Books for the Classroom
It is important to carefully select texts for a English classroom. It is the teachers job to maintain a level of balance between the classical and canonized texts that often grow drab and lose student interest and maintaining the attention of students. Below I have listed five of my favorite texts for the English classroom (in no particular order).
· Northanger Abby, by Jane Austen. This infrequently studied novel was the first one that Austen wrote early in her career and encompasses themes of youth and finding ones self. With the addition of a horror story type sub plot (thanks to the influence Mrs. Radcliff and her horror story novels had on the young author) there is a little bit of everything to be found in this text.
· The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid is another often overlooked piece of literature which can be greatly beneficial to the secondary classroom. It is a text that, unfortunately, can only be read in advanced and mature classes as there is some adult content and heavy subject matter. The novel looks at 9/11 and post 9/11 America from a unique perspective.
· A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen is a short play that is a good tool to help students become familiar with reading plays. The play has themes that are still relevant today (such as pride and the structure of marriage) and has the capacity to get students thinking.
· Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. This novel is one that has a different writing style then most that students read in a scholastic setting. Many of the scenes and concepts in the novel lend themselves to interpretation and discussion.
· Death of a Salesman, by Author Miller is a play that explores the idea of the American dream and the way it manifests itself in our lives. Teaching this play in a classroom allows students to gain an understanding of how to work with plays as a text and keeps the content relevant to their lives.
· Northanger Abby, by Jane Austen. This infrequently studied novel was the first one that Austen wrote early in her career and encompasses themes of youth and finding ones self. With the addition of a horror story type sub plot (thanks to the influence Mrs. Radcliff and her horror story novels had on the young author) there is a little bit of everything to be found in this text.
· The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid is another often overlooked piece of literature which can be greatly beneficial to the secondary classroom. It is a text that, unfortunately, can only be read in advanced and mature classes as there is some adult content and heavy subject matter. The novel looks at 9/11 and post 9/11 America from a unique perspective.
· A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen is a short play that is a good tool to help students become familiar with reading plays. The play has themes that are still relevant today (such as pride and the structure of marriage) and has the capacity to get students thinking.
· Slaughterhouse 5, by Kurt Vonnegut. This novel is one that has a different writing style then most that students read in a scholastic setting. Many of the scenes and concepts in the novel lend themselves to interpretation and discussion.
· Death of a Salesman, by Author Miller is a play that explores the idea of the American dream and the way it manifests itself in our lives. Teaching this play in a classroom allows students to gain an understanding of how to work with plays as a text and keeps the content relevant to their lives.
Resources for Teachers
There are a few books I have come across that I believe can be very useful to a English teacher when prepairing lessons for the classroom. I have included a short list of them here.
- Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys, by Michael Smith & Jeffery Wilhelm. This book discusses literacy and young men. It looks at why boys seem to underperform in literacy areas and gives ideas of techniques educators can use to combat those issues.
- The Literature Workshop, by Sheridan Blau. This text discusses different ways that educators can integrate literature into their classrooms in innovative and engaging ways. It discusses different aspects of teaching literature and is relevant to all English classrooms.
- Special Populations in Career and Technical Education, by Michelle Sarkees-Wircenski & John Scott. Any questions pertaining to students in special populations can be answered by this massive text. It can assist teachers in knowing and understanding the laws that apply to these students and techniques that can assist students to learn.