Teaching literature comes with its challenges, particularly in today’s fast-paced, social media-focused world. Teachers report that students are scoring lower and lower on Common Core Standards like reading comprehension, in part because of the decrease in self-selected reading for pleasure. In a 2018 survey, less than 20% of U.S. teenagers reported engaging in daily reading of books, magazines or newspapers that were not assigned or associated with academics.
This is an important statistic, given the correlation between independent reading habits and overall student performance. Students who read for pleasure tend to score higher on achievement tests in all subject areas and have greater content knowledge than their non-reading peers.
So how can the literature teacher be the front line of defense against this widespread decline? Many educators are asking this tough question. Here are some updated methods of teaching literature to engage students, equip them with useful reading strategies, and foster a love for reading.
Changing social attitudes and population demographics have contributed to the sense that classic, traditional literary canon is outdated and unrelatable for many students