Teaching English by the Book is about putting great books, wonderful poems and rich texts at the heart of English teaching, transforming children’s attitudes to reading and writing and having a positive impact on learning. It offers a practical approach to teaching a text-based curriculum, full of strategies and ideas that are immediately useable in the classroom. Written by James Clements, teacher, researcher, writer, and creator of shakespeareandmore.com, Teaching English by the Book provides effective ideas for enthusing children about literature, poetry and picturebooks. It offers techniques and activities to teach grammar, punctuation and spelling, provides support and guidance on planning lessons and units for meaningful learning, and shows how to bring texts to life through drama and the use of multimedia and film texts. Teaching English by the Book is for all teachers who aspire to use great books to introduce children to ideas beyond their own experience, encounter concepts that have never occurred to them before, to hear and read beautiful language, and experience what it’s like to lose themselves in a story, developing a genuine love of English that will stay with them forever.

Innovation has replaced stereotypical and old methods as an attempt to make English language teaching and learning appealing, effective, and simple. However, teaching a second language through literature may be a paramount tool to consolidate not only students’ lexical and grammatical competences, but also for the development of their cultural awareness and broadening of their knowledge through interaction and collaboration that foster collective learning. Despite past difficulties, literature’s position in relation to language teaching can be revendicated and revalued. Using Literature to Teach English as a Second Language is an essential research publication that exposes the current state of this methodological approach and observes its reverberations, usefulness, strengths, and weaknesses when used in a classroom where English is taught as a second language. In this way, this book will provide updated tools to explore teaching and learning through the most creative and enriching manifestations of one language – literature. Featuring a range of topics such as diversity, language learning, and plurilingualism, this book is ideal for academicians, curriculum designers, administrators, education professionals, researchers, and students.

Contains over sixty-five texts, with thirty-seven step-by-step Common Core-correlated lessons with reproducible texts.

A subject-specific guide for teachers to supplement professional development and provide resources for lesson planning. Approaches to learning and teaching Literature in English is the perfect companion for teachers who want to understand key teaching techniques and use them to create effective and engaging lessons. Considering the local and global contexts when planning and teaching a syllabus, the title presents ideas for literature in English with practical examples that help put teaching theory into practice. Teachers can download online tools for lesson planning from our website. This book is ideal support for those new to teaching or wanting to refresh their ideas, and for those studying professional development qualifications or PGCEs.

Intro -- Contents -- Introduction - James M. Lang -- Part One: Pedagogies -- Chapter 1 - Mapping the Literature Survey -- Chapter 2 - Creative Imitation: The Survey as an Occasion for Emulating Style -- Chapter 3 - Bingo Pedagogy: Team-based Learning and the Literature Survey -- Chapter 4 - Extended Engagement: In Praise of Breadth -- Part Two: Projects -- Chapter 5 - Reacting to the Past in the Survey Course: Teaching the Stages of Power: Marlowe and Shakespeare, 1592 Game -- Chapter 6 - The Blank Survey Syllabus -- Chapter 7 - Errant Pedagogy in the Early Modern Classroom, or Prodigious Misreadings in and of the Renaissance -- Chapter 8 - Digital Tools, New Media, and the Literature Survey -- Part Three - Programs -- Chapter 9 - Thematic Organization and the First-Year Literature Survey -- Chapter 10 - Fear and Learning in the Historical Survey Course -- Chapter 11 - The Survey as Pedagogical Training and Academic Job Credential -- Chapter 12 - Re-Visioning the American Literature Survey for Teachers and Other Wide-Awake Humans -- Contributor Biographies -- Index

We are all searching for new ideas and new possibilities for our classrooms. The Best Lesson Series: Literature offers 15 remarkable lessons from master teachers that will increase student engagement, boost their appreciation of literature, and transform your classroom into a place of discovery and deep critical thinking. Our Best Ideas Become Your Best Lessons: 15 Master Teachers -- Veteran instructors, inspirational teacher-authors, and national award winners share their favorite literature plans. Step-by-Step Instructions -- We are not fans of jargon. Each teacher guide you through their plan with clarity while offering options for differentiation. Each lesson is easy to understand and easy to implement. Handouts Included -- Each chapter includes links to free literature, online articles, and expertly crafted handouts that are ready to go. "The Best Lesson Series is a breath of fresh air and a long overdue resource for educators. Brian Sztabnik assembles a superstar lineup of master teachers, who ease readers into each lesson with a friendly backdrop--the Story Behind the Lesson--followed by a simple overview, goals, why the lesson is memorable, and more. If you're tired of last year's instruction, The Best Lesson Series: Literature is a book that is right on time." -- Mark Barnes, author of Assessment 3.0 and creator of the Hack Learning Series "All teachers want to expand their craft, but trying something new is risky. That's what makes the lessons in this volume pure gold: They have stood the test of time in classrooms of seasoned professionals. This book somehow manages to be both practical, with strategies teachers can apply immediately in their own work, and fascinating, letting us inside the minds of educators as they think deeply about how best to shape learning experiences for their students. English teachers will return to this one again and again." - Jennifer Gonzalez, NBCT in English Language Arts and Editor-in-Chief of Cult of Pedagogy