Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom: Reader Response Activities to Engage All Learners - Softcover

McKnight, Katherine S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0787994065 ISBN 13: 9780787994068

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2007

Synopsis

Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom offers teachers a practical resource for helping students in grades 6-12 connect to and appreciate classic literary works. The book is filled with high-interest and engaging exercises that work with a variety of learners (with a particular emphasis on students with special needs), utilizing “pre-reading,” “during reading,” and “after reading” activities. Many of these exercises help to strengthen reading comprehension while other activities are specifically designed to reinforce vocabulary skills, as these apply to selected classic texts. Using these exercises and techniques to teach the classics will help your students appreciate literature and become better critical thinkers, writers, and readers.

About this title

About the Author

Katherine S. McKnight, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of Teacher Education at Northeastern Illinois University, has been a literacy educator for over sixteen years. Her current research explores strategies for teaching literacy in inclusive classrooms and using drama in the classroom for teaching and learning. Her previous book, Teaching Writing in the Inclusive Classroom: Strategies and Skills for All Students, Grades 6–12 from Jossey-Bass, coauthored with Roger Passman, also explores the inclusive classroom. Her new book, The Second City Guide to Improvisation in the Classroom, coauthored with Mary Scruggs, is forthcoming from Jossey-Bass.

Bradley P. Berlage, M.A.T., teaches high school English and math in the Chicago area. Formerly, he worked as a curriculum developer and technical writer in the corporate sector. Berlage's current research examines the pedagogical relationship among drama strategies, student engagement, and mathematics.

From the Back Cover

Teaching the Classics in the inclusive classroom

Reader Response Activitiesto Engage All Learners

Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom offers teachers a practical resource for helping students in grades 6–12 connect to and appreciate classic literary works. The book is filled with high-interest and engaging exercises that work with a variety of learners (with a particular emphasis on students with special needs), utilizing "pre-reading," "during reading," and "after reading" activities. Many of these exercises help to strengthen reading comprehension while other activities are specifically designed to reinforce vocabulary skills, as these apply to selected classic texts. Using these exercises and techniques to teach the classics will help your students appreciate literature and become better critical thinkers, writers, and readers.

The strategies and lessons in this book―which combine current practices in teaching literature, adolescent reading, and multiple intelligences―have been proven to work with all levels of readers, from average general education pupils to exceptional students who are mainstreamed in a regular education classroom.

Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom uses the reader response theory to engage students in a dynamic process where they experience, explore, and synthesize meaning by actively connecting what they read to issues in their lives. With this book as your guide, your students will come to appreciate such classic works as The Canterbury Tales, Romeo and Juliet, The Scarlet Letter, Macbeth, The Odyssey, Antigone, The Crucible, and Great Expectations.

Praise for Teaching The classics in the Inclusive Classroom

"Educators with real classroom experience, McKnight and Berlage show the magic teachers can create when integrating 'classic' texts with progressive teaching methods. This refreshing book will give teachers the strategies and inspiration they need to create dynamic experiences for teaching classic literature that will empower their students as readers, thinkers, and human beings."
―Steven Wolk, Ed.D., associate professor, TeacherEducation, Northeastern Illinois University, and author, A Democratic Classroom

Reader Response Activitiesto Engage All Learners

Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom offers teachers a practical resource for helping students in grades 6-12 connect to and appreciate classic literary works. The book is filled with high-interest and engaging exercises that work with a variety of learners (with a particular emphasis on students with special needs), utilizing pre-reading, during reading, and after reading activities. Many of these exercises help to strengthen reading comprehension while other activities are specifically designed to reinforce vocabulary skills, as these apply to selected classic texts. Using these exercises and techniques to teach the classics will help your students appreciate literature and become better critical thinkers, writers, and readers.

The strategies and lessons in this book--which combine current practices in teaching literature, adolescent reading, and multiple intelligences--have been proven to work with all levels of readers, from average general education pupils to exceptional students who are mainstreamed in a regular education classroom.

Teaching the Classics in the Inclusive Classroom uses the reader response theory to engage students in a dynamic process where they experience, explore, and synthesize meaning by actively connecting what they read to issues in their lives. With this book as your guide, your students will come to appreciate such classic works as The Canterbury Tales, Romeo and Juliet, The Scarlet Letter, Macbeth, The Odyssey, Antigone, The Crucible, and Great Expectations.

Praise for Teaching The classics in the Inclusive Classroom

Educators with real classroom experience, McKnight and Berlage show the magic teachers can create when integrating 'classic' texts with progressive teaching methods. This refreshing book will give teachers the strategies and inspiration they need to create dynamic experiences for teaching classic literature that will empower their students as readers, thinkers, and human beings.
--Steven Wolk, Ed.D., associate professor, TeacherEducation, Northeastern Illinois University, and author, A Democratic Classroom

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0787994065
• ISBN 13: 9780787994068
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208