Mixing Popular Literature with

Canonical Literature

Kathryn Patterson

EDU 559

12/01/2009

Dr. Tracy

Vampires versus

Shakespeare• Many teachers use some

form of popular literature with canonical literature in their classroom as an “underground” model to inspire students to become more interested in literature.

• Many adolescents view the canonical literature as: – outdated

– irrelevant

– uninteresting

• Students find popular works of literature:

– less intimidating to read.

– more interesting than canonical works.

National Education Standards. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <www.educationworld.com/standards>.

"South Carolina State Educational Standards." South Carolina Educational Standards. South Carolina Department of Education, 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://ed.sc.gov/>.

National and State Standards Stance on Popular Literature in

the Classroom• According to National Educational Standards

there has been: – an increase in the use of popular literature in the

classroom in the past thirty years.

– teachers using popular literature and correlating it to the canonical works.

• Canonical works are still thought of as the most important and valuable literature.

• The South Carolina State Educational Standards have become more flexible regarding the specific literary works that must be taught in the classroom.

National Education Standards. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <www.educationworld.com/standards>.

Nancie Atwell’s Theory• Student Popular Literature Circles

Criteria:

– No two students are reading the same book

– Works are chosen from her classroom library, home library, or the public library.

– The only requirement is that the content be age and school appropriate.

– Both teacher and parent review questionable books

– Twice a week during English class students will meet to discuss the books that they are reading.

– Students are grouped by Atwell based on the literary devices used in works students have chosen to read.

– Students must complete what Atwell calls “post-it marks”

• Students write a sentence or two about the chapter they have read.

• Students attach their post-its to a sheet and bring these to their literature circles to inspire compare and contrast and discussion.

• Students discover the books commonalities and then discuss whether they believe the same commonalities exist.

Atwell, Nancie. "Nancie Atwell's Response to the New York Times article." Heinemann Books: Author. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://heinemann.com/authors/109.aspx>.

Atwell, Nancie. In The Middle: Writing, Reading and Learning with Adolescents. 2nd ed. New York: Boynton/Cook, 1998. Print.

Atwell, Nancie. The Reading Zone. 1st ed. New York: Scholastic Teaching Sources, 2007. Print.

Nancie Atwell

All images came from www.nancieatwell.org

How does Nancie Atwell introduce canonical literature in the classroom?

• Title and author unknown to student until after reading the work. – Blacking out the title and

author on works – Allows the students to read

a piece of literature that they otherwise would not have read due to the title or the intimidation of the author.

·She correlates canonical and popular literature through character, plot, themes and irony mapping.

·She does the same post-it note activity with the canonical work as with the popular literature.

• She does the same “post-it note” activity with the canonical work as with the popular literature.

• Through reading canonical and popular literature students make connections between – classical characters– modern characters – themes– irony – other literary elements

Atwell, Nancie. "Nancie Atwell's Response to the New York Times article." Heinemann Books: Author. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://heinemann.com/authors/109.aspx>.

Atwell, Nancie. In The Middle: Writing, Reading and Learning with Adolescents. 2nd ed. New York: Boynton/Cook, 1998. Print.

Atwell, Nancie. The Reading Zone. 1st ed. New York: Scholastic Teaching Sources, 2007. Print.

What is Literacy Matters• Non-profit organization• Located at Education

Development Center, Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts

• Propels the teaching method of using popular literature in the classroom.

• Formed by former middle level teachers, educational theorists, and employees from the Education Development Center

• Literacy Matters supports the use of canonical works in the classroom.

• Popular literature is used to inspire adolescents to read literature that will help them develop both academically and socially.

• Their purpose is to mesh popular and canonical literature together in the classroom.

• The theory explains that adolescents are turned off from reading because of the fast paced culture that surrounds them.

• The first way the theory inspires reading is by having the students read popular works of literature.

• Next, the educator would introduce different canonical works of literature to the students.

• When the canonical work is introduced to students the students are:

– first shown the connection between the popular and canonical literature.

• This allows them to look past

– the stigma associated with canonical literature .

– the literature and relate it to themselves and their lives.

