Reading Response Sheet

I've posted before about close reading in the classroom, and I continue to believe that close reading experiences are often most powerful when students themselves select the passages for study.

In addition to providing students with text excerpts in Google Drive for annotating, I also occasionally use a simple Reading Response Sheet, which you can access as a pdf or via Drive for your own editing purposes (go to File, and Make a Copy; you can then modify to your heart's content).

I resisted every urge I had to over-complicate this thing, and with good results. Students felt the freedom to write only as much as they thought they would need to participate in the classroom discussion; some took laborious notes with supporting page and paragraph numbers, while others wrote gist statements with sporadic page numbers. In all cases, however, the sheet slowed them down to consider what they were reading, and to settle upon one or two excerpts that they felt passionate about discussing.

Future permutations of this document might include a section to allow students to record page titles; page titles seem especially useful in enabling students to recall and return to specific excerpts easily.

Hope you find this useful! Let me know how you might modify it for your classes.

Writing to Remember: Responding to Holocaust Readings

This week I received two emails from teachers asking what writing assignments I incorporated when teaching about the Holocaust. Although it largely depends upon the classes taught, I typically ask students to complete four writing assignments which are directly or indirectly connected to our Holocaust unit.

Citizenship Credits

The first piece of writing students tackle, even before discussions of the Holocaust begin, is an argumentative piece called Citizenship Credits. That assignment is described in this post; you can download the prompt from there, or from below.



Whose Rules?

As students read the latter portion of The Devil's Arithmetic, they take notes on the camp rules and Rivka's rules using a two column chart created in their notebooks. Students record both the rules they discover, as well as the page numbers upon which they appear.  They later use these notes for a second piece: a comparison-contrast essay. They use this very simple model or this very simple model to structure their essay, but their writing is, of course, much more complex, as all points need to be text supported and elaborated upon. (For students needing some further direct instruction in comparing and contrasting, you may find portions of this ReadWriteThink interactive to be helpful).

Should Sixth Graders Study the Holocaust?

Once we've completed the novel, I challenge my students with this essay topic: "Should Sixth Graders Study the Holocaust?" The fact is, many parents and educators believe they should not. Students consult many online sources for support, including a speech by Jane Yolen which includes the "Alphabet of Evil," and a collection of quotes I've compiled. Some teachers may disagree with providing resources for their students, but after viewing many online sources which turned out to be inappropriate, biased, or simply hateful, I chose to provide students with some excerpts which I had personally vetted). A huge emphasis here is on recognizing and refuting opposing points of view.

Improving the World

A last writing piece which students produce nearly a month after our Holocaust unit is based upon an Anne Frank quote: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." In their responses, students provide examples of ways that others have improved the world, and ways in which they, in their present role as student, can do the same. This link shows how we organize the essay, and also provides many possible openings as well as ways in which to revisit those openings in the closing paragraph.

Hope these suggestions help. What responses to Holocaust studies have your students written?

Responding and Reflecting; Colaborating and Collecting

If you've ever used Wallwisher, you know how powerful such a tool can be in creating collaboration and on-line dialogue between students.

Lino It is a similar online bulletin board, allowing anonymous and instant posting, permitting only the posters (and the administrator) to move or peel off the stickies that have been added. It's super easy with few frills to distract students. It's easily embeddable to most web sites and wikis, retaining full functionality.

Check out the example of students responding to Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Sparrow" which was read in juxtaposition to Poe's "The Raven." You can see that this group of four students generated a bunch of questions they wanted to discuss, and even posted a picture, the poem, and a related video to the wall. 

Interestingly, some groups assigned stickies by color to each member, while others decided that "blue is vocabulary, and pink is questions," and so on.

One neat feature of Lino It is History, which highlights the ten most recent additions, allowing users to quickly see what was added since their last visit (when you view the example, click on Highlight New, and then keep clicking the arrow beside it to view the ten latest additions).

Applications for the Reading/Language Arts Classroom:

• Demand Exit Tickets: all students respond to an open ended question based on the day's lesson.
• Collect Ten Word Stories, ala Sparky Teaching's Ten Word Stories page. This ten word story might be a reflection on a day's lit piece.
• Ask students to list running questions or observations about a challenging text piece.
• Encourage students to collect colorful figurative language and "cool sentences" from their reading that they would like to discuss during later close reading sessions. Some of these sentences can later be submitted to Notable Sentences... for Imitation and Creation (see my write-up here).
• Add a "What's New and Notable" bulletin board to your teacher's page. Include assignment updates, links to current events, etc. See mine at the bottom of my main site.
• Share files and videos related to classroom discussion topics.
• Get instant student responses to poems, song lyrics, facts, and quotations, perhaps as a warm-up to each day's lesson.
• Allow students to record thoughts and questions as they watch a video or read a chapter.
• Check out more ideas at this blog.

