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Why is HS lit pretty much books you wouldn't otherwise read?
Economics, I suspect.
School districts across the country have had these old, stale things in their inventories for decades and updating would be costly. Also, the curriculum has been designed around those old dogs, and it's cheaper to keep on doing the same old thing over and over than it is to strike off in a new direction.
Why is HS lit pretty much books you wouldn't otherwise read?
Economics, I suspect.
School districts across the country have had these old, stale things in their inventories for decades and updating would be costly. Also, the curriculum has been designed around those old dogs, and it's cheaper to keep on doing the same old thing over and over than it is to strike off in a new direction.
Really?? I'll speak to my school district in PA that has had to change it's curriculum k - 12 so it aligns to the core standards, and this is at least the second time, they've had to shake things up within the last 10 years. Summer reading books are changed every few years. Because of technology in the classroom and pretty much forced integration of it, teachers have to change the way they teach. Our textbooks are changed on a rotating basis.
I think that it's easy to take pot-shots at schools if you are involved in a lousy one and think they are all like that or if you have nothing to do with current schools and think nothing has changed since you were in it. The reality is that schools and school districts across the country are very different and if you don't like yours, get involved and change it.
Had a long discussion with my 9th grader last night which came around to this: Why do they pick such boring books and plays for high school literature? Which made me think back to my own school years and I have to agree. It seems almost as if the literature chosen is designed to make kids hate reading.
They're in the midst of To Kill a Mockingbird, and might get to Romeo & Juliet this year. This isn't a kid who hates reading, but would like variety. He's already stated he much rather study Macbeth, Hamlet, Henry V, or Othello instead of Romeo & Juliet because they have more action and appeal to a boy.
Let's be honest: How many people would really read Mockingbird or Anne Frank if they weren't required reading in school? Is it merely social relevance and tradition that ties us to the same things when there are many books that would stir the imagination better and capture young readers for a lifetime if that's really the goal?
*raises hand*
I read almost every book we read in middle and high school English class at least a year before they were assigned to us.
To Kill a Mockingbird and the Diary of Anne Frank in particular are essential reads for middle schoolers. Not only are they literary classics, but they highlight and frame particularly difficult times in our history from the eyes of a peer. Again - I had read both years before we got to them at school because they were interesting, not because I realized we would study them more in-depth in English class.
What do you suggest would be better? I would have rather read A Midsummer Night's Dream or Twelfth Night rather than Romeo and Juliet, but personally would have fallen asleep reading any of the Shakespeare plays you suggest (and even as an adult who goes to the theater frequently, those are among my least favorite plays). You can't please everyone.
A love of reading begins at home. If your child is not a lifelong reader, blame yourself, not their teachers.
Kids need to read more than they are reading. The problem with today is so many of our kids are bored. They want to be entertained. Set them up with a video game and a movie account on their TV that is in their bedroom. Forget that action. Why should we as parents stand for giving our kids less than they should be getting? Education is not for entertainment purposes. Education is to teach young minds how to think. We should not settle or move the pendulum back. We should move it forward and give our kids an education that will mean something. This should start with the Bible, even if you don't belive it is true why not find out what is in it. Extend that to the Great Books series, the Harvard Classics, and the Founding Fathers reading list. Funny because I just can't think of the name of that set but you can look it up.
Teach these things to our kids and they will have one of the greatest educations in the world.
Last edited by SOON2BNSURPRISE; 04-06-2015 at 09:02 AM..
I hated English class books and guess what? I still have no interest in reading them because of being forced to read that crap.So what good did that do? I enjoy reading technical manuals which are a million times more difficult to understand then any of your "classic" books and teach a heck of a lot more.
English majors think because they enjoy reading everyone else does. Bad assumption.
One of my daughters absolutely LOVED To Kill a Mockingbird, the other not so much. It's personal preference. The first DD also loved "Nineteen Minutes" which she read as a young adult. I read it as well, and was not as impressed. Jodi Picoult's books are very formulaic.
Speaking of Nineteen Minutes, my son's American Lit class read Dave Cullen's Columbine last year, which I considered a bold and appropriate choice for a school just a hop, skip and jump from Littleton. Picoult's books are better suited for the beach than the classroom, IMO. This spring he had to read Pride and Prejudice for English Lit. I told him to drink a 4-pack of Red Bull and prop his eyelids open with tooth picks.
I read almost every book we read in middle and high school English class at least a year before they were assigned to us.
To Kill a Mockingbird and the Diary of Anne Frank in particular are essential reads for middle schoolers. Not only are they literary classics, but they highlight and frame particularly difficult times in our history from the eyes of a peer. Again - I had read both years before we got to them at school because they were interesting, not because I realized we would study them more in-depth in English class.
What do you suggest would be better? I would have rather read A Midsummer Night's Dream or Twelfth Night rather than Romeo and Juliet, but personally would have fallen asleep reading any of the Shakespeare plays you suggest (and even as an adult who goes to the theater frequently, those are among my least favorite plays). You can't please everyone.
A love of reading begins at home. If your child is not a lifelong reader, blame yourself, not their teachers.
Same. I was never assigned The Diary of Anne Frank, read it on my own, and my mom, a southerner and lifeling fan of the book, read To Kill a Mockingbird to me years before it was assigned in school.
I hated English class books and guess what? I still have no interest in reading them because of being forced to read that crap.So what good did that do? I enjoy reading technical manuals which are a million times more difficult to understand then any of your "classic" books and teach a heck of a lot more.
English majors think because they enjoy reading everyone else does. Bad assumption.
I am no English major. For me it is important to read and find out what others think. It is important to get into the head of another individual thru the written word. You can learn so much from history and gain an understanding of the world by reading books from the past. The books offered on a reading list are only a small entry point into an amazing world that is out there for all people to enjoy and learn from.
I really enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye. But the thing to consider here is that this is a literature class, not a page-turner class and that can drive which books are covered. However, the *required* reading for school was only a small fraction of the overall reading that I did in those days so I wasn't relying on the school syllabus as my only guide for choosing books to read.
I think that is a very good point. Read the books you have to read for class. You'll like some and won't like others. But there is plenty of other time outside of school to focus purely on books that you are directly interested in.
I really enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye.
Interesting. I think that Mockingbird is a magnificent book, whereas Catcher is completely trivial.
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