For English teachers: English Bookshelf

This qualitative journey explores how literature informs and challenges my understanding of teaching and learning. Insights, questions, and conflicts are revealed through a series of essays in which my evolving teacher identity is illuminated through literature and imagination. Hopefully reading this portrayal of literature, which has been a source of educational insight and imagination for me, will be of use to other educators as they reflect on their own teaching. The primary works of literature used to facilitate this journey are: The Red Badge of Courage (1895), Les Miserables (1862), and American Idiot (2004); Light in August (1932), Seinfeld scripts (1991-98), and Frankenstein (1818); and The Odyssey, Night (1960), and The Souls of Black Folk (1903). By delving beneath my exterior 'teacher mask, ' a collage of images, anecdotes, reflections, aspirations, and fears is exposed. As a resource for pre-service teachers or a reflective exercise for veteran teachers, this study aims to benefit educators by providing a new pathway through which to better understand their intrinsic identities as teachers. Each chapter concludes with "Recommendations for Reflection" that readers are encouraged to consider individually and/or collectively. The spirit of daydreams allows me to integrate literature, autobiography, and imagination through inventive and inspired discourses with literary figures, using authentic quotations as content for original commentaries that further examine the intrinsic nature of teacher identity. My hope is that this journey will inspire other educators to further reflect on realities and possibilities of what it means to be a teacher.

No matter where  students' lives lead after graduation, one of the most essential tools we can teach them is how to comprehend, analyze, and respond to arguments. Students need to know how writers' and speakers' choices are shaped by elements of the rhetorical situation, including audience, occasion, and purpose. In Teaching Arguments, Jennifer Fletcher provides teachers with engaging classroom activities, writing prompts, graphic organizers, and student samples to help students at all levels read, write, listen, speak, and think rhetorically.   Jennifer believes that, with appropriate scaffolding and encouragement, all students can learn a rhetorical approach to argument and gain access to rigorous academic content. Teaching Arguments opens the door and helps them pay closer attention to the acts of meaning around them, to notice persuasive strategies that might not be apparent at first glance. When we analyze and develop arguments, we have to consider more than just the printed words on the page. We have to evaluate multiple perspectives; the tension between belief and doubt; the interplay of reason, character, and emotion; the dynamics of occasion, audience, and purpose; and how our own identities shape what we read and write. Rhetoric teaches us how to do these things. Teaching Arguments will help students learn to move beyond a superficial response to texts so they can analyze and craft sophisticated, persuasive arguments--a major cornerstone for being not just college-and career-ready but ready for the challenges of the world.

Retaining the thrill and tone of oral storytelling as the written word became increasingly widespread was the charge of early English writing. Beginning in the Old English period and continuing through the Medieval and Renaissance periods, writers such as Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare began to elevate the place of literature in society. This volume details the evolution of early English literature and the enduring works that have withstood centuries of linguistic and cultural change.

Both the form and content of literature today owes much to the developments that took place in England between the Restoration and Romantic periods. The emergence of the novel triggered the creation of new genres and accompanied a rise in literacy throughout the country. As new dimensions were added to both poetry and prose, writers explored new styles and voices to articulate a fuller emotional range. This volume examines the English writers who helped shape the social, political, and religious climate of the age, and immerses students in the history of narratives that continue to enchant audiences today.

As the British empire expanded ever outward, English writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries turned their gaze inward to matters of ethical and moral import. The social and psychological realities of the human condition were increasingly explored in the fiction and verse of writers such as Charles Dickens, T.S. Eliot, and Virginia Woolf. Although the body of English literature became less cohesive as the empire declined, modern writers continue to examine British identity by reformulating and reinventing literary movements and devices introduced by their predecessors. Readers of this volume are invited to observe the progression of English literature and enjoy the stories behind some of the most seminal works in the world.

The activities in How to be Brilliant at Writing Poetry are open-ended and focus on the process of writing - from initial idea gathering to redrafting and the final product. They recognize that a sense of audience and a purpose for writing are crucial. The 40 photocopiable worksheets provide models for different forms of poetry, for example acrostic, haiku and rondelet. All the models included have an in-built success factor because their simple, but clever structures invite the children to mirror them. Once they have mastered the forms, the children will be able to apply them to any topic ideas, including those given elsewhere in this book. The activities include: finding a beginning; using words to paint a picture; making up similes; rhyming; writing limericks, haikus, acrostic poems, riddles, cinquains, rondelets, poems that repeat a line, and poems that go on and on...