Notes and Caveats:

• Limit the number of users on a single board to five or less. Otherwise, you'll have too much traffic and many redundant responses.
• If you care to know who posted which items, instruct students to include their initials on posts. As mentioned above, some students chose to assign a different color to each member to differentiate responses.

Promoting Literature with Technology

Sometimes on my blogs I write incredibly long, involved posts.

Other times I just say, "Hey, here's something cool! Let's go get it."

So go get this terrific list of Ways to Promote Young Adult Literature Using Technology over at edTech VISION. I love these clever ways to get students excited about reading, while at the same time incorporating technology in a meaningful way.

Here's the first idea:

1.  READ Posters: Following the format of READ posters create by the American Library Association, take photos of staff members and students dressed in costumes holding a companion book. Add the words READ and a quote. Use free editing software (GIMP, Open office, Picasa, Big Huge Labs, Aviary) to make the posters. You can also use ALA’s READ generator.

Let me know what you try out, and share your own ideas as well!

Stirring the Pot! Fueling Discussion in Reading Class

How do you encourage everyone to participate in classroom discussion?

That's a great question, and one that I'm commonly asked.

I'm still trying to figure it out for myself, but I've got a few thoughts.

The Recipe Calls for Stone Soup

Most of us recall the classic book Stone Soup. Three hungry travelers, turned away at every door in a small village, devise a plan to trick the unsuspecting townspeople. Speaking fondly of delicious stone soup, the travelers sigh in dismay at their inability to create it; after all, they're missing a few key ingredients. In their desire to sample this delicious soup, the villagers enthusiastically agree to contribute the needed ingredients, and in the end all enjoy a stew created through both collaboration and cunning.

A good classroom discussion consists of similar elements: a plan to make it happen, and students eager to bring something to the table.

Don't Come Empty Handed

Translation: Every student must read beforehand, and come prepared to share.
 
After all, it's key that students have a common background from which to draw during a classroom discussion. Keep in mind, however, that what they read at home the night before need not be the novel itself, but instead a nonfiction piece, poem, or other literary artifact that in some way relates to the novel.

When reading Island of the Blue Dolphins or Call of the Wild, for example, it's critical that students understand pack behavior, especially the role of the alpha. With that in mind, I would have students read a nonfiction article on that topic, and prepare to discuss the key points the next day.

(By the way, I'll talk more getting students to read beforehand in the next post and describe how I make it happen).

Drop a Pebble in the Pot

Translation: Get the thinking started.

When students turn up the next day, they'll expect to discuss what they've read. Don't disappoint them. From the second they walk in, present students with a question or task that puts the knowledge into action.

In response to the wolf selection, for example, students might find these questions awaiting them the next day:

• Does every pack need an alpha? Why or why not?
• Is a pack only as strong as its leader?
• Think of a book or movie you know well in which you can identify pack behavior.

My students are likely to name movies such as Lion King and books such as Holes and The Outsiders in response to that last prompt; older students, however, might point out stories where vicious pack behavior exists on an emotional rather than a physical level.

By Drop a Pebble in the Pot, then, I mean to get the thinking started. As time goes on, students will become accustomed to this practice of jotting quick reflections into a notebook in preparation for the coming discussion; older students will, in fact, even provide their own ideas for questions to get everyone talking.

Soup of the Day

Translation: Know what you're serving up.

In every case, have an objective in mind before the discussion begins. What's to be taken away from from the dialogue? Theme, character development, literary motif, motive, metaphor? In many cases, it's a discussion of what do the individual words on the page say when they're put together in this way? In other cases, it's a matter of how did the author do that with words, and what can we as writers learn from it?

Portion It Out

Translation: Ensure that everyone participates. 

In my class, I have a deck of name cards color coded to each section I teach. When discussion is either too heated or too complacent, out come the cards. When everyone needs to throw in a quick share, out come the cards. When it's time to hear some jotted-down responses, but time won't allow hearing them all, out come the cards. It's simply too easy to unconsciously play favorites when you're pressed for time and the same hands are waving in the air.

Table Manners

Translation: Define and enforce rules for discussion.

