D9 Teaching the Classics in the

Inclusive Classroom

Katherine S. McKnight, Ph.D.

Katie McKnight, Ph.D.Katie@KatherineMcKnight.comwww.KatherineMcKnight.com

Twitter: @LiteracyWorldFacebook: Katie McKnight Literacy

Presentation is Based on My Book

Why Should We Teach the Classics?

History of Teaching the Classics

Promoting Student Engagement and Self-Efficacy

How do we teach the classics in an inclusive classroom?

Teaching Literature as a Three-Way Interaction

Teachers must draw from all of their sources of knowledge if they are to develop activities to draw students into the text.

Discussion dynamics are shaped by the social and cultural context of schooling.

There are multiple cultural interpretations due to these dynamics and three-way interaction.

Teacher Assumptions

Some Literature is More Important than Other Literature Canon Wars Inclusion of Multicultural Literature Recognition of Young Adult Literature What literature should be taught in

schools?

Some Interpretations are Better than Others

Searching for Meaning in Literature Teachers’ knowledge of text,

biographical information and historical content contributes to student understanding.

Teacher contributes to the students’ initial reading.

Teachers Should Lead Students to Better Interpretations of

Literature Teachers should lead students when an interpretation is unsatisfying or improper. What’s the best interpretation?

Often contributes significantly to students’ ability to analyze and interpret text.

New Assumptions About Texts and Reading

New Criticism“close reading”“all meaning resides in the text”

Reader ResponseTransaction with text

Interpreting Text

Research in literary study indicates that meanings are not found by readers in text, but are made readers in interaction with texts.

Interpretations are shaped.

We need to ask ourselves these questions:

Do we value all children equally? Is anyone more or less valuable? What do we mean by inclusion? Are there some children for whom

inclusion is inappropriate?

Hints for Struggling Readers

Provide readers who struggle to decode with opportunities to hear the text read aloud (tape assist)

Give readers for whom word recognition is a problem supplemental materials that include visual clues to word meaning (or use manipulatives in math)

Allot additional time for readers who struggle to complete assignments

Encourage struggling readers to use the internet because often the symbols and icons that are quite bothersome to good readers provide a means for struggling readers to construct meaning

Teaching the Classics to ALL Students

Pre-Reading Activities

Why are pre-reading activities important?

Visual Activities (Poster Project, Visual Arts Gallery)

Using the arts for pre-reading activities

GlogsterWhat is it?An Interactive Poster

Education site is http://edu.glogster.com

Sample Greek Mythology Glog

http://mxrider772.edu.glogster.com/greek-gods/

Sample Glog for The Diary of Anne Frank

http://kaitlinjadeee.edu.glogster.com/diary-of-anne-frank-5982/

You Tube or any other kind of video to watch selected scenes from the texts

To bypass school network, use www.zamzar.com

Allows you to download and safe files on your computer.

Teaching the Classics to ALL Students

During-Reading Activities Making text kinesthetic Creating Graphing Novels Reader’s Theater Character Bookmarks Found Poetry

Graphic Novels

Found Poetry

We are going to look at a page of text from a classic.

Select three short “chunk” of text that you enjoy or engages your interest or curiosity.

Choose one of these chunks and write it on the sentence strip paper.

Here’s the Entire Activity

Excerpt is from Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom

Teaching the Classics to ALL Students

After-Reading Activities Character Activities Plot Activities Thematic Activities Analysis Activities

Writing Activities

Journal Writing Reader Response Logs Creative Writing Ideas Character Diaries Literature Letters

Vocabulary Activities

English Vocabulary Origins Word Sorts Words in Action

Reaching and Teaching ALL of our Students

Curriculum Differentiation Multiple Intelligences A Variety of Reading and Literary

Experiences Eclectic Teaching

Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book you are reading and the outside world.

Discussion Director: Your job is to write a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book.

Literary Luminary: Your job is to choose a paragraph or sentences from the book to discuss with your group.

Illustrator: Your job is to draw some kind of a picture related to what you read in your section.

Vocabulary Enricher: Your job is to look for a few important words in your reading. If you find words that are puzzling or unfamiliar