Introducing students to the full range of critical approachesto the poetry of the period, Perspectives on World War I Poetry is an authoritativeand accessible guide to the extraordinary variety of international poetic responsesto the Great War of 1914-18. Each chapter covers one or more major poets, and guidesthe reader through close readings of poems from a full range of theoreticalperspectives, including: ¿ . Classical . Formalist . Psychoanalytic . Marxist . Structuralist . Reader-response . New Historicist . Feminist ¿ Including the full text of each poem discussed and poetryfrom British, North American and Commonwealth writers, the book explores thework of such poets as: Thomas Hardy, A.E. Housman, Alys Fane Trotter, EvaDobell, Charlotte Mew, John McCrae, Edward Thomas, Eleanor Farjeon, MargaretSackville, Sara Teasdale, Siegfried Sassoon, Rupert Brooke, Teresa Hooley, IsaacRosenberg, Leon Gellert, Marian Allen, Vera Brittain, Margaret Postgate Cole,Wilfred Owen, E.E. Cummings and David Jones.

Poetry and Childhoodis the first academic book to give serious critical attention to the poetry of childhood. This international volume brings together poets including Philip Gross, Andrew Motion and Michael Rosen - the latter both former Laureates - and distinguished critics such as Teresa Cremin, Peter Hunt, Lissa Paul, David Rudd, Chip Sullivan, Laura Tosi, and Victor Watson. All have something new to say about poetry and childhood. Based on a prestigious conference organized by Morag Styles for the British Library and the Cambridge Faculty of Education in 2009, it is edited by a team of poetry scholars from the University of Cambridge. The book opens with the fundamental question, what is children's poetry? It considers key poets of childhood from the past, including John Bunyan, Robert Louis Stevenson, A.A. Milne, Ted Hughes and Charles Causley, and the poetry for children by present Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Chapters consider some of the major traditions and forms of poetry, take a new look at comic verse, develop fresh perspectives on nature as a central theme, and celebrate the importance of poetry as an oral medium. The voices of children, poets, parents and teachers responding to poetry are featured throughout in a jargon-free volume which, although aimed primarily at scholars and teachers of children's literature, is accessible to anyone interested in poetry or children.

Verse and drama have provided outlets for emotive expression and the creative impulse for centuries. Poignant, inspiring, and thought-provoking, plays and poems spoken or written in any language help reinterpret reality and evoke some of humanitys most profound truths. The terms culled in this volume describe many of the most potent elements of languagethose that venture beyond the realm of prose and invoke the power of cadence, lyricism, and drama to recount all aspects of the human condition.

Included in the Common Core standards, poetry was one of the earliest genres of literature and remains one of the most important today. Rhythm, word stress, and the other central elements of poetry are explained, as well as themes that are common in this sensory-based form of writing. Many examples of short poems are featured, including samples of the haiku form that originated in Japan or the Irish limerick known for incorporating humor, among others. After reading this guide, readers will feel confident in understanding many types of poems and may even try writing some verses of their own!

In this anthology, Suheil Bushrui, renowned literature professor, presents an unusually varied collection of the world's favorite love poetry from around the globe and down through the ages. The first compilation to have such wide international coverage, this unique volume contains nearly 200 works from some of the foremost writers in history, including Goethe, Shakespeare, Ibn Arabi, and Rumi, as well as poetry from the indigenous peoples of Africa, Australasia, and the Americas.

This resource features an annotated bibliography of 198 poetry volumes and a thematic guide to over 6000 individual poems. Works span the reading levels from sixth to twelfth grade and range in style.

n Shakespeare's time, the term “comedy” did not necessarily denote something funny or amusing. Rather, through such plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice, the playwright examines other defining characteristics of comedic drama—the social interactions of common folks and a focus on the contradictions inherent in everyday life. Readers explore the major themes of Shakespearean comedies, which have enchanted readers and theater-goers alike for centuries.

Before Shakespeare, few dramatists had used historical figures as characters in a play, or actual historical events as elements of a plot. Likewise, the Bard was a pioneer of the sonnet, which he took to new heights. Both literary form, including his two historical tetralogies, and his narrative poems, in addition to the particular form of sonnet that now bears his name are examined through engaging text. A brief treatise on the music within and accompanying productions of Shakespeare's plays rounds out the coverage.