The passion of a heated argument is no excuse for disrespecting others. Early on, implement a policy of acceptable behavior for classroom discussions (the Collaborize Classroom site, mentioned below, has an online student conduct code in its Teacher Resources section which can be tweaked to serve this purpose).

To Go Menu

Translation: Keep the conversation going.

Sometimes, there's a lot more to be said! And students want to continue the conversation beyond the confines of the class. In this case, a class wiki, blog, or social media environment would serve you well.

In the past I've written about Edmodo, which I described as "a ning for students." It serves as a secure social media site for upper elementary and middle school students, and I still dig it even now.

Recently, however, my students have been using a social media site called Verso. Like Edmodo, it's private and secure, yet the teacher can see all interactions. Unlike Edmodo, it allows more content creation possibilities for students and an easier user interface.

You can get a pretty good idea of its form and function from this recent video.




Read more about Verso here. Another option to get students interacting with texts before class time would be Insert Learning, which allows you to embed questions, videos, and teacher comments onto any page of the Internet.

Alternative Assessments for Reading Comprehension

Joe Bower wrote a nice post on an Alternative to Traditional Multiple Choice Reading Comprehension Exams at his For the Love of Learning blog. If you're a teacher in any way responsible for assessing student reading comprehension, read on!

In his post, Bower provides a simple diagram illustrating the recursive relationship of Reading, Questioning, and Thinking. But too often our students' take on assigned reading is that they will read the assigned text, and we (the teachers) will assume the role of interrogators, firing a barrage of questions to evaluate comprehension.

Bower says questioning is, in fact, important, but it's the self-questioning function of the reader that makes the difference. Students must read with "mindfulness." That's because "Questioning brings on an acute need for more reading, which causes more questioning, requiring more thinking."

And as far as assessing reading is concerned? Joe says

I provide reading excerpts with zero questions because I ask my students to read and show their thinking. I double space the text and remove the left-hand margin almost entirely so that I can double or triple the right hand margin. This provides students with the space they need to show their thinking.

And to support this effectiveness of that strategy, he provides some pretty convincing student samples.

So if you haven't jumped over to Joe's site, do so now. He's got some original thoughts on grading and testing which are worth a read, and might even influence your own classroom practice.

If you're looking for a professional resource which might help you "make the jump" to connecting reading with metacognitive written responses, I recommend Nonfiction Mentor Texts: Teaching Informational Writing Through Children's Literature, K-8, by Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli (Stenhouse). Using the strategies in this book, students become much more conscious of their own thoughts as they read, and the authors provide many excellent resources to serve as starting points for these approaches.

87 Free Web 2.0 Projects

Peter Pappas over at Copy/Paste has the best blog description ever: Dedicated to Relinquishing Responsibility for Learning to the Students.

He also has a pretty cool resource posted in the form of British educator Terry Freedman's free downloadable book The Amazing Web 2.0 Projects Book, a compilation of lessons from ninety-four educators around the world.

In Peter Pappas's own words:

The book is organized by grade level and has curated links to all the web resources utilized. Each project includes a teacher-friendly "how to" with benefits, challenges, management tips, sample screen shots / links and learning outcomes. Terry's project is a great example of how the internet can be harnessed to share and collaborate. Who knows, the projects might even inspire your students to collaborate with their peers on their own book!

What does this have to do with teaching novels, you ask? If you teach writing or responding to literature, this resource will provide you with dozens of way to allow students to integrate technology to communicate their ideas. By taking advantage of free, widely available technologies, you can encourage your most reluctant writers while allowing your more gifted students to stretch their limits.

Another fab post over at Copy/Paste is 18 Literacy Strategies for Struggling Readers - Defining, Summarizing and Comparing. This post includes a downloadable pdf Strategies for Stuggling Readers which is an awesome reference for teachers at any grade level.

If you're on Twitter, you should also consider following Peter Pappas and Terry Freedman.

Novels as Mentor Texts

The Northern Nevada Writing Project's Writing Fix site contains a terrific section of lesson plans on Using Chapter Book Excerpts as Mentor Texts.

What does that mean? It means the terrific writing we admire in our favorite novels can be used to guide our own young writers. The format, however, also means that your students don't need to have read the entire novel being referenced; each lesson provides teachers with the specific chapters, which can be read independently by students or as a read-aloud by the teacher. If any of the twenty some books featured are the same novel you're studying in class, added bonus!

