tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post82690261450401170..comments2024-03-28T09:00:44.576-04:00Comments on YA Authors You've Never Heard Of: To CLASSIC or Not to Classic...Christine Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05657651210128892443noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-49699948978665169632011-06-01T13:54:17.101-04:002011-06-01T13:54:17.101-04:00I couldn't say it any better, Christine!
Kim ...I couldn't say it any better, Christine!<br /><br />Kim BaccelliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-623760894607924902011-06-01T13:33:00.137-04:002011-06-01T13:33:00.137-04:00Sigh - I was just typing in a really long comment ...Sigh - I was just typing in a really long comment and lost it.<br /><br />To summarize - because I don't feel like typing it in again: I think we need both classics and modern literature. Kids forced to read classics too young may forever be turned off of literature that could enrich their lives.<br /><br />But allowing reading choice does not mean we are coddling the youth of today - it means we accept the world they live in as just as valid as the world of 40 or 50 or 200 years ago.<br /><br />It all comes down to what you are trying to teach: a love of reading? Then let them read.<br />A understanding of shared cultural values through literature: then assign the classics.<br /><br />I think there is room for both.christine Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800441088372947329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-57640829752215072582011-06-01T11:55:48.555-04:002011-06-01T11:55:48.555-04:00Because honestly, some of them are dry. Why not l...Because honestly, some of them are dry. Why not liven them up? Who wants to sit in a classroom just listening to people read passages? Boring.<br /><br />But then again I'm a former first/second grade teacher. I had to liven things up to keep their attention. From what I've been hearing from some teens I know, those are the classes they do like. Just reading straight from a book? Kill me now and get it over with.<br /><br />Kim BaccelliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-31186336272151335952011-06-01T11:51:55.717-04:002011-06-01T11:51:55.717-04:00I find it odd that kids are at a point where brill...I find it odd that kids are at a point where brilliant writing needs additional activities to "liven" then up!!<br /><br />Why not just delve into the work and explore its meanings, etc? I mean - take Vonnegut- how much more interesting can you get?Michael DiCertonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-89781574825101604862011-06-01T11:48:39.785-04:002011-06-01T11:48:39.785-04:00Also to be honest I didn't have to read most o...Also to be honest I didn't have to read most of the classics until college. I asked my husband and he said the same thing. And he took some of those AP classes that my so-called guidance counselor steered me away from. <br /><br />Even then if you do have to read the classics, I'd try to make them fun and/or have students do activities to liven them up. <br /><br />But that's just me.<br /><br />Kim BaccelliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-81633259314723916242011-06-01T11:45:37.158-04:002011-06-01T11:45:37.158-04:00I know I resented anything forced on me. I'd ...I know I resented anything forced on me. I'd go out of my way not to read it. I'm a former first grade teacher and I always tried to have a big selection of books for my students to read. But then again I know third grade teachers who refused to have Junie B. Jones books read in her class as it would 'encourage' bad speaking habits. Or graphic novels were frowned on as they aren't reading material.<br /><br />Also one of the librarians at our library said that the classics should dominate the YA section as these are the books they should be reading. I couldn't believe it. Thank goodness the MG librarian understands that teens love variety.<br /><br />Kim BaccelliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-43442132489261548212011-06-01T11:33:24.405-04:002011-06-01T11:33:24.405-04:00It is not like I was tied down, eyes propped open ...It is not like I was tied down, eyes propped open with wire ala Clock Work Orange!!<br /><br />I also had to do certain math problems, and read history chapters and learn computer programming. Why is this any different? If you take an Enlgish lit class it would seem logical that literature needs to be read.<br /><br />To me it is more indicative of a culture where kids are bowed to and their every whim must be met. I see parents negotiating with screaming kids in supermarkets because the child never learned what the word "no" means.Michael DiCertonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-64515169688351510242011-06-01T09:53:58.410-04:002011-06-01T09:53:58.410-04:00I disagree. Yes, classics should be available but...I disagree. Yes, classics should be available but seriously force a high school student to read them? My one experience of being 'forced' to read a classic was in the eighth grade. To this day I can't stomach anything by Tolkien. Also you mentioned AP classes. I can see how they would be a part of that curriculum but to force students to read classics because they are just that classics I think is wrong.<br /><br />I'm also a credentialed teacher and have seen what happens when you force a student to read a book. I've also seen what happens when you set guidelines and also leave room for student choice. My own son was forced to only read certain books. Now that I'm homeschooling him and giving him more options, he's thriving and loves to read.<br /><br />Kim BaccelliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2874501477620914375.post-52284786210048501842011-06-01T08:20:54.006-04:002011-06-01T08:20:54.006-04:00You make good points, Michael. I think a lot depen...You make good points, Michael. I think a lot depends on what the teacher in a particular class is hoping to accomplish - if it is to encourage reading and comprehension and critical thinking skills, then a book a student finds compelling on their own would seem best. If it is to broaden their understanding of literature and the historical connection between books and culture etc, then classics are clearly the way to go.<br /><br />I think a good curriculum would aim for a little of both.<br /><br />My point was that a newspaper columnist was bemoaning the fact that high school students were not being required to read Lolita (to simplify his argument) and I thought that it really wasn't fair to hold up an 50 year old reading list and say that if students hadn't read those books they weren't well-educated. One can be well-educated with modern books as well.<br /><br />That said, my daughter (8th grade) just discovered (during independent reading) a link between Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream and Greek mythology. That's the kind of thing a teacher dreams about her students discovering. Of course, in her case, the discovery had nothing to do with what she's learning in school.<br /><br />So, we can't forgo the classics, but we shouldn't make them the only thing we judge a decent curriculum by. In my opinion.christine Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17800441088372947329noreply@blogger.com