Freire asks educators to analyze the connection between literacy and politics according to whether it produces existing social relations, or introduces a new set of cultural practices that promote democratic and emancipatory change.
Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator whose life's mission was to bring literacy to the masses. He believed that the dominant culture used literacy to create a “culture of silence” by keeping the poor illiterate as discussed in his first book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Every educator needs to read at least one of his books. You will be changed.
“Through the right kind of education, avoiding authoritarian teacher-pupil models and based on the actual experiences of students and on continual shared investigation, every human being, no matter how impoverished or illiterate, can develop a new awareness of self, and the right to be heard.”
Hirsch contends that “to be culturally literate is to possess the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world.” Educators often lament that students just don't have the schema necessary to not struggle with their learning. Who is to blame for that? Socio-economic standing? The national educational system? While others are pointing fingers, I do what I can to help students become more culturally aware, and hopefully -literate.
This book was purchased for every faculty member of the high school where I taught in El Paso in 1998.
Writing About Literature contains a comprehensive anthology of stories, plays, and poems designed to help the reader appreciate the works in the context of writing about them.
Writing About Literature was the go-to book for me while teaching AP Literature and preparing students for college. This text includes discussions and sample papers for students to follow a process approach to analyzing the elements of literature.
Dr. JAC has spent at least twenty-five years writing, studying writing, and teaching writing, and fellows of the New Jersey Writing Project well know her work. It is her principles that set that Writing Project into motion. Through this book, writers can find ways to craft their skills so their writing has depth, clarity, and meaning. Need to elaborate an idea? Add a Depth Charge! Need an engaging opening sentence? Craft a good Lead. This small book packs a real wallop to any writing when the principles are applied.
Dr. JAC's strategies are tried and true, research-based. Not only do I use this book as a resource for helping my students add detail and interest to their writing, but I use it for my own as well. When you find a book that begs for marking and rereading, you've got a winner. If you haven't participated in the New Jersey Writing Project in your district, you owe it to yourself to do so.
Learning grammar in isolation died many years ago, but it is still an area that is left in the gray zone because few teachers are comfortable with the skill it takes to tackle. Image Grammar is unique in that each chapter is categorized by an artistic concept and the strategy for using it. For example, “The Writer as an Artist: Brushstrokes” is the first chapter and here we are introduced to Writing as Seeing and using the brushstrokes: participles, appositives, absolutes, adjectives, action verbs and combinations. Strategies for incorporating these brushstrokes include viewing art pieces and films.
The book was given to me at a conference I attended a decade ago but the method of using paint strokes and artwork to teach grammar and mechanics made this a perfect match for my style.
“When a writer lacks a visual eye, his or her writing has no heart and soul: images lie lifeless like a corpse in a morgue.”
I have always used the analogy that writing is like painting, and that with each brush stroke you paint pictures for your readers. Here is a book that shows students how illustrators create tone, detail, and composition in their drawings the way writers do with their words. The lessons may be considered “elementary” but they are adaptable for every level.
Using picture books as spring boards or extensions for writing has been one of my favorite sources to add to my curriculum. This book brings classroom-based research to my lessons for my high school English students.
"If teachers show children how an illustrator's decisions about pictures are a lot like a writer's decisions about words, they form a bridge of understanding that nurtures children as writers."
“Visual information is more interesting than verbal information.” Our students are less and less auditory and more visual/ kinesthetic than ever. This book is meant to be used in the business world, but I see many applications for helping students make sense of the written and spoken word through pictures. Graphic organizers are great, but these strategies take the process to a whole new level with pictures.
You've seen the UPS commercial where the guy draws images on an acrylic board while talking to us...This book is the premise for that sort of selling. Students can learn to use the images and strategies to improve comprehension. Problem solving, critical and creative thinking can be processed in a concrete, visual fashion using these methods.
“Visual thinking frees your mind to solve problems in unique and effective ways.” (Grandin 1996)
I have always contended that the strategies used for Special Needs, Gifted, or Advanced Placement classes are good for all students. Temple Grandin has recently received over-due recognition in Hollywood with her life televised on HBO. However, I've been following her for a long time because of the autistic boy I had several years ago and the help I needed to deal with him in my “regular” freshman high school English class. I was searching the library for any way to reach him and found Temple Grandin.
Autistics are hyper sensitive to sensory details. Grandin's ability to explain how she feels, thinks, and processes information is clear and concise. This book opened my eyes to the world of an adult autistic and the struggles she faced in school early on, while it also gave me inspiration to build strategies into my curriculum to help all students process and comprehend information, especially Jeremy.
This collection of poetry is my go-to book when I am feeling unsure of my career choice when my heart is low and I need a spiritual lift from the voices of others whom have gone before me.
Chapter titles such as “Hearing the Call”, “Cherishing the Work”, “On the Edge,” “Holding On, and “In the Fire” all speak to my need for sustenance when I come to this book. The poetry submitted by teachers includes a brief story of the poem's significance to them.
According to Heilbrun, women's lives have been written under the guise of what the perception of their life should be. Societal pressures, patriarchal constraints, and a lack of language not “steeped in that of men,” all contribute to the silence of real issues and topics for women. I was reminded of Anis Nin who wrote two sets of journals: one for herself and one for others to read.
It was in my Women in Literature class in college that I was first exposed to this book, but I have kept it close for reference ever since. In fact, one year I had a small class of all female, senior Independent Honors students and we decided to tackle the book together. Prior to Women's History Month (March), we wrote letters to prominent, respected women from the local, state, and national arena to come speak at our high school about the trials and tribulations they had to overcome to reach their dreams. Diane Sawyer wrote a letter back to one student, and Hillary Clinton sent a letter from the White House. Several local women came to speak to a small group and were taped for an interview by our broadcasting class. All as a result of reading this book. Well worth the time for men and women to read.
“At the border, languages and cultures collide, mingle, explode, redefine themselves.”
Often the class texts are not sufficient or easy to relate to for my students so I search for other sources. When it comes to teaching authentic voice, I turn to this book for its rich source of contemporary greats. The Prelude of this book is an excerpt from “The Use of Thought” by Samuel Ramos, chosen for his serious reflection on his search for identity: a search not only pressing to an Hispanic writer, but to all of us.
If I never taught in El Paso, I would not be the teacher I am today. My experiences with border culture and language was first-hand; not something I could have read in a book about the challenges of reaching ELLs. The collection of stories contain unfamiliar elements even to my Hispanic students, but that does not mean the themes are not universal. All of our blood runs red; the differences are on the outside. That is what I try to help my students see past.
Collaborative groups that nurture, honor, respect, and encourage each other are what this book is built upon. Steineke takes teachers through lessons to build teams of students who will systematically move through a variety of lessons, each building on the next so students gain knowledge and confidence in working with literature and each other.
It's always a bit tricky getting kids to work together effectively. This book offers teachers lessons that work to reinforce careful listening, questioning, and meaningful conversation in literature circles. Patience and practice are what the kids require and what we as teachers need to give ourselves too. Steineke even includes the times she flubbed up in her discussions.
