Why+use+YA+Lit?

All books are divisible into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all time--John Ruskin (Photo by Maggie Nerney. Used with permission.) Ruskin's quote may be correct, but we must motivate our students to read "the books of the hour" so that they will wish to read "the books of all time."

What are the benefits of using YA Lit in your classroom? You may be interested in this article about how to use YA Lit across the content areas. ✰◆ 

In their teacher-directed literacy improvement book, Taking Action on Adolescent Literacy, Judith L. Irvin, Julie Melzer, and Melinda Dukes, examine the steps necessary for school-wide literacy and test score improvement. The very first chapter is dedicated entirely to "Student Motivation, Engagement and Achievement" because student buy-in is the key to success. You can't simply motivate a student by telling them that reading is important, you need the texts that will hook them. As the authors point out:

"Motivating students is important- without it, teachers have no point of entry. But it is //engagement// that is critical, because the level of engagement over time is the vehicle through which classroom instruction influences student outcomes. For example, engagement with reading is directly related to reading achievement (Guthrie, 2001; Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000). Engagement- with sports, hobbies, work, or reading- results in opportunities to practice. Practice provides the opportunity to build skills and gain confidence." (2007, p.33) ✰◆ 

[|This page] has a list of many links into research for using YA Lit in the classroom. Some are older and broken, but many are very good. This website is more like an Easter egg hunt, but you can find some good information here, if you care to put in the time. Some of these links are repeats. ✰◆ ⇧

BER offers great educational supplements. It is not enough to find a good book; you must engage your students in interactive, skill building activities around these great YAL titles. They offer a variety of books with culled resources from teachers and researchers. "Strengthening your Language Arts Instruction" is a great book full of strategies for those teachers in need of some new ideas on classic instructional needs such as character analysis, interpreting theme, vocabulary building etc. They also host fabulous workshops for librarians and secondary educators on new titles in young adult literature. ✰◆ 

Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen focuses on changing the ways teachers engage students within the language arts classrooms and beyond. She offers many YAL titles and activities that can help to build an appreciation and recognition of the many diverse cultures that make up the United States of America. Her book is not dedicated entirely to reading, she also spends a great deal of the book examining the ways teachers can improve student writing activities and build students sense of self through their own writing. Also, please note that the linked website offers many web resources and links to other interesting publications. ✰◆ 

Reading for Understanding: A Guide to Improving Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms by Ruth Schoenbach, Cynthia Greenleaf, Christine Cziko, and Lori Hurwitz offers a program for improving reading comprehension at the secondary level. They focus on building the skills through texts that matter to the students so that the students can then engage in the sometimes difficult formal readings. This is clearly an instruction book for teachers on how to better implement reading across the curriculum. Note that the link above has a tab to the downloadable chapter 2 for a preview.✰◆ 

For those content teachers who are still a bit leery of teaching reading, YAL is a great way to start. First of all, YAL books have great story lines that often connect to the different content areas. For example, "An Abundance of Katherines" by John Green centers around a boy's wish to find a mathematical formula for love and relationships. His discussion of algebraic formulas is a great jumping off point. You could have your students trying to prove (or disprove) his theorem while engaging them in a good book. YA Lit does not have to be solely to domain of English teachers! For instance, //Wintergirls// or //Speak// by Laurie Halse Anderson could be used in health classes to discuss anorexia, bulimia, cutting and date rape while //Chains// (also by the prolific Ms Anderson), //Code Talker// by Joseph Bruchac or //Purple Heart// by Patricia McCormick could be used in Social Studies classrooms. Books by Ellen Hopkins (such as //Glass//) or Sharon Creech (//Love that Dog// or //Hate that Cat//) could be used to begin teaching the fundamentals of poetry.✰◆ 

For more suggestions on integration methods and justifications for integration, check out Chris Tovani's "Do I Really Have to Teach Reading." Once you have determined that it is an essential practice, "Teaching Through Text" by Michael C. McKenna and Richard D. Robinson will help you to implement the integration. It offers everything from reading level identification to guidance with the creation of and implementation of graphic organizers.✰◆ 

My books are like water; those of the great geniuses are wine. (Fortunately), everybody drinks water. --Mark Twain