have the opportunity to teach middle school language arts I would like my class to resemble ideas from this article.

This article reminds me so much of my old school I worked at, and a lot of how I approached my own teaching. Most of our students came from rough backgrounds and terrible home lives. I spent a lot of time teaching about life choices and how to stay on the right path. I love how Leah gives her students the famous quote, “When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” The journals prompt of describing a time in your life when this quote related to you. I love how she would make lemonade too as a “kick off” to her unit. I can really see how she was able to get conversations going, especially at the type of school she was at. I know at my school I would have some really good conversations about life with my after school program I started. It was underprivileged kids who were in bad homes. They stayed after school for three hours and we would do a team building activity, tutoring with the local high school Beta club members, and then the last hour was our adventure hour. This is where they could participate in things they would never have the opportunity to like guitar lessons, woodwork, sewing, sports classes, etc. By Leah opening up her class like that, she is setting her class comfort level and trust level in such a positive way- based on the setting of her school, which is what they need. I have always done the same thing, and it really helped with my classroom behavior and for how they respected and trusted me. I also really liked her style of cartoon animation to help motivate her reluctant readers. I call these comic strip drawings in my classroom. When they read their books and they are chunking what they are reading, I let them use sticky notes to draw pictures and write captions by their pictures like a comic strip. As we continued to create these, they saw the relation to graphic novels and that was the first time that my reluctant readers picked up a book. They finally were able to put together that reading can be through pictures like comic strips. I can understand why Leah’s student thrived off of this type of activity. It works!!

I have also done a lot of what Mandy has done in her 10th grade class. I experimented last year just as she did with allowing my students to individually select books from a set that I had picked out. By doing this, kids wanted to read more as they were interested in the book and because it was their choice. I assessed just as Mandy did. I had my students do book talks to the class and some just to me. I also had them make book commercials which they really got into because I videotaped them and played over the TV. I often found that several readers would start reading the books the kids were doing their book talk or book commercial on. I also try to separate my books by genres so I know that they are getting a taste of each genre. Some of my reluctant readers were reluctant for the reason of they weren’t exposed to all types of genres. By going through a genre study, each student has a chance to read a book in each genre, and surprisingly, I had several students get hooked on certain genres and series through my genre study.

I think this was a great article that any teacher working with young adult readers should really read. It is so important to have young adult readers in the right type of books for them based on their reading level and interest. With these types of books, it is important to have rich discussions with the students about what they are reading.

The Relevance of Young Adult Literature

Young adult literature has become a popular genre for teens today. I think that Harry Potter and the Twilight Series has encouraged teens to read. Young adult literature helps teens read about many of the same things they are dealing with in their lives. Reading young adult literature also shows teens how to handle some of the situations they find themselves in. Young adults often need encouragement to read and many young adults cannot relate to classic literature. They do not have the same issues going on in their lives therefore they cannot make a personal connection to the classic literature.
I admire English teachers in middle school and high school who are able to find young adult literature those appeals to their students and at the same time meets state standards. Book talks and blogs are a great way for students to share their thoughts and questions. Book talks encourage students to open up about topics that may not otherwise talk about. Teachers find themselves in a challenging role because they must follow state standards when it comes to literature. Even if some books are required reads it is a good idea for teachers to allow students to read young adult literature and create book clubs and alternative book reports. Students will do much better quality work when they are interested in what they are reading.

Where was this genre (or should be genre) when I was going through middle school or high school? I loved the classics, but reading them and analyzing them to death turned me off of reading for some time. If YAL would have been part of the curriculum or just explored in my english classes, my love of reading would not have declined as it did. In our social world of today, I believe these types of novels are a must. I see in the classroom, what power stories have over all of us and how a "character trait" lesson is no comparison. The human experience is so much more memorable than reading facts in a textbook. As we say in the primary grades,we have to "hook" our students and make them feel something. If they do, they will remember literature and reading skills better. This article gives teachers a perfect hook for young adults.

Since I can remember I have always loved to read. Therefore, it was no big surprise to anyone when I decided to go to school to be an English teacher. Then during my second year in college I decided that the classics that I was forced to read in high school, and then had to revisit in college just weren’t doing it for me anymore. I asked myself “how can I expect to teach this to a student, and teach it well, when I really don’t care for the material myself?” So I decided to switch my major to Middle Grades education, concentrating still in ELA, and within my first English Language Arts course I was hooked. Adolescent Literature, in my opinion, is amazing, but unfortunately, and this was stated in the article, it is not given its due credit. The shortcomings discussed as possible reasons for schools and teachers not recognizing the merit of these readings are exactly what I think make it so wonderful. With our lives changing so rapidly, and the generation gap becoming wider and wider, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for adults to connect with their younger counter-parts. By picking up a young adolescent novel an adult, who lets remind ourselves has already most likely been through the experience at hand, now has the opportunity to connect with the adolescent on a level they may not otherwise have. Besides the attachment that YAL may have to our senses and ability to relate, there is also the fact that within the pages there are numerous opportunities to create understanding of literary forms and meet the standards set forth.
This past Christmas I asked for two things: ‘teacher clothes’ and young adolescent novels. I have rows and rows of novels, some that I haven’t even read before, but all that I know a student will one day be able to pick up and enjoy. I know I pre-service, but I have had the fortunate ability to see the effect that young adult novels have on middle grades students. I have heard students whine and moan and complain when a book is passed out, because lets face it—to them it is still a book. But once the reading starts and the connections are created, their world is turned upside down, and true transformation can take place.