Shakespeare's gift for writing tragedies was powerful indeed. His ability to create epic tragic characters think Hamlet, Lear, and the star-crossed Romeo and Juliet and scenarios is virtually unrivaled. Readers examine the Bard's major tragedies and their significance, and touch upon the state of theatre and dramatic performance in Shakespeare's England for good measure.

Able Writers in Your School will help educators develop the potential of gifted pupils - and all the other pupils in the school as well It passes on ideas, practical advice and lesson plans that the authors, Brian Moses and Roger Stevens, have found to work especially well with the groups of able writers they have taught over the last few years. Over 70 inspirational examples of children's work show how ideas work in practice and raise the standard of children's work. Suggestions for poetry range from taking an idea and stretching it, making the familiar scary and dealing with serious issues. The chapters on prose include creating a realistic character, building conflict, looking at point of view and developing dialogue. Brain Moses is one of Britain's best-loved children's poets and has published over 160 books and performed in over 2000 schools across the UK and Europe. Roger Stevens is a performance poet, author, musician and artist. His poems have appeared in more than one hundred anthologies and he performs his poetry and runs creative writing workshops for both young and old. In 2002, Brian Moses set up the Able Writers Scheme to enable professional writers to work with groups of talented pupils drawn from clusters of schools, to challenge them and develop their writing skills. The Able Writers Scheme is now supported by the National Education Trust. Able Writers in Your School gives you the chance to stretch your able writers in any direction their creativity takes them.

Instructional scaffolding is an essential part of teaching literacy. But what is scaffolding exactly? What does it look like in a classroom, and how can we improve the ways we use it? Despite its prominence in the repertoire of teaching strategies, scaffolding remains a vague concept for many teachers.   In essence, scaffolding is the idea of supporting students as they build independence. In The Construction Zone, Terry Thompson identifies four critical processes to deepen your understanding and improve your practice of instructional scaffolding: ·         Finding and maintaining a specific focus ·         Practicing flexibility in planning and delivering instruction ·         Giving constructive feedback in response to student efforts ·         Monitoring to ensure that, in every moment, students are working at optimal levels of responsibility Thompson encourages teachers to enhance their use of the traditional gradual release process through five actionable steps: show, share, support, sustain, and survey, and in doing so provides procedures and techniques to help them establish and maintain strong scaffolds throughout the instructional day. The Construction Zone is written from the teacher's perspective and urges educators to fully embrace their role in the scaffolding process while staying mindful of the effect it has on students.   Taking a student from dependence upon the teacher to independent learning is what teaching is all about, and instructional scaffolding is key to accomplishing this goal. Regardless of where you are in your understanding of instructional scaffolding, TheConstruction Zone will raise your level of awareness around your instructional practices and the ways you scaffold students to independence. 

The 40 photocopiable worksheets in How to be Brilliant at Writing Stories focus on the process of writing - from the initial idea gathering to redrafting and the final product. The activities recognize that a sense of audience and a sense of purpose are crucial, and allow children to feel ownership of their stories and to understand that not all stories need to be published. The activities include: getting ideas; making notes; making a plot table; planning the beginning, middle and end; making up characters; using a dictionary and thesaurus; using speech marks; different kinds of story.

How To Write a Fantasy Story is an engaging title that identifies the common features of this imaginative genre. Step-by-step writing prompts guide readers through the writing process as they create their own fantasy stories.

Adventure stories are exciting stories that take readers on a journey. This action-packed book introduces young writers to the elements of an adventure story and provides fun ideas for writing a daring tale of one's own!

This exciting title encourages budding young writers to draw inspiration from the world around them to develop characters and plot. Engaging writing activities provide guidelines for readers to create their own realistic fiction stories.

Science fiction stories take readers into new worlds where anything can happen. Step-by-step instructions help readers compose science fiction stories that are out-of-this-world!

Children have a natural affinity for language play; Pyrotechnics on the Page demonstrates how writing teachers can tap into it. This book provides a wealth of resources for teachers, including information on the roots and developmental importance of language play, a how-to on using the writer's notebook as a playground for students to explore and experiment with verbal pyrotechnics, an in-depth look at the kind of language play commonly used by writers, twenty-four brand new craft lessons to bring pyrotechnics into the classroom, and an extensive bibliography of relevant mentor texts. Pyrotechnics on the Page is vintage Fletcher: personal, anecdotal, and practical.