Teaching Challenging Texts

Fiction, Non-fiction, and Multimedia

By (author) Lawrence Baines, Jane Fisher

Publication date:

26 June 2013

Length of book:

196 pages

Publisher

R&L Education

Dimensions:

261x183mm
7x10"

ISBN-13: 9781475805208

Teaching Challenging Texts shows how to increase reading comprehension and enhance student engagement, even with the most challenging texts. Every chapter features ready-to-use, research-based lessons, replete with explicit instructions, handouts, Common Core correlations, and assessments.
"Exploring the Future" features fiction by George Orwell, Suzanne Collins, and William
Golding; nonfiction by Philip Zimbardo, Stephen Pinker, Abraham Lincoln, Jared Diamond, Dan Ariely, and Ray Kurzweil; images from several films, an old television commercial; and classical and contemporary music.
"Understanding the Power of One" features fiction by Victor Hugo and Lori Halse Anderson; nonfiction by Phillis Wheatley, Sojourner Truth, and Edith Hamilton; a young adult book on archaeology, an animated film from Walt Disney, and an episode from Saturday Night Live.
An extensive list of free resources and correlations to the Common Core allow teachers to "teach on the cheap." Teaching Difficult Texts brimswith "relevant and robust" lessons for a new generation.

Table of Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1
Reading as a Social Activity
Rules of the Game
Adolescence
Slaying the Deer
Good MAP and Bad MAP
Reading by Choice
The Common Core
How to Use This Book
Reading to the BRIMS
Chapter 2
Exploring the Future in High School
A Fresh Start
Lesson 1: Clues about Character
Lesson 2: Word Choice
Environmental Effects
Lesson 3: Ethics and Actions
Lesson 4: The Note-Draft
Lesson 5: Synthesizing Data
Introducing 1984
Lesson 6: One Minute Jolt
Lesson 7: Understanding Words in Context
Lesson 8: Connotations
Lesson 9: Rewriting the Constitution
Lesson 10: Rewriting the Gettysburg Address
1984, Part Two
Lesson 11: Character Clues
Lesson 12: The Future of Oceania
Lesson 13: The U.S. and the Next 100 Years
1984, Part Three
Lesson 14: Character Transformation
Lesson 15: Film Crew
Transcendent Man Research Project
Lesson 16: The Singularity
How Long Will You Live? Research Project
Lesson 17: How Long Will You Live?
Exploring the Future Handouts
Handout 1: Clues about Character
Handout 2: Action Verbs in Lord of the Flies
Handout 3: Scenario 1
Handout 4: Scenario 2
Handout 5: America’s Wars
Handout 6: Deaths in Historical Perspective
Handout 7: Excerpt from 1984 by George Orwell
Handout 8: Cool Names for a Band, Uncool
Names
Handout 9: Rewriting Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address
Handout 10: Getting to Know Winston
Handout 11: Getting to Know Julia
Handout 12: The Future of Oceania
Handout 13: Facts about the United States
Handout 14: The United States and the Next 100
Years
Handout 15: Evaluation for the United States and
the Next 100 Years
Handout 16: The Evolution of Winston
Handout 17: The Evolution of Julia
Handout 18: Checklist and Assessment for Film
Crew
Handout 19: Directions for Film Crew
Handout 20: Kurzweil AI Summary Report
Handout 21: How Long Will You Live?
Exploring the Future, Free Resources and Correlations to the Common Core
Chapter 3
Understanding the Power of One in Middle School
Introduction to Chains
Lesson 1: Quick Narrative
Everyday journals
Tech-y Check-ins
Lesson 2: Courtroom Debate Prep
Lesson 3: Courtroom Debate
Lesson 4: So You Think You Can Dance, 1776
Lesson 5: A Guide Map of New York
Lesson 6: Lyrical Message Mystery
Lesson 7: The Great New York Fire of 1776
Lesson 8: A Scar is Worth a Thousand Words
A Day in the Life: Research Project
Tackling Victor Hugo
Lesson 9: Satire Night Live
Lesson 10: Frollo: Friend or Foe?
Lesson 11: Character Yin-Yangs
Lesson 12: Mythological Allusions
Lesson 13: Charter Speed-Dating
Lesson 14: The Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Real to Reel
Digging Through the Dirt
Lesson 15: Archaeology Say What?
Lesson 16: What’s Your Story?
Lesson 17: Fossil Biographies
Lesson 18: Archeological Vocabulary
Lesson 19: Symbolism: Cave Art
Lesson 20: Look Who’s Talking
Lesson 21: Annotating Otzi
Understanding The Power of One Handouts
Handout 1: Courtroom Debate Prep Day 1
Handout 2: Courtroom Debate Prep Day 2
Handout 3: New York: A Guide Map
Handout 4: Lyrical Message Mystery 1
Handout 5: Lyrical Message Mystery 2
Handout 6: The Great New York Fire of 1776
Handout 7: Body Biographies
Handout 8: A Day in the Life Research Project
Handout 9: Satire Night Live
Handout 10: Character Charts
Handout 11: Frollo: Friend or Foe?
Handout 12: Character Yin-Yangs
Handout 13: Mythological Allusions
Handout 14: Character Speed Dating
Handout 15: Reel to Real Questions
Handout 16: Symbolism: Cave Art
Handout 17: Look Who’s Talking
Handout 18: Annotating Otzi
Handout 19: Annotation Aids
Understanding the Power of One, Free Resources and Correlations to the Common Core
References

Teaching Challenging Texts takes on an nearly insurmountable goal, seeking to blend a powerful commitment to adolescent-centered teaching with the demands of standards-based accountability and the needs of pragmatic educators. This book succeeds in its goal and should provide thoughtful educators with an invaluable resource as they build classrooms where students and texts matter.