"Because all they've got is a skeleton. They don't have a heart and a brain or anything."—Sean, a student in Gail Whang's classroom
Sean is talking about reading textbooks. Like too many students, his experiences of school reading have been confined to the excerpted and abridged stories that often appear in reading texts. Even in an era when literature-based reading instruction is becoming more popular, turning children on to books does not appear to be happening. Katharine and Gail show how they changed this trend in Gail's fifth/sixth grade classroom.
Gail's students are considered "at-risk" because they are nonnative English speakers and/or come from low-income homes. And like many inner-city teachers in similar situations, Gail realized her language arts program was not working. As bored and discouraged as her students, she explored alternatives to traditional methods and began to use literature study circles (LSCs) to engage students,and help them develop their abilities to think and talk about issues in their lives.
A thoroughly practical book, Literature Study Circles:
- Helps teachers move from curriculum-centered to learner-centered teaching;
- Provides sample documents used in LSCs and examples of students' written responses to books;
- Includes bibliographies of popular fifth/sixth grade literature; lists of African American, Asian American, Native American, and Latino authors; and professional readings on LSCs.
Literature Study Circles will appeal to all teachers who want to implement a literature-based curriculum. As a text for preservice teachers, the book will be applicable in language arts and reading courses.
Katharine Davies Samway teaches language arts and ESOL courses at San Jose State University.
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Gail Whang, a third-generation Korean American, has extensive teaching experience in multilingual and multiethnic elementary schools.
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