As a teacher of juniors and seniors, I'm in near-total agreement with all of this--though afraid I probably err on the side of 'hard' assigning too many works and not offering my students their own choices often enough. I tell my students we're working for an 80% understanding of each work we read, and I usually have three or four 'big' goals for each book. I agree that "supplementing the reading with additional worksheets or projects...feels like a mistake, both because it sours the joy of reading, but it also displaces reading from the center of our purposes."
When we finished reading The Great Gatsby recently, my students were mystified when I told them we weren't taking a test on it -or- writing a paper. "What are we going to do?" they asked. "Read another book!" I told them.
I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby with my juniors! (My sophomores are reading Fahrenheit 451.) You mentioned having three or four big goals for each book. What kinds of goals are they? I'd love to learn.
I'm always interested in 'zooming out' to look at structure and 'zooming in' to do some close reading. I'm also always interested in 'theme' for the sake of 'what we put in our pocket and come away with' or 'what we learned.'
With Gatsby, in terms of devices, I would say juxtaposition (of scenes -and- characters), symbolism, and situational and dramatic irony. (I also go long on a compare/ contrast with Horatio Alger's 'Rags to Riches' formula and what we see in Fitzgerald's book.)
With F451... those themes, of course, and those great opportunities to practice close reading. I love the Faber and Beatty speeches!
I have a couple videos offering practical and philosophical tips on teaching longer works posted on YouTube. I'd love some feedback, criticism, or discussion!
As a teacher of juniors and seniors, I'm in near-total agreement with all of this--though afraid I probably err on the side of 'hard' assigning too many works and not offering my students their own choices often enough. I tell my students we're working for an 80% understanding of each work we read, and I usually have three or four 'big' goals for each book. I agree that "supplementing the reading with additional worksheets or projects...feels like a mistake, both because it sours the joy of reading, but it also displaces reading from the center of our purposes."
When we finished reading The Great Gatsby recently, my students were mystified when I told them we weren't taking a test on it -or- writing a paper. "What are we going to do?" they asked. "Read another book!" I told them.
I'm currently reading The Great Gatsby with my juniors! (My sophomores are reading Fahrenheit 451.) You mentioned having three or four big goals for each book. What kinds of goals are they? I'd love to learn.
I'm always interested in 'zooming out' to look at structure and 'zooming in' to do some close reading. I'm also always interested in 'theme' for the sake of 'what we put in our pocket and come away with' or 'what we learned.'
With Gatsby, in terms of devices, I would say juxtaposition (of scenes -and- characters), symbolism, and situational and dramatic irony. (I also go long on a compare/ contrast with Horatio Alger's 'Rags to Riches' formula and what we see in Fitzgerald's book.)
With F451... those themes, of course, and those great opportunities to practice close reading. I love the Faber and Beatty speeches!
I have a couple videos offering practical and philosophical tips on teaching longer works posted on YouTube. I'd love some feedback, criticism, or discussion!
11 tips for teaching long works: https://youtu.be/pdshT_4v91A
5 more tips: https://youtu.be/T8nW6f2uugw
Afraid I'm a little wooden in the videos... I swear I'm better and more alive in class!
I’m sure you are doing a great job fostering that love of reading 🥰🥰🥰
I hope so!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