Wow, what a powerful tool Young Adult Literature is for the teacher in middle school and high school. I feel that these books although to advanced for the fifth graders I teach, would build the foundation for the love of reading.

I can see how the sensative topics in these novels could cause alarm with parents. I, however, would prefer my children to have a heads-up on the topics, have them discussed, and possible solutions discussed withim the safety of a classroom.

I really enjoyed reading this article. It helped me to view literature in a new perspective. As an Elementary Ed graduate, we were always taught to find what interests the students in order to capture their interest in reading. As this seems to be the goal in elementary school, I find that it is harder to get students to read anything once they enter middle or high school. Students are going through many changes during this time of their life (puberty, going to new schools, making new friends, divorce, death), and literature is a great tool to help students deal with these issues. Literature could also be used to help students find solutions for problems in elementary school, although I find it is harder to find appropriate-level text that deals with such deep issues.

I loved the idea that the article mentioned about having students each pick a different novel to read that was appealing to them, and then do a book talk about it. Not only does this get the students reading, but it will also hopefully spark interest in the other students to read some of the books that they hear about. It's so important to make sure that they keep reading!!

How true! Students need material that is relevant to their lives. Perhaps that is why I did not especially enjoy reading in junior high and high school. Macbeth and Beowulf had certain interesting events, but I could not relate to the plot. Adolescent need opportunities to read about issues that pertain to their lives.

Using graphic novels as a means to connecting to aleniated students is a wonderful idea. Adolescence is such a delicate stage of life, and it is highly beneficial to use literature to make connections. The classics can be extremely intimidated to students who are already struggling with the age-appropriate curriculum.

This article certainly forces me to think about reading assignments. Although I teach third grade, I still must consider topics that my students can relate to and find interesting.

Yes! Yes! Yes! I 100% agree with this article from classroom implications and censorship issues. So far this year, I have seen the power of contemporary young adult literature and felt the chains of censorship.
In order to engage my students in critical thinking, I implement Socratic Seminar into my class once a week, on Fridays. The first text I chose to discuss was the first two pages of Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper. With the reading assignment came a word of caution…the content is tough. The story begins with Gerald, a three-year old and his mother at a supermarket. From there the reader learns about the abuse for which Gerald is a victim which includes physical abuse (burning with a lighter), emotional abuse (witnessing his mother consume cocaine) and neglect (sitting in a soiled diaper for 12 hours). My sixth graders were to read and prepare for our discussion the next day. And boy, were they prepared! Some of the lowest readers had the most thought provoking comments to share with us. These children became emotionally heated when they spoke of the way Gerald’s mother treated him. I even had one student share a similar experience of abuse. Some students were shocked to learn some people actually had to live like this. I have no doubt that because of this text and discussion, these students are more aware of the world around them and at least a little more empathetic to people who suffer abuse. The day of the seminar, my principal informed me he had received a phone call from a parent who was concerned about the reading assignment. Luckily, my principal is informed and understands the reasons for using contemporary YAL and was able to communicate well enough to satisfy the parent. I am going to save this article to share with parents who may struggle with this in the future.

I found my anxiety level increasing greatly as I read this article. Finding the time in an already overcrowded school day to match books to readers is overwhelming. It is panic attack inducing because I am not familiar with young adult literature. In my heart, I know that having books that offer high interest to my students is the right thing to do. In my head, the train derails with “How?!” “Where do I begin?!” I took a deep breath and relaxed a little when I read the statement towards the end of the article “Providing teachers with suggested booklists, ...are good ways to increase collaboration.” I realized that I do not have to paddle this canoe alone - our public librarian will help me!
The notion that teens will magically open up and share their thoughts and feelings if they read the “right” book is a myth. The profile of Dina (teaching life lessons) made it seem as if we simply choose a contemporary piece of young adult literature,
students will become engaged and take the lesson to a higher level. My 16 year old daughter and I had a conversation last week that would present an opposing view. She is in a very diverse English class. Her teacher wanted the students to get into groups and share personal experiences that related to an assigned reading. There is no way my daughter or any of her classmates are going to risk exposing themselves. It doesn’t matter how “good” the book is. What my daughter’s teacher, and the author of this article, fail to acknowledge is the fact that there has to be a culture of trust built into the community of the classroom first.