So what you'll find here is a fabulous collection of middle school and YA novels (you'll recognize all the titles) categorized by the six traits: Idea Development, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Conventions. Each lesson plan is preceded by a Three Sentence Overview (boom! there's your lesson objective).

For example, Maniac Magee is used as a mentor text focusing on voice (with a supporting focus on word choice). The Three Sentence Overview reads:

The writer will analyze and discuss the tall tale format after reading Jerry Spinelli’s tale of Cobble’s Knot, told in Chapter 20 of Maniac Magee. Then writers will need to create an interesting character in a special situation which would allow them to stretch the truth in an imaginative tale. The interactive button game will provide writers with possible options from which to create their “whoppers.”

The lesson plan contains a step-by-step approach, and all needed hand-outs, and additional optional site links (if required). Many lessons also contain samples of student writing submitted by teachers who have used that lesson plan in their classrooms.

While at Writing Fix, also be sure to check out the ipod Lessons which use lyrics to popular songs as mentor texts. Great way to connect with the young folk!

(Go to this blog's original home at Wordpress to read two comments on this post).

60 Second Recap

If you haven't checked out 60 Second Recap, you're in for a treat. 60 Second Recap is a collection of video clips covering the plots, characters, symbolism, literary motifs, and more of favorite classic literature for teens. But it's not a dry, overly-academic examination. It's a lively conversation hosted by a real-life, somewhat zany hostess named Jenny (you can find her on Twitter).

The site's overview gives you a sense of the tongue-in-cheek humor that's behind this great site:

"Eat your lima beans," Mom used to say.

And now that you're out on your own, honestly, are lima beans a staple of your culinary repertoire?

There, in a lima bean, lies the problem confronting the great works of literature. We're all forced to read them in school so we can get good grades so we can go to a good college so we can get a good job so we can forget all about that literature they used to force us to read so we could get good grades.

The 60second Recap™ aims to break this cycle of canonical irrelevance. We want to help teens (yes, teens of all ages!) engage with literature. We want to help them see it not as some chore to be endured, but as -- dare we say it? -- the gift of a lifetime. How? Through the language of our time -- the language of video. Video that's focused, engaging, informative ... and short enough to hold just about anyone's attention.

Smirk if you must. Consider this yet another mile-marker on civilization’s road to perdition. But here's the fact: You won't get non-readers to read by forcing them to read more. You'll get them to read by opening their eyes to the marvels awaiting them between the covers of that homework assignment.

With the 60second Recap™, teens finally have an alternative to the boring, text-based study guides that have burdened them for generations. And -- who knows? -- maybe that's just what they'll need to begin a love affair with literature, one that will last a lifetime.

In addition to the videos on classics such as Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, Frankenstein, Lord of the Flies, and Hamlet, users will find a section called Recap Resource which includes a Dictionary of Terms (allegory, motifs, subtext, protagonist, etc.) and How to Write a Paper (that Won't Put your Teacher to Sleep). Again, these are presented in video form, which them much less intimidating for the average high school user.

The site also features an area for video responses from users, and another for users to request titles for recapping.

I highly recommend you visit the site and give it a look! I'm curious to see how it will change as it grows.

Know another great site for teachers working with novels? Find me on Twitter!

Metaphorically Speaking

Stenhouse has put out a new book that I can't recommend enthusiastically enough. Rick Wormeli's Metaphors and Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject adds to the canon of distinguished titles which deal with the topic of metaphor.

His work, however, is so far the most practical title I've seen on the topic, offering teachers simple steps for improving their instruction through the use of metaphors and analogies. Every page provides subject-specific examples, allowing readers to easily understand the real-life applications to the classroom.

My own forays into this topic began with George Lakoff's now-classic Metaphors We Live By, which plainly illustrated the pervasiveness of metaphor in everyday language.

While critics argued that the book was not well supported with research, just a brief look into its pages will convince any reader that what Lakoff was attempting to prove through discourse alone was pretty self-evident (once exposed) and pretty remarkable as well. People do speak unconsciously in metaphors, all the time, and the metaphors they choose can tell us a lot about their preconceptions, perspectives, and prejudices on a topic. My personal copy of Metaphors We Live By contains hardly a page not scribbled with a comment or question; it did profoundly influence the way in which I approached reading and language arts instruction.

