Chapter 5

I really liked this chapter, simply because poetry is one of my favorite things in an English education. It is the perfect time to blend academics of literary terms with student's own knowledge in a creative fashion. I liked the idea of thinking out loud, and secretly that how a lot of songwriters write their music. They simple ad-lib out loud until something sounds good. In a educational standpoint, thinking out loud forces students to think about how they feel/think about the poem. They can gain a greater understanding by thinking critically and interpreting with their past experiences in mind.

Chapter 3

It is quite clear from this chapter that the author expects a lot from her students. As they read an average of 20 books a year, that is a lot of reading for one student. Personally I would be quite irritated as a student, with the feeling "Does she not understand we have other classes?" I feel that assigning twice as many books for the year leaves no time for critical thought development. Students who are plowing through books seem like they are only learning plot and themes. It would be quite impressive that they could understand the in depth analysis that the classic books call for. I do like the fact that she has the students perform literature circles. Those are great times for students to talk about the books. "California's standardized testing program significantly cuts into instructional time" (pg 45). This seems the be the theme all throughout the country. The government is forcing education to become standardized leaving less time to teach critical thought.

Chapter 1

As this chapter introduces ideas for teaching literature, I couldn't help but think about that a lot of it relates to a conversation the class was having. As the text says:
"One day, two researchers at the same school emerged from third- and eighth-grade classrooms only to discover that they had both observed similar lessons on how to write a paragraph. Many skills need to be revisited and reinforced over time, but the repetition of low-level instruction with little or no development in terms of complexity is troubling indeed" (pg 2).

This takes me back to when Mat was discussing how many students today go into high writing classing, whether it is college or AP English in high school, and they cannot fully analyze a text into greater depths than what has been repeated over and over again in classes. Many times content is correlated to economy and the fact that teachers cannot afford to bring in other texts, but ideas do not cost anything but time and structure.

I really like the fact that Jago points out the benefits of reading classics can still be beneficial in the classroom. It is just reality harder for students to read them and get involved. I agree that harder books should not be put aside because they require work in order for understanding. Personally, I would rather work on harder texts in class and send students home with a young adult book to compare to. They will be able to enjoy and understand classroom discussion if they can relate it back to a novel that relates to them.