P.E.'s English Class: Back to School Book Blogger Challenge Day 2

I'm taking part in Parajunkee's Back to School Book Blogger Challenge. Check it out!

Day 2: If you were/are an English Teacher, share with us your dream lesson plan as far as reading assignments.

I'm lucky in the sense that I've had one really incredible high school English teacher, and I would probably model my class after hers. I've also had a pretty awesome French teacher, and our French class was basically English class but in French.

Now, I don't really read classics so my class will not have many of those. I'll mostly try to incorporate different themes through modern reads. So, let's look at my reading list!

 

Hyperbole and a Half is the first book my class will read. I picked this one because it focuses on dark subject matter, but it also has some incredibly funny moments. It will be a book we can discuss and laugh over, and it will be a bit of an ice breaker. It also brings in the idea of media, and that's always been part of my English class's curriculum.

 

Crash and Burn is much longer, but it's written in a style that I feel the class would enjoy. The writing is full of voice, and the actual story is twisted, but ends up being powerful. I would give this one to the class so we can talk about our lives, and our interactions with other people. It will expand a little bit on the themes in Hyperbole and a Half.

 

I'll give my class a bit of a break from the length of Crash and Burn and contrast it with A Monster Calls. I feel like both books are so different yet so strong. A Monster Calls is a packed read whereas Crash and Burn is a bit rambly. This one is more literary, and we'll discuss that, along with some rule of threes, and more typically writerly stuff.

 

 

Stolen is a great introduction to the tougher issues that we'll be discussing by the end of the class, and I picked it because there is a lot of symbolism. We'll talk about what different animals and events mean, and we'll also discuss whether did a good job at portraying an abduction, and whether the writing was persuasive. Also, the story is written in second person which very rarely happens, so of course it will be in an English class!

 

 

By this point, I will have more confidence in my class's ability to handle dark material so we'll all read Rabbit Ears by Maggie De Vries. It deals with so many issues, and we can approach it from so many perspectives. We can talk about racism, abuse, homelessness, adoption, family, drugs, everything. I expect that I would get my class to do presentations on these various topics based on Rabbit Ears, and it's a powerful read, so we would also make sure to learn a little bit about the dark part of our society.

Hey! I am capable of reading a classic, you know. So, the last book we read will be the hardest to get through because it is long and very text-booky at times. Still, we will persevere and after looking at issues for our society, we will look at the necessity for activism and put some thought into the future. We will discuss what's happening in our world with drones/police/politics, and the class will end with students being able to focus on the future.

I guess I don't see English class as being about reading comprehension or grammar. Obviously, that is important, but to me, English is where you can be creative and explore the world and the people in it. We'll be dealing with tough issues, and there will be lots of presentations, debates, different types of texts, and lots of discussions. I see this as more of a high school grade 11 or 12 class. Every book will take a couple of weeks to discuss and I'll end up teaching my class the importance of reading really fast. :p

Anyway, I ended up really getting into this topic! What do you think of my class?

-P.E.