Next came Marcel Danesi's Poetic Logic: The Role of Metaphor in Thought, Language, and Culture, which was arguably more research based than Metaphors We Live By. Discovering the scientific and linguistic basis for everything Lakoff argued reinforced for me that metaphorical language is neither coincidental nor arbitrary. In Danesi's own words:

The main goal of this book has been to take the reader on an excursion through an amalgam of facts, ideas, and illustrations that reveal how poetic logic works in making the world visible and thus understandable in human terms. Metaphor is a trace to poetic thinking, which constantly creates connections among things. This is why metaphors and metaforms have such emotional power—they tie people together, allowing them to express a common sense of purpose in an interconnected fashion.

What Rick Wormeli now brilliantly accomplishes through Metaphors and Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject might be seen as a currency exchange. He takes the "hundred dollar ideas" of Lakoff and Danesi and turns them into "spending money" for the classroom. Wormeli shows how students can use metaphors to make connections between the concrete and the abstract, prior knowledge and new concepts, and language and image (neither Lakoff nor Danesi discussed visual metaphors at any length). Wormeli also goes beyond the passive museum experience of "let's notice and appreciate the beauty of metaphors" to a workshop mentality of "let's throw some clay on the wheel and see what we can form on our own." Ultimately, his work is an impressive how-to on the subject.

But what's in it for teachers of literature? So many of Wormeli's examples are based in math, social studies, and science that Reading and Language Arts teachers might wonder what's in it for them.

Rather than construct an argument, let me instead offer a simple example. Below is an excerpt from Wendelin Van Draanen's Flipped (grade level equivalent 5.5). How many single and extended metaphors can you spot? And more importantly, what additional (between the lines) information can they provide if the reader is alert enough to notice them?

My sister, on the other hand, tried to sabotage me any chance she got. Lynetta’s like that. She’s four years older than me, and buddy, I’ve learned from watching her how not to run your life. She’s got ANTAGONIZE written all over her. Just look at her – not cross-eyed or with your tongue sticking out or anything – just look at her and you’ve started an argument.

I used to knock-down-drag-out with her, but it’s just not worth it. Girls don’t fight fair. They pull your hair and gouge you and pinch you; then they run off gasping to mommy when you try and defend yourself with a fist. Then you get locked into time-out, and for what? No, my friend, the secret is, don’t snap at the bait. Let it dangle. Swim around it. Laugh it off. After a while they’ll give up and try to lure someone else.

At least that’s the way it is with Lynetta. And the bonus of having her as a pain-in-the-rear sister was figuring out that this method works on everyone. Teachers, jerks at school, even Mom and Dad. Seriously. There’s no winning arguments with your parents, so why get all pumped up over them? It is way better to dive down and get out of the way than it is to get clobbered by some parental tidal wave.

The funny thing is, Lynetta’s still clueless when it comes to dealing with Mom and Dad. She goes straight into thrash mode and is too busy drowning in the argument to take a deep breath and dive for calmer water.

And she thinks I’m stupid.

The fact is, for students to read with comprehension and appreciation, they must be able to recognize and dissect both simple and complex analogies. And for students to be able to explain their own understandings of difficult concepts (no matter what the discipline), they must be able to describe those concepts through metaphors and analogies.

I highly recommend Metaphors and Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching Any Subject for teachers looking to advance their own practice as teaching professionals. As always, Stenhouse offers you a preview of the entire book at their site.

Classics Online

There are hundreds of sites online that allow you to read public domain classics such as 1984 and Paradise Lost. If Google is any measure, the search phrase "Read Classic Literature Online" serves up 321 results, and "Read Classics Online" serves up 5,740.

If you're looking for the best site of its kind, I highly recommend ReadPrint. Unlike other literary classics sites, ReadPrint is incredibly lean and clean, with a modern interface with no annoying ads or upsells. Over 8,000 books by 3,500 authors available at your fingertips.

Like most other sites, you can search by either author, title, or writing type (essay, fiction, nonfiction, play, short story, poem). But what's really nice is that ReadPrint also provides you the author's biography and selected quotes. The quotes alone are worth the visit! I found myself reading through dozens of these, thinking how each could be used as a great thinking prompt at the start of class.

What happens so often as we get involved with new writers and new books is we forget how terrific the "old school stuff" really is. Take this character description from the opening page of Treasure Island as an example:

I remember him as if it were yesterday, as he came plodding to the inn door, his sea-chest following behind him in a hand-barrow--a tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man, his tarry pigtail falling over the shoulder of his soiled blue coat, his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. I remember him looking round the cover and whistling to himself as he did so, and then breaking out in that old sea-song that he sang so often afterwards:

"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" in the high, old tottering voice that seemed to have been tuned and broken at the capstan bars. Then he rapped on the door with a bit of stick like a handspike that he carried, and when my father appeared, called roughly for a glass of rum. This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste and still looking about him at the cliffs and up at our signboard.

