Teaching English in Middle and Secondary Schools

With continuing attention to constructivist theory and reflective practice, this book offers a comprehensive, realistic, integrated approach to teaching English language arts to middle and secondary school learners.In this fourth edition, content has undergone major reorganization and chapters have been significantly rearranged. Individual chapters on specific language arts are linked through a common focus on the reality of the language arts classroom, the responsibilities of the language arts teacher, and the means to meet these responsibilities through thoughtful, reflective, holistic teaching.For current and pre-service middle and secondary school English teachers.

Teaching is a complex task, and no one text can answer all of the questions facing secondary teachers. Especially novice teachers, in today's challenging classrooms. For this reason, we are quick to point out that this text is not a panacea. At the same time, we believe that this fourth edition does offer a comprehensive and realistic view of teaching the English language arts in middle and secondary schools. In providing thoughtful and practical approaches to both curriculum and instruction, this text does address, we believe to a large degree, the questions and concerns of those just entering the profession.In this fourth edition, we have made significant changes through new chapters and new segments in every chapter. But once again, we reaffirm the value of an integrated approach to teaching the English language arts. Although we divide the language arts into separate chapters (e.g., oral language, writing, literature), we do so only to explore each area in some depth. Further, we bring the strands back together in every chapter, underscoring that we teach best when we recognize the potential for both oral and written language in every lesson or unit that we develop and implement. We also reaffirm aconstructivistapproach, where students use the language arts to make meaning--not to be handed meaning. The question that underlies every chapter is not "What can I teach?" but rather, "How can my students best learn?" Reflective practice is, then, at the core of this edition.The most effective teachers are usually the most reflective among us; they are not afraid to question materials, instructional methods, or themselves in the daily process of working with young learners. To encourage thoughtful reflection, we ask our readers to interact with the ideas presented, whether it be to affirm, to question, or to challenge. For this same reason, we include problem solving and application as a major part of this new edition, incorporating segments that we have namedReflectionandExplorationinto every chapter. We have also added more student units for analysis and decision making about content and instructional methods, and we have balanced the number of middle and senior high school units. Through these, we hope that the newest members of our profession will gain useful experience, as well as the most practical of habits thoughtful reflection and confident problem solving, as they work through chic text_ THE FOURTH EDITION: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANCES AND EMPHASESIn this new edition we have added new chanters- and to ensure a logical flow we have changed the order of chapters. However, with few exceptions, the organization of this text is completely flexible, allowing instructors to follow their own course structure and wishes. For teachers with a single, two-, or three-credit English methods course we believe this fourth edition will be ideal, comprehensive but not overwhelming. Further, its tone throughout welcomes student readers and celebrates their intelligence and dedication to their goal of teaching the English language arts.In Chapter 1,Becoming a Teacher,we ask our readers to explore their motivation and goals: Why do they want to be English language arts teachers? At the same time, we describe personal and professional traits that will serve them well as teachers of adolescents. In the third edition, we used this chapter to close our discussion; here, we open with it. Why? Because we realized that this chapter, with its friendly and supportive tone, welcomes readers to the profession but also asks them to think about themselves in rather specific ways. In chapters that follow, we then ask them to extend and expand those reflections, another new feature of this edition.We also realized that we might close this text in another very personal and pragmatic way: We take our readers through student teaching experiences. Chapter 14,Your Starting Role: St