Deanna Brossman started teaching English in Geneseo, Illinois, in 2001. She earned her MA in English literature in 2007 and National Board Certification in 2012. She teaches dual credit composition, AP English Language and Composition, and a transitional English course for seniors wanting to strengthen their fundamental reading and writing skills before college. She and …
Continue reading Getting to the Heart of Positioning Language: Who Is “They”?
The news is out: the multiple choice portion of the AP English exams will have only four—not five—answer choices. Say what?? Change of any kind tends to bring about uncertainty and mixed emotions, but we can all agree that reducing answer options will make the multiple choice portion of the exam less of a beast. …
With National Poetry Month underway, the authors of this post wanted to share why we read, write, and teach poetry. The curriculum in today’s English Language Arts classroom is often over packed, and poetry offers an immediate entry to a classroom experience that allows young people to be critical and reflective thinkers. In a time …
Continue reading The Whys of Poetry: Affordances of Poems in the Classroom and Life
The W. W. Norton Composition team sat down with editors of The Norton Reader to discuss its growing legacy at Norton and what instructors can look forward to in the Sixteenth Edition, publishing this summer. Why do you think The Norton Reader has endured for six decades? Joseph Bizup: John Brereton, a former editor of …
Tara B. Johnston, PhD is an assistant professor of education at York College of Pennsylvania. She is a former elementary school teacher, reading interventionist, and literacy specialist. Her research interests include content literacy practices, teacher knowledge and beliefs in relation to literacy, and pre-service teacher training in literacy instruction. Tara JohnstonImage Credit: Emily Rund The …
Continue reading Rereading and Annotation to Support Secondary Reading and Writing
Jim Burke, an English teacher at Middle College at the College of San Mateo, has been teaching for more than twenty-five years, and has written more than twenty-five books about teaching and literacy. He has received numerous awards, including the Exemplary Leadership Award from the National Council of Teachers of English and the Distinguished Service Award …
Continue reading UNCHARTED TERRITORY: Working with Nonfiction
Kate Hoffman has taught for 25 years across public and private schools and at many levels—middle school, high school, and college. For many years she taught AP® Literature and Composition, and she currently teaches in Central Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she enjoys going to thrift stores, antique stores, and independent bookstores. She writes regularly …
Continue reading Don’t Teach in a Vacuum: How Literary Nonfiction Prepares Us for Major Works
Grace Ferris is an assistant professor of chemistry at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, where she teaches General Chemistry I & II, Organic Chemistry I & II, Introductory Biochemistry, and Life Chemistry: Drugs in Our Lives. She earned her BA in chemistry with a minor in education from Mount Holyoke College in 2008 and her …
Continue reading Using a Previewing Strategy to Help Students Get the Most Out of Reading
Amara Hand is an instructor of first-year writing and a writing center consultant for historically Black universities. She received her B.A. in English from Norfolk State University and her master’s in rhetoric and writing from Monmouth University. Amara began teaching as an adjunct at her undergraduate alma mater in 2016 and became qualified for online …
Susan Barber teaches AP® English Literature at Midtown High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and serves as the College Board Advisor for AP® Literature and on the NCTE Secondary Steering Committee. She, however, is most proud of the work she does on a daily basis in E216 and never tires of the beauty and chaos of …