"This is a handy cove," says he at length; "and a pleasant sittyated grog-shop. Much company, mate?"

My father told him no, very little company, the more was the pity.

"Well, then," said he, "this is the berth for me. Here you, matey," he cried to the man who trundled the barrow; "bring up alongside and help up my chest. I'll stay here a bit," he continued. "I'm a plain man; rum and bacon and eggs is what I want, and that head up there for to watch ships off. What you mought call me? You mought call me captain. Oh, I see what you're at-- there"; and he threw down three or four gold pieces on the threshold. "You can tell me when I've worked through that," says he, looking as fierce as a commander.

Arr, that be good writin.' And there's plenty more where that came from. Give ReadPrint a visit; it's sure to become your go-to site for classical inspiration.

Two Hot Resources

By sending you over to Literacy is Priceless, I'm hooking you up with two hot resources. First of all, that blog itself. Lots of web and tech resources for bringing literacy into the 21st Century.

Second is the topic of that post, which is the Shmoop website. Shmoop is a fabulous collection of resources in the areas of literature, history, and poetry. I love free stuff! But at this site I especially appreciate the section of each resource called "Why Should I Care?" Next to free stuff, I love relevance!

"Why should we care about this stuff?" is the grunted (yet valid) motto of every middle and high school student, and these well-written and funny selections answer that question (for example, check out the Why Should I Care? for 1984).

Plan to spend some time there.

Don't Know Much About Literature

This review of the upcoming Don't Know Much About Literature by Kenneth C. Davis and Jenny Davis (Summer 2009, Harper Collins) is somewhat biased.

First of all, I was a huge fan of Kenneth C. Davis' Don't Know Much About History. I found that book to be equal parts entertainment and enlightenment. I'm not even embarrassed to say that 50% of that book was news to me. I'd probably still be enjoying it even now, but it's one of those books that's too good to keep to yourself. (And apparently too good to give back to its owner...)

Secondly, as a teacher, I'm a big fan of his Don't Know Much About... series for students. It's profusely illustrated with just enough facts to get them interested in learning more. Don't Know Much About the Presidents is one of my favorites.

Thirdly, I love literature, although judging by my poor performance on this book's quizzes, I'm obviously not as well read as I should be!

Don't Know Much About Literature is a fun way to assess your knowledge of literature old and new, and to gain some tidbits to share in your middle or high school class (or your next backyard barbecue). Selections are typically one page long, with half a dozen questions about authors, novels, lines, film and theatre adaptations, and literary honors.

Here are a few random questions to test your literary IQ:

1. Which Toni Morrison novel received the Pulitzer Prize in 1988?

2. Which book was the basis of the Broadway hit The Man of La Mancha?

3. Who opened their poem with this famous line: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways"?

4. Identify this short story from its first line: "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits."

5. What was the first Agatha Christie novel to feature Miss Marple?

6. Who directed the 1980 version of The Shining?

7. In what novel does this first line appear? "You'd better not never tell nobody but God."

Do you even need to see the answers? C'mon, they were all easy, right? Well, just to check your spellings, if nothing else...

1. Beloved

2. Don Quixote

3. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Sonnet 13)

4. A & P by John Updike

5. Murder at the Vicarage (1930)

6. Stanley Kubrick

7. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

If you scored 7 out of 7, I bow to your literary prowess! I missed the Miss Marple question and I'd be embarrassed to tell you my guess for #3.

So if you want a great gift for a teacher, a book of "stumpers" for your high school AP class, or just a fun read for yourself, you can preorder now and beat the rush!

When Will We Ever Use This Stuff?

"When will we ever use this stuff?" is an oft heard refrain in middle and high school classrooms, and I'll admit I often asked that question myself (most often in Math and Science). According to Carol Jago, it's a valid question, especially when students are asked to write responses to literature. After all, apart from college professors, who does that in real life?

In her NCTE white paper titled "Crash! The Currency Crisis in American Culture" Carol provides some answers. Jago has taught middle and high school for 32 years in Santa Monica, California, and directs the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. She is president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English and has written four books in the NCTE High School Literature series.

After you check out her white paper, be sure to weigh in at the NCTE ning. The follow-up comments make for interesting reading as well!