Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 164
Trim: 6¼ x 9
978-1-4758-4828-1 • Hardback • January 2020 • $89.00 • (£68.00)
978-1-4758-4829-8 • Paperback • January 2020 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-4758-4830-4 • eBook • January 2020 • $42.50 • (£35.00)
Originally from Kentucky, Andrew Simmons is a public high school English teacher and writer in Northern California. He has written for The Atlantic, Edutopia, Vox, The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and other publications.
Table of Contents
Foreword: by Thomas Newkirk
Preface
Introduction
Part I: Texts
Chapter 1. Of Mice and Men
Chapter 2.Othello
Chapter 3.The Odyssey
Chapter 4.Hamlet
Chapter 5.Beloved
Chapter 6. (More) Contemporary Selections: Jennifer Egan, Junot Diaz, and Sandra Cisneros
Part II: Skills
Chapter 7. Storytelling, Reflection, and Argument
Chapter 8. Speaking and Listening
Conclusion
Appendix: Major Assessments and Relevant Common Core Standards
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Struggling to squeeze a social-emotional learning unit into an already packed curriculum? Andrew Simmons offers a perfect solution: rethink our literature lessons. Querying the attitudes and actions of fictional characters, students begin to examine their own. Contemplating the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in the lives of others offers insight into their own. Lit really can help!
— Carol Jago, past president, National Council of Teachers of English; author, “The Book in Question: Why and How Reading Is in Crisis”
Andrew Simmons’ approach to teaching high school English helps students develop academic and social skills they will need to negotiate their world. He uses the themes of canon to enable his student to explore their sense of identity, social relationships, and their personal journey. This book explains and exemplifies how a teacher can connect the students’ interests and social concerns to literature. While developing needed academic reading, writing, and discussion skills, students explore their own lives through the universal themes of literature. This student-centered approach allows them to examine stories from different perspectives and become confident critical thinkers. This approach can empower students towards activism and provide wisdom to weather the challenges of high school in the 21st century.
— Phyllis Goldsmith, Director of Teacher Development, UC-Berkeley History Social Science Project