p. 1

comer m 2007 sample chapter specialized vocabulary teaching strategies methodologies objectives by the end of this chapter students will be able to identify specific vocabulary associated with young adult literature yal develop distinctive reader response activities recognize literary elements related to yal examine various teaching strategies methodologies to be used with yal introduction perhaps one of the hesitations educators have with employing yal in their curriculums is that most of the literature does not come with ready-made comprehension questions or test banks teachers are left to decide what skills to address and to create their own activities and assignments while more timeconsuming the focus taken and strategies employed are more authentic in nature they reflect what the educator believes to be important and what has been addressed during the reading this chapter will explore various terms associated with the field as well as the role of reader response in yal it will also discuss literary elements related to yal and examine sample teaching strategies and methodologies that can be used with yal specialized vocabulary with most subjects topics genres and literature fields there are specific vocabulary words and terms associated with it these words are often referred to as specialized vocabulary to put it differently these are words that are unique to the topic under study for example the field of technology has a specific set of terminology disc flash-drive hard-drive and icon to name a few the same is true with yal below is a list of words and their meanings that are associated with this field of literature adolescent literature anything a young adult can and will read typically believed to be literature written for pre-teens and young adults coming-of-age story a story in which the protagonist discovers what it means to be an adult it often is a result of a lesson learned in a difficult manner permanent connections 1999 a year down yonder 2001 core novels a set of young adult novels that are read by every member of the literature class dystopian novel novel where everything has gone wrong in an attempt to create a perfect society the giver 1993 gathering blue 2000 epistolary novel a novel written in letters by one or more characters so that multiple viewpoints can be examined with a hammer for my heart the pigman multi-cultural novel a novel written by or about a particular ethnicity that is viewed as a minority group the watsons go to birmingham bud not buddy regional novel a novel that focuses on a specific place and people it reflects accurately the geographic location as well as the customs and language of the inhabitants belle prater s boy the search for belle prater

[close]

p. 2

supplemental texts other young adult novels text books journals magazines and web sites that are used in addition to the core novels selected utopian novel opposite of dystopian novel the world in which the characters live is seen as ideal the uglies pretties please note young adult novels can be viewed as both utopian and dystopian at the same time there is sometimes a utopian society as in the giver which characters rebel against resulting in a dystopian society young adult literature see adolescent literature for more information concerning terminology associated with yal please visit http www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm reader response and yal rosenblatt 1996 argues that the reader s response is one of the most important aspects of reading the response stems from the transaction between the reader and the text it is this response that influences meaning and ultimately retention of the material read responses are influenced by the purpose students have for reading if students read for information to learn a specific skill or gain deeper insight into a topic such as wwii their engagement with the material will come from an efferent stance another purpose for reading aesthetic centers more on the reader s enjoyment and emotional connection to the material than for information as with any literature-based reading including yal the activities educators design should reflect the purpose they have for students reading tapping into students prior knowledge and experiences with topics or themes presented in the literature is crucial to successful text interaction encouraging this interaction can be accomplished in any number of ways below are two sample activities that allow such interaction to occur reader response journal aesthetic in a reader response journal sometimes referred to as a double entry journal students write responses to specific quotes taken from the text typically the journal is a t-chart with the quote on the left-hand side of the chart and the response on the right-hand side the quotes included on the chart stem from two sources teacher or reader selected or a combination of both quote taken from belle prater s boy can t you hear your calling woodrow i teased him you re a natural-born teacher you make learning fun once again we had come full circle back to his mama and i knew it was a thing that gnawed at him all the time and wormed its way into everything he said and did response sample like the speaker i feel that teachers should be natural-born educators this is reflected in the way they interact with their students and their curriculums learners intuitively know if a teacher is good or bad interested or disinterested coming full circle is something i can identify with i ve always been told life does this you begin in one place influenced by circumstances and depart it only to ultimately find yourself back

[close]

p. 3

where you started it s ever revolving and recursive the only thing we can hope is that we learn from the process inquiry i-chart chart efferent an inquiry chart i-chart developed by hoffman 1992 serves to cultivate critical thinking and reading about a given topic learners explore what they know about a subject matter and then conduct research from multiple sources to learn more through the implementation of an i-chart investigators both students and teachers are able to evaluate the information they locate as valid or flawed i-chart example based on the setting appalachia of belle prater s boy write what you already know about this area in the first row in the following rows list sources you used to find new information and record what you learned under each question appalachia geographic location cultural patterns language patterns what knowledge do i have about this spans the area appalachian mountains appalachians are finding pride in mountain twang appalachian scene a voice for appalachia appalachian scene it s all about people strong faith in a speakers use higher power double negatives language is stigmatized southern portion sense of pride of usa ky tn va wv nc eastern central pa neighborliness deep-voiced native strong sense of it s all about community the people literary elements and yal like with all literature works literary elements are an important part of yal in fact it is these very elements that make a story a worthwhile read the most common elements found are plot series of events that take place in a story normally there are five parts of plot introduction ­ meet characters and introduced to setting rising action ­ further explore character/setting and conflict is introduced climax ­ the turning point of the story falling action ­ the result of the climax and conflict and conclusion ­ the ending of the story and an insight into how the characters deal with the conflict character both major and minor specific terms associated with character protagonist ­ the primary character is typically dynamic and round antagonist ­ a character who opposes the protagonist often is part of the conflict dynamic/round ­ a character who undergoes change and is multidimensional static/flat ­ a character who experiences no change and is seen as one-sided characterization ­ the way readers learn about characters setting the time and place a story occurs it is impacted by social context ­ the region culture and time period ­ in which it is set setting also helps to establish mood ­ the feeling invoked in readers point of view the view in which the story is told there are three basic points of view 1st person ­ the narrator is a character in the story 3rd person limited ­ the narrator knows limited information about the characters and plot 3rd person omniscient ­ the narrator is all-knowing style tone and language the way a writer treats his/her work involves diction ­ the choice of words selected serves to illicit a certain feeling in readers

