Alternative Metaphors for Classroom Texts

This post was written with Teaching Reading in Secondary English Language Arts class members, who are all Master of Education candidates at New York University. These are the same authors of the #teachread project.

This semester we have read several articles and chapters that discuss the selection of texts. Though they each have varied foci, one thing cuts across all these articles: The metaphor used to describe the relationship between “the classics” and other texts, particularly young adult literature.

Here’s the metaphor: “A Bridge to the Classics”
Just as all roads lead to Rome, apparently, all texts used in the ELA classrooms are supposed to lead to classics. YA literature, in particular, is positioned as the way to get kids on the reading path. And once we get ‘em reading, we clasp their hands and start toward the classics, trying to convince them along the way that there’s a connection between the contemporary story they just read and the further removed story they’re about to read. (This sounds less like a bridge and more like a “bait and switch.”)

Continue reading “Alternative Metaphors for Classroom Texts”

Anna SmithJanuary 19, 2012March 2, 20126 Comments

In Practice (Teaching)

#teachread Final Responses

Throughout Fall 2012, in the Teaching Reading in Secondary English Language Arts course at NYU, we investigated reading and teaching reading in the digital age. We read one Young Adult novel from the books listed below, and set up a social media venue to explore, discuss, and engage with others about our YA books.

As we read and explored these genres, we conducted a study of what it means to read, comprehend and experience texts designed for adolescents and digital reading. Once we finished reading our novels and interacting through social media services, we composed a genre analysis that included identifying the characteristics of today’s YA Lit and social media, and why and how these genres, our chosen book and chosen social media platform could/should be incorporated into the curriculum.

Posts by class members are their own and do not reflect the opinions of New York University or the schools within which they work.

American Born Chinese and Friends with Boys