In this article, the authors work to illustrate how "Miles Morales Suspended" by Jason Reynolds, an author whose work has been targeted by book ban efforts (Knight, 2022), can be positioned in English classrooms to teach about contemporary attacks on Black literature through book bans. The teaching outlined in this article is part of a…

The author's eighth-grade ELA curriculum is rich with opportunities for students to bear witness to a variety of experiences. Besides the Holocaust unit, they read "Ghost Boys" by Jewell Parker Rhodes (2018) while exploring police brutality and segregation; "The Giver" by Lois Lowry (1993) while investigating government…

Many secondary English language arts (ELA) teachers are aware of the recent bills aimed at controlling which texts are available to students, how those texts are taught, and classroom discourse on issues like racism and rights for members of LGBTQIA+ communities. In the face of book bans and attempts to control classroom discourse, this article…

The 2018 "English Journal" young adult honor list selections are an amazing mix of truth and fiction, fact and fantasy. The protagonists, five females and one male, all demonstrate what it means to follow your heart and speak your truth. Consideration of young adult books for inclusion in the 2018 Honor List begins in January and…

Words are more than a string of sounds and letters that denote a particular meaning. Linguistic anthropologist Judith T. Irvine contends that speaking is a social activity where the relationship of language, culture, and society is enacted (249). Linguist Deborah Cameron defines language ideology in "Verbal Hygiene" as the notions,…

Teaching British literature with a traditional curriculum does not offer students exposure to many females at all, either inside or outside of the text. There are female characters within many of the classic texts in the curriculum, but on further examination, we questioned the general picture of womanhood painted by them. So the authors showed…

Overall, the author wanted to teach using culturally responsive approaches. The ELA teacher can fuel social justice teaching. In this article, the author discusses how their personal biases affected their classroom instruction and how they shifted their educational philosophy to consider the needs and interests of their students. In US education,…

Today, pedagogical stakes are high for students who experience incidents connected to their safety and privacy. Unfortunately, students live in an age when Code Red drills, or the more current Active Shooter drills, are a fact of life. In this article, the author argues that dystopian texts are not only positioned to enhance the complexity of…

The authors designed an assignment for a writing class for late-secondary and early-college students, one with a central goal of giving students the opportunity to engage with a controversial topic by identifying and representing views other than their own. The authors called it a "not my opinion" assignment, and they piloted it in a…

In this article, the author uses lesson reflection as a way to consider ethical issues that accompany teaching with texts that include death. More specifically, the article examines the relationship between moral education and analytic or skills-based education.

Texts that challenge the narrative status quo -- from introducing new ways of authoring to showcasing historically overlooked experiences - have garnered increasing notoriety, specifically through literary prizing. Altogether, these books not only diversified the form of the awards' histories but also the characters, content, and authors. As…

The authors identify the necessity of focusing on and pluralizing understandings of transgender youth experiences and trans-specific topics. This is especially important for preservice teachers, who will be the ones to have similar discussions with their own students in the future. The authors describe a series of classroom activities and…

This article discusses how writing assignments focused on sports controversies provide students with opportunities to read, write, research, and debate in ways that feel authentic and meaningful. Athletes dominate the headlines about everything from dog fighting to domestic violence. Sports controversies are appropriate material for teaching…

Interest in study skills, one of the older realms of educational research, is enjoying a resurgence. Several forces in the field have fueled renewed interest in how learners can best use academic, organizational, and time-management skills to master content. As teacher leaders at a high school, the authors remain in contact with many of their…

This piece looks at how banned books can offer an illuminating glimpse into social constructions of "healthy" and "normal" adolescent development. Unease with certain materials and topics in the secondary classroom can provide productive points of inquiry for both teachers and students.