[close]

p. 4

theme the lesson the author hopes the reader learns from the story the themes should avoid any hint of didacticism moralizing to the degree that the story becomes all about the lesson imagery the pictures created in the reader s mind by the story s description images can be visual ­ related to the eye aural ­ related to the sense of sound olfactory ­ related to smell tactile ­ related to the sense of touch or gustatory ­ related to taste sample strategies and methodologies the methodologies used for teaching yal are as varied as the educators who use this genre in their classrooms teachers can employ and should a myriad of methods it stands to reason then that because learners are all unique the more varied the techniques the more students reached this varied approach also referred to as eclectic makes use of diversified teaching tactics lecturing cooperative learning groups grand conversations media forms projects and reader responses focuses are a few of the popular methodologies employed often educators will use a multitude of these during one lesson and/or class period another popular method is literature circles this is described at http www.lcandler.web.aplus.net if the teaching approach is varied so then are the strategies for teaching yal educators can take advantage of an array of these and provid[e thought-provoking experiences that respect and value the students in their classrooms yopp yopp 2001 p v a few sample strategies based on white s 1998 belle prater s boy are outlined below pre-reading activities during reading activities

[close]

p. 5

post reading activities

[close]

p. 6

for more ideas concerning pre during and post reading strategies please visit the websites below belle prater s boy ruth white http theliterarylink.com/belle_lessons.html the literary link for teaching http www.sjsu.edu/faculty/patten/teaching.html ruth white teacher resource file http falcon.jmu.edu ramseyil/ruthwhite.htm teaching strategies http www.middleweb.com/currstrategies.html yal novels you really should know about the number of young adult novels has increased dramatically since the 1960s to such a degree that educators typically devise some sort of selection criteria the criteria typically is unique to each individual more often than not educators select yal that appeals to their students and meets a specific literary skill they hope to address in chance s 1997 research she discovered that the yal students read share the following characteristics setting of the books is in the present time or recent past the protagonists are round and dynamic the action is progressive there are dual conflicts person vs self and person vs person point of view is 1st person strong use of imagery two recurring themes self-awareness responsibility for own life the books selected are serious in tone

[close]

p. 7

if the above characteristics depict what adolescents are reading it stands to reason that teachers should consider them when selecting material for his/her classroom with this in mind the list of authors and their novels below meets most if not all of the characteristics outlined above a baker s dozen authors/novels you should really know about cherie bennett jeff gottesfeld a husband and wife team life in the fat lane 1999 set in nashville this book takes the reader through the struggles beauty queen lara ardeche faces when she mysteriously gains weight zink 2000 the young heroine in this book escapes into her own world where things like hospitals chemo cancer and death do not happen anne frank me 2001 nicole bernhardt is generation x after hitting her head at the holocaust museum in new york nicole s life dramatically changes when she wakes up in occupied denmark in the 1940s a heart divided 2004 living in nashville is a huge change for kate faced with a personal conviction that the school s rebel flag and mascot are racist and offensive kate must make tough choices brian james tomorrow maybe 2003 can a guy tell a girl s story james does a decent job convincing readers he knows what gretchen s chan s life is like as a homeless teen lauren myracle ttyl talk to ya later 2005 this novel the first one of its kind is told in im instant messaging the fashion disaster that changed my life 2005 ali the main character learns about growing up and how to be a true friend rhymes with witches 2005 wanting to be in the inner circle the main character learns that she must be someone she does not like ttfn ta ta for now 2006 a sequel to the ttyl novel myracle takes us through the lives of three teenage girls louise rennison british writer angus thongs and full-frontal snogging confessions of georgia nicolson 1999 a hilarious can t-miss read you ll laugh out loud as you read georgia s opinion on thongs boys and kissing sonya sones stop pretending what happened when my big sister went crazy 1999 written in verse readers glimpse into the life of a young girl attempting to deal with her sister s mental illness what my mother doesn t know 2001 fifteen-year-old sophie attempts to discover the difference between love and lust also written in verse one of those hideous books where the mother dies 2004 ruby the main character grieving over the death of her mother is forced to move to hollywood to live with a father she doesn t know also written in verse each of the three authors listed below correspond with readers on a regular basis cherie bennett at www.cheriebennett.com lauren myracle at http www.laurenmyracle.com sonya sones at http www.sonyasones.com/

[close]