English
493: Teaching Literature to Adolescents
Fall 2015
M/W
3:00pm-5:20pm
Sean W. Agriss, PhD
Office
Hours: M/W 10am-noon
Office: Patterson 211t
or by appointment
Course Description:
The course involves the study and
analysis of adolescent literature and of methods for teaching literature to
various grade levels. It is designed primarily for those who will be teaching
and dealing with adolescent responses to literature.
Course Competencies (from 2013 PESB
E/LA Endorsement Competencies—please see http://program.pesb.wa.gov/endorsements/list/ela for
additional detail):
1.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of the English Language, Language Development, and its Diversity
2.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of Reading Processes
3.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of Writing Processes
4.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of Literary Texts
5.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of Informational and Persuasive Texts
6.0 Knowledge and
Understanding of Speaking and Listening Communications
7.0 Instructional
Methodology
Required Texts:
Gallagher, Kelly. "Readicide:
How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It."
Stenhouse Publishers, 2009.
Tovani, Chris. I Read It,
But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers. Stenhouse
Publishers, 2000.
The literary texts selected for
class include literature written specifically for young adults, as well as
classic and contemporary literature written for general audiences. As a teacher
of adolescents, you will want to familiarize yourself with as much literature
as possible that speaks to a younger reading audience.
Alexie, Sherman. The
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little,
Brown, 2007.
Jolin, Paula. In the Name of God. Square Fish, 2008.
Poe, Edgar Allan. Complete Tales and Poems. Castle Books,
2002.
Shakespeare, William. Romeo
and Juliet.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus I & II. Pantheon Books, 1986.
An additional young adult text of
your choice--As a teacher you need to know what your students' interests in
reading are, and what their individual abilities are, when it comes to reading
and analyzing a text. Then you can build on this knowledge, perhaps even
helping to expand their interests as you assist in building their reading
skills. Note that many literature texts address sensitive issues and that the
authors expect the readers to be mature enough to handle them. Consider these
texts carefully, avoiding dismissal just because they address an issue
differently than you would. Consider, always, the merits of the text and the
maturity of the students you are working with.
Course Requirements:
Blog Postings
25% of final grade
Mini-Lesson on Literary Text
20% of final grade
Book Talk of Young Adult Text
10% of final grade
Literature Unit Plan
40% of
final grade
Learning Letter
5% of final grade
Brief Description of Course
Requirements (extensive instructions to follow):
Blog Postings: Throughout
the course you will be asked to respond in writing to texts that we are reading
in class. Each student will create a blog (we’ll look at this together in
class). Completion of these blog postings is essential to your success, and
your colleagues’ success, in this course. These responses are intended to give
you an opportunity to think and reflect on the content and to prepare you for
what will happen in class on the day that they are due. Also, you will be able
to access your colleagues’ blog postings to read and comment on if you wish.
Please be sure to title each of your blog posting with the title of the reading
that you are responding to. Credit for blog postings will be earned on a
complete or incomplete basis. Because the purpose of these assignments is to
prepare for the day’s activities, no partial credit will be given for
incomplete work and no late assignments will be accepted. Blog postings are to
be a minimum of 300 words are worth 25% of the final grade for
the course.
Mini-Lesson on Literary Text: All
students will have the opportunity to teach a lesson using one of our course
texts. Students will form groups and select which of the five texts to use.
Each student in each group will be responsible for teaching a mini-lesson
focused on one aspect of the text. You will consider your 493 classmates as
your students, and we’ll be respectful secondary students at your request. Each
student will provide the class with a TPA lesson plan for his/her mini-lesson
(we’ll review these requirements together in class). Following each lesson, the
class will participate in a feedback session designed to help us all consider
what worked well and what can be improved. Additionally, each student will
complete a self-evaluation after reflecting on his/her teaching. Note: All
students are responsible to know every text presented. The presenters need your
participation to grow as teachers, and you will depend on their participation
as well. Consequently, the class is not only responsible for reading the texts,
but also for participating in the lesson and the discussion following the
lesson. The mini-lesson on a literary text is worth 20% of the final grade for
the course.
