Sunday, January 13, 2008

The Chris Crowe Articles

I'm still unsure exactly what needs to be done before Monday...so I'm going to wing it.

I found these articles very intriguing. I was able to agree and relate, as well as grow. I felt myself becoming excited about becoming a teacher. I highlighted a favorite line from each of the three articles:

1. "...YAL might serve as warm-ups or bridges to classic works."

I could not agree more! Myself being a child of loving the pen but dreading the pages, it was always very difficult to get into reading. I grew accustomed to reading, but avoided it whenever it was not necessary. Just recently though I fell upon a book that was absolutely terrific, and then another, and then another. Rather than my typical read a book, found it terrific, then couldn't ever find another just as great. I think it is a good idea to appeal to their interests to bridge them, but you can also consider ways to show them how their book about baseball or fairies relates to classics. Give them that missing piece, build that bridge!

2. "...but I'll wish he could have a broader, more liberal education, on balanced by the reading of literature."

There is a wave of a sublime emotion of enlightenment when you have truly been touched by a piece of literature. It grows with intensity when someone is there to discuss with you just why you feel this way, and then to dig deeper between the lines. I have always hoped to have close classes with collaboration. In the same I will "read aloud to your students but keep it short". I have observed classes that spent every day reading the entire class period. Student's attention span will only last so long, sitting still in a desk, following along. But I do believe that ten minutes of reading at the beginning of the class period (something suggested the first day of class) is the best idea I have heard yet! I also liked the idea Crowe had with keeping the books read in the classroom with no more than a thirty year gap from the present time. Realities change, students need to feel like they can relate with the characters and the dialog, it's difficult to do this when you are fighting your way through Shakespeare.

3. " ...give my children opportunities in class to discuss informally what they've read."
Allow them to share their excitement! Don't discourage them by not giving them the opportunity to shine! The Reader's Bill of Rights is amazing as well, and will be used often in my classroom, that I can assure anyone!

Bibliographic Information:
Crowe, Chris. "Young Adult Literature: What Is  
Young Adult Literature." The English Journal
88.1 (Sept. 1998): 120-122.

Crowe, Chris. "Young Adult Literature: Rescuing
Reluctant Readers." The English Journal 88.5
(May 1999): 113-116.

Crowe, Chris. "Young Adult Literature: Dear
Teachers: Pleas Help My Kids Become
Readers." The English Journal 89.1
(Sept. 1999): 139-142.

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