The graphic novel "Invisible" (2022) by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Gabriela Epstein demonstrates that adolescents can create a positive difference in the world and build friendships with people different from themselves. The novel's themes, nonlinear chronology, and innovative bilingual format make "Invisible" significant and…

Students in the English Language Arts classroom have access to more author commentary than ever. While following authors on social media may deepen students' engagement with their assigned reading, it also threatens to subdue students' own interpretations of the authors' texts. This essay explains how educators can introduce basic aspects of…

Our starting point is provided by two accounts of observed lessons. The two lessons happened, at more or less the same time, in the same English department in an East London secondary school. Both lessons, observed by the second- and third-named authors, involved the shared reading of the same novel. We are interested in the difference between…

Exploring the realm of literacy involves understanding how graphic novels shape students' reading and writing journeys. Through scholarly research, the authors delve into the significant impact of graphic novels on education while highlighting their appeal to students through visual features and engaging storytelling. Included is a discussion of…

This essay discusses the author's use of Charles Dickens's "Sketches by Boz" (1836-39) in an undergraduate Victorian literature and film class as a further way of expanding the possibilities for teaching film with literature. The article begins with a general discussion of Dickens's overall value to author Jeffrey Jackson's idea of the…

This essay considers the relative merits of critical writing and writing in role as a means of enabling and assessing students' responses to literary texts. Drawing largely on the author's experience of teaching "Frankenstein," it argues that the distinction between critical and creative writing is not as absolute as is sometimes…

The centennial of the First World War has offered instructors across the humanities an exciting opportunity to enhance students' disciplinary expertise while reflecting on the significance of an event that continues to shape the world today. Drawing on established courses on the history and literature of the war, respectively, the authors designed…

Steve Shann's latest book is a novel called "The Worlds of Harriet Henderson". It's about 15-year-old Harriet Henderson who has a new English teacher, Molly McInness, and all at once school seems full of possibilities. But, inspired by Molly and impelled by her own adolescent restlessness, Harriet makes an impulsive decision, a decision…

In this article, the authors discuss polyvocality, which is the equitable presence of multiple voices engaging in a humanizing dialogue, to facilitate literacy growth, nurture relationships, and build students' confidence in K-12 classrooms. Making classroom talk an integral component of small- and whole-group discussions allows students to hone…

Since pairing the classics with young adult literature can increase reading comprehension and spark interest amongst our students, this essay explores a unit plan for connecting Will Hobbs's "Downriver" (1991) with William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" (1954). Both works espouse significant and timely themes: the importance of…

The idea of writing to the next generation about one's struggles to overcome poverty, discrimination, and repression dates back more than 200 years in American history and offers many perspectives on the American experience. Focusing on the literal and psychological journey to freedom in Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,"…

Teachers constantly struggle to get students actively engaged and invested in their own learning. It can be even more difficult to engage those students in critical thinking and 21st century skills. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides a student-led format with real-life learning experiences, offering a purpose for instruction. By relinquishing…

On a February morning, Ms. Nelson (all names pseudonyms) was preparing her eleventh-grade class for a new unit with the goal of crafting arguments about the people and issues present in the classic novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. As, teacher educators Eileen Shanahan and Min-Young Kim were observing in the classroom, it was…

This reoccurring column describes innovative methods for engaging students in reading, writing, and discussing contemporary and classic literary texts written for adolescents. As this column comes to a close, rather than try to cram in a few "last minute" suggestions, the author decided he would instead let some young adult literature…

Despite ongoing and prolific critical scholarship arguing for the widening of the secondary language arts curriculum, many practicing teachers are required or encouraged to teach a curriculum dominated by canonical texts. This is often the case at schools with highly diverse students whose varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds have…