"Criteria for Selecting Adolescent Literature." Literacy Matters Teachers Criteria. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/criteria.htm>.

5 Criteria for selecting Adolescent Literature to use in the classroom

• “1.Quality-Teachers select popular literature as well as time-tested classic from the field of Young Adult Literature.2.Variety-Middle school students use literature to broaden their worlds offers students an awareness of worlds beyond their own and increases their ability to empathize with the unknown.

·Multi-ethnic and multicultural literature

·Literature focusing on individual needs

3.Diverse Genres-Students are drawn to literature of different genres

·Adventure story, science fiction, sports, biographies, mysteries, fantasy, romance, horror -Teachers should introduce them to poetry and nonfiction that they might not choose for themselves.

4. Themes ·Self-discovery, including gender issues

and adolescent problems -But this does not mean that teachers choose books that reflect only the superficial problems of young adults. -Any book whose core theme deals with the developmental and psychological needs of young readers should be included. -Most of all we need to provide middle school students with books that help them

·find a place in the world·build their self-esteem·assist in establishing a healthy sense of identity

5. Curriculum Connections• It is important to choose literature that addresses

standards while also looking for literature that directly relates to the curriculum outside of Language Arts.

• We need to make learning whole and help students make connections to social studies and science.”

“About Literacy Matters.” Literacy Matters Teachers Adolescent Literature. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.  <http://www.literacymatters.org/about.htm>.

Four Themes to Inspire Adolescents to Read

• Literacy Matters believes that there are four themes that will inspire adolescents to develop a passion for literature. The following themes that teachers should look for when researching popular literature for adolescent use in the classroom:

• “1.  Finding one's self, the search for direction in their life, and

becoming independent

• 2. Resolving conflict, either within the self or with another person

• 3. Learning about different places, cultures, times, and ethnicities

• 4.    Addressing problems in the social order”

"Criteria for Selecting Adolescent Literature." Literacy Matters Teachers Criteria. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/criteria.htm>.

How do you use these themes in the classroom?

• First a teacher finds the above four themes in a popular literature book.

• Then the teacher finds these themes in the canonical literature to inspire the students. – These themes make the connections between both

popular and canonical literature. – The people at Literacy Matters hope that these

connections will motivate adolescents to read more canonical literature.

"Criteria for Selecting Adolescent Literature." Literacy Matters Teachers Criteria. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/criteria.htm>.

Other Methods Literacy Matters Offers

– Online courses to help educators to inspire students to read

– Website contains a library of resources for teachers titled Classroom Connections that contains

· Student activities, lesson plans, programs, technology, and state literature requirements by grade level

· Literacy Matters also has an ongoing list of recommended literature from both students and experts

"Criteria for Selecting Adolescent Literature." Literacy Matters Teachers Criteria. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/criteria.htm>.

Works Cited• “About Literacy Matters.” Literacy Matters Teachers Adolescent Literature. Ed. Jen Minotti.

Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.literacymatters.org/about.htm>.

• Atwell, Nancie. "Nancie Atwell's Response to the New York Times article." Heinemann Books: Author. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://heinemann.com/authors/109.aspx>.

• Atwell, Nancie. In The Middle: Writing, Reading and Learning with Adolescents. 2nd ed. New York: Boynton/Cook, 1998. Print.

• Atwell, Nancie. The Reading Zone. 1st ed. New York: Scholastic Teaching Sources, 2007. Print.

• "Criteria for Selecting Adolescent Literature." Literacy Matters Teachers Criteria. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/criteria.htm>.

• Harwayne, Shelley. "The Place of Student Choice in Reading." Heinemann. 11 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://www.heinemann.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=27>.

• Newkirk, Tom. "Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones" Heinemann. 11 Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://www.heinemann.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=27>.

• "Literacy Matters Selecting Literature." Literacy Matters. Ed. Jen Minotti. Education Development Center, 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.literacymatters.org/adlit/selecting/intro.htm>.

• National Education Standards. 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <www.educationworld.com/standards>.

• "South Carolina State Educational Standards." South Carolina Educational Standards. South Carolina Department of Education, 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2009. <http://ed.sc.gov/>.  

Thank You!