When I was in middle school and high school, my language arts teachers focused on classic literature. Nearly everything we read was written for an adult audience during a different era. We rarely read contemporary stories and never read contemporary novels. It seems that the YA genre has grown exponentially since then, but during the late 80’s and early 90’s when I was an adolescent, there were certainly notable authors exploring controversial topics in books written for teen readers. Perhaps my teachers were not comfortable tackling divergent issues in class or perhaps they did not believe books written for YA audiences were of high quality. When I talk to people my own age about favorite books they read when they were young, many of titles that come up are part of the traditional literary canon. While the books we were reading highlighted common themes of the human condition, they were not particularly relevant to the experiences of me or my friends.

I am glad to see that teachers are taking a different stance when it comes to YA literature. The purpose for reading changes for adolescent readers. They want to learn about themselves and venture beyond their own experiences. I agree with the author’s points about the value of YA novels. They model decision making, provide opportunities for students to explore challenging issues and help students broaden their perspectives. YA books motivate reluctant readers because they include topics teens are interested in reading about and often include authentic language and humor. Some of the best page turners are YA novels.

I personally feel that YA literature is very relevant in today’s society. In Dr. Connie Green’s course “Advanced Children’s Literature” we had to read and respond to lots of YA literature. I’m glad I took this course and had to do these assignments. Many of the books mentioned in this article are ones that I chose and reported on. Teachers can incorporate differentiated instruction using many YA novels. I like the teacher, Leah uses ‘lemonade’ to get students thinking and motivated. Her students respond in a writing prompt to the well-known saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
This was a very realistic article. I think as graduate students in Dr. Moorman’s class, we appreciated getting to choose between five books to discuss. Certain books gained our interest just as certain YA literature will peak the interests of many reluctant readers.

Amen to this article! Many times teachers are stuck to the classics or literature book and don’t venture into young adult literature, when it is the young adult literature that will get our students involved and interested in what they are reading. Interest is one of the main goals for students because if they are interested in what they are reading their involvement with the novel is priceless. At this age “tweens” as the article called them are very egotistical so any book that relates to them remotely will peak their interest. Once they are hooked and begin reading it opens up doors to discussion, writing, and other activities while still keeping it related to the curriculum.
I think choice is another big factor for this age group, or any age group for that matter. The article stated to give them choices when picking out literature because it gives them a sense of control and creates involvement in the process. Although many titles may be controversial, I agree with the fact that it gives these students a realistic perspective of our society, the good and the bad. I also agree that teachers need to be able to relate it to the curriculum and involve parents if there is something that may be considered controversial. Communication is key for both student teacher relationships and parent teacher relationships.

I especially agree with this article in the area of selecting several YA novels for students to choose from, instead of assigning one blanket reading to the class. Censorship has been and probably always will be an issue when it comes to using this type of literature in the classroom. However, if you give student quality choices, they can select (and you can guide them to selecting) the book that they can relate to and will most likely enjoy the most. For example, there are many of these YA books that I would not have read as a teenager. My life experience was that of a loving, stable family. I probably would not have enjoyed some of the more graphic, realistic novels because they would have been foreign to me. I was simply not ready for them, although I benefited from from reading them at a later point in life. As a teenager I read many historical fiction books that appealed to my imagination. However, there are several YA novels that could be invaluable to many of our students today. Every child has a different life experience. Giving them a selection in literature is a part of differentiation. Also, letting them present what they learned in the ways that best fit their learning styles and talents is the way to go!

I am probably one of the biggest advocates of using YAL in a classroom, especially a middle school classroom, that there is! I believe that every educator should have to read the articles you required us to read because YAL is critical to student's success in school, especially when it comes to reading and writing. In addition, YAL can help students deal with issues they might be facing, as well as help them find out who they are. Choice is also imperative when it comes to YAL - when you provide students with choice, you are respecting them as individuals and as students, and they will be more encouraged and motivated to read, especially if the literature is something they are interested in. I do not get why it is so hard for teachers to understand that students are more likely to read if they are interested in what they are reading?! YAL is NOT frilly or lacking; it is quite the opposite actually. When I have my own classroom, I will use YAL for all genres I teach (short stories, poems, historical fiction, graphic novels, science fiction, multicultural texts, etc). Although a lot of people might not think about YAL as covering these genres, they certainly do! I believe using YAL in ALL classrooms, not just Language Arts, will make reading and even writing more relevant, fun, and meaningful for students who are used to being forced to read boring literature!