Book Talk of Young Adult Text: Each
student is required to choose a young adult text and prepare a short talk to
introduce the text to the class. As a teacher of adolescents, you will want to
familiarize yourself with as much literature as possible that speaks to a
younger reading audience. These book talks will assist you in becoming familiar
with the text that you choose, as well as the variety of texts that your
classmates choose. Each student will be asked to provide a detailed handout for
his/her classmates. The book talk of a young adult text is worth 10% of the
final grade for the course.
Literature Unit Plan: Using
texts other than those being covered in our class, each student will prepare a
three-week unit plan. Preparing this unit will help you in a variety of ways.
You will get feedback on the feasibility of your lessons working in the
classroom and on your methods of evaluation. You may be developing materials
for a text/texts already used in the curriculum that you may/will encounter
again in your own teaching. You may be developing materials for a text/texts
that you can make the case for why it should be included in the curriculum. Or
you may be developing materials that include English Language Arts instruction
in a different content area. Whichever option you choose, you will gain
experience in planning a meaningful unit for your future students. This will be
a very detailed project. I will provide you with much more detail early in the
quarter. The literature unit plan is worth 40% of the final grade for the
course.
Learning Letter: At
the end of the course, each student will be required to complete a course
reflection in the form of a learning letter to me. The process of reflecting on
the work you’ve completed in the course and on the ideas discussed in the
course is essential to your growth as a teacher. The learning letter is worth
5% of the final grade for the course.
Evaluation:
A
Range 96-100%
4.0 B
Range
89%
3.6
94-95
3.9 88
3.5
92-93
3.8
87
3.4
90-91
3.7
86
3.3
85
3.2
84
3.1
83
3.0
82
2.9
81
2.8
80
2.7
C
Range
79%
2.6
D Range
69%
1.6
78
2.5
68
1.5
77
2.4
67
1.4
76
2.3
66
1.3
75
2.2
65
1.2
74
2.1
64
1.1
73
2.0
63
1.0
72
1.9
62
0.9
71
1.8
61
0.8
70
1.7
60
0.7
F
0-59%
0.0
Please remember the 3.0 grade point
average requirement for this class.
Attendance Policy:
If a student misses more
than one day of a two-day-a-week course, the instructor has the option of
reducing a student’s final grade by 0.5 for each subsequent absence.
Be aware that there is a point at
which a student cannot satisfactorily complete the course assignments because
of absences; should this occur, the instructor has the option of failing a
student during the second half of the quarter. All holidays or special events
observed by organized religions will be honored for those who show affiliation
with that particular religion.
All students are expected to conduct
themselves in a manner that does not interfere with an instructor’s ability to
teach or a student’s ability to learn, as outlined in the EWU Code of Student
Conduct: http://www.ewu.edu/x4708.xml.
Any violation of the Code of Student Conduct may result in the student being
asked to leave for a single class session and/or the instructor pursuing
disciplinary proceedings through the Dean of Students office and could result
in sanctions such as suspension or dismissal from the University. Examples of
disruptive behavior include
·
disrespectful and/or hostile
language, posturing, or gestures that interfere with the instructor’s ability
to teach and/or a student’s ability to learn
·
using cell phones, mp3 players,
portable games, laptops, or other electronic devices for purposes unrelated to
the class
·
talking while other students and/or
the instructor is talking
·
arriving late or leaving early
Academic Integrity Policy:
Eastern Washington University
students are responsible for upholding the Code of Academic Integrity,
available through the office of the Dean of Students’ office and online
at http://www.ewu.edu/x4319.xml.
Any question of Academic Integrity will be handled as stated in the EWU
Academic Integrity policy.
Students
with Disabilities: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with
documented disabilities. If you have a documented disability and need
accommodations for this class, contact the Disabilities Support Services
Office for assistance. The office is located in Tawanka 121; students are
welcome to stop by or phone 509-359-6871.
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