English Journal
Vol. 109, No. 2, November 2019
HIGH SCHOOL MATTERS: Read Your Way Out
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Members of the Secondary Section Steering Committee comment on topics of importance to English language arts educators.
SPEAKING MY MIND: Reading on the Come Up
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“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.
SPEAKING MY MIND: Deep Reading
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“Speaking My Mind” invites readers to speak out about controversial issues relevant to the teaching of English language arts.
LENDING A HAND: COSMOPOLITAN BODIES IN THE MERCHANT OF VENICE [FREE ACCESS]
Marten Frazier primes students for conversations about our ethical obligations to others by posing a provocative question.
JUST LISTEN: READING CONVERSATIONS WITH INCARCERATED YOUTH
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A teacher educator and preservice teachers in an adolescent literacy course read and talked about reading with students through a partnership with the Department of Juvenile Justice.
RESISTING ANTI-BLACKNESS THROUGH COUNTERNARRATIVES
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The authors analyzed three YA novels that challenge negative perceptions of Blackness through counterstorytelling.
TEACHING STUDENTS THE “WHAT-IFS”: CONVERSATIONS ON YA SPECULATIVE FICTION
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A unit on Neal Schusterman’s Scythe and Thunderhead engaged tenth graders in conversations about death, equity, and the value of life.
THEORETICAL BOOK CLUBS: SOCIAL EXPERIENCES WITH REQUIRED READING
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A ninth-grade teacher introduced students to literary theory via a modified book club format and noted a change in students’ interactions with texts.
“I’M GONNA BUY ALL THESE BOOKS!”: REALITY PEDAGOGY AND LITERATURE CIRCLES [FREE ACCESS]
The author applied the “five Cs” of reality pedagogy for literature circle discussions to amplify student voice and choice.
PICTURING WRITING: DIFFERENTIATING SECONDARY WRITING INSTRUCTION WITH PICTURE BOOKS
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Conversations about how picture book authors use language led to growth in sentence fluency for a group of high school writers.
OPENING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT CLIMATE REFUGEES WITH THE GRAPES OF WRATH [FREE ACCESS]
Allen Webb used Steinbeck’s novel to encourage students to consider the implications of a climate refugee crisis.
EQUITY-BASED WRITING ASSESSMENT AS STRUCTURED IMPROVISATION
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The authors explain how performing the roles of reader, assessor, and instructor can empower students of diverse skill levels to develop their writing.
USING POP CULTURE TO FOSTER STUDENT UNDERSTANDING AND ENGAGEMENT
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When a student called a classroom discussion “boring,” the author decided to incorporate aspects of popular culture to enliven his lessons.
POEM: I WAS NEVER YOUNG (WITH YOU)
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BEYOND BINARY GENDER IDENTITIES: A Collision of Selves: Coming Out as a Trans Educator
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An open letter to former students and colleagues allowed the author to come out as trans, which was both complicated and liberating.
JOURNEYS INWARD: The Souls of My Universe
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When Aimee Ross’s life was nearly shattered, her students helped to heal the broken places and restore her sense of purpose.
FROM CAMPUS TO CLASSROOM: Compactivism: Standing Up for LGBTQ+ Students
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A preservice teacher and members of her cohort coined the term compactivism to describe small acts of compassionate support for marginalized students.
BOOKS-IN-ACTION: The New Neurodiverse Canon [FREE ACCESS]
Robert Rozema examines a recent book that explores mental health issues that appear in YA literature.
CRITICAL GLOBAL LITERACIES: Gaining More Global Perspectives: “The People behind the Words”
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Two teachers in New York devised a pen pal project to encourage cross-cultural understanding.
TEACHING CREATIVE WRITING: On Moving from Teaching Eighth-Grade ELA to Teaching College Composition
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A former middle school teacher translated writing assignment ideas from his eighth-grade classroom when he moved to teaching first-year college students.
TEACHING SHAKESPEARE: Critical Approaches to The Tempest in the High School Curriculum
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Mariah Kizer Almack suggests a way to adapt the complex critical lens of “contact zones” and “transculturation” for use in a high school classroom studying The Tempest.
BOOKENDED: A Writer Writes: Three Lessons
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YA author René Saldaña reflects on his imagination as a child and an adolescent and also shares the advice others gave him about writing.