Classic Texts in Contemporary Classrooms: Engaging Today?s Students with Timeless Literature

Every Language Arts teacher knows the struggle: How do we make classics like Animal Farm, The Great Gatsby, and To Kill a Mockingbird feel urgent and relevant to students whose worlds of TikTok, influencers, and teenage angst feel so far removed from these celebrated novels? How do we honor literary heritage while honoring and amplifying contemporary student voices?

Classic Texts in Contemporary Classrooms introduces the Big Fundamental―a simple but powerful way to help adolescent readers find meaning in classic literature. Instead of asking them to hunt for symbols they don't care about, this approach helps students discover powerful lenses for reading each text, inviting them to explore the classics through ideas that matter to them such as:

• Coping with trauma in The Outsiders
• Influencers in Animal Farm
• Careless people in The Great Gatsby
• Ghosts in To Kill a Mockingbird
• Filtered reality and gatekeeping in The Giver
• Found Family in Of Mice and Men

This isn't another book telling you why classics matter. It's a practical guide showing you how to make them matter, complete with guided classroom application, discussion protocols, writing opportunities, assessment strategies, and guidance for addressing problematic content.

Whether you're teaching whole-class novel studies, facilitating book clubs, teaching an AP Literature course, or supporting independent reading, you'll discover how to establish Big Fundamentals that bridge past and present, connect classics to contemporary crossover texts, build transferable analytical skills students can apply to any book, and move from teacher-led analysis to student independence―all while making space for both canonical texts and student choice.

For two decades, Travis Leech has worked in various education roles, from middle school teacher to instructional coach and curriculum designer. He is a co-author for the Patterns of Revision and Patterns of Power series and shares practical literacy practices as a speaker and teacher educator. Travis lives in San Antonio with his wife and two rescue pups, where he enjoys experimenting with recipes and exploring Texas.

Sasha L. Jaramillo is the English Department Coordinator at Louis D. Brandeis High School in San Antonio. She has spent the last 24 years in Northside ISD. teaching all levels of high school English, including AP Literature and Composition, and coaching teachers. When she isn’t reading or listening to Brandi Carlile, Sasha can be found watching Indiana Fever or San Antonio Spurs basketball. She lives in San Antonio with her husband and three cats.

Anthony Perez is High School District ELA Coordinator for Northside ISD in San Antonio, in his 19th year of education. Passionate about bringing literacy's joy to students and teachers, he loved discussing stories and writing with kids as a teacher. Anthony enjoys playing basketball with his sons Dante and Manu, running with his wife, Laura, cooking, and cheering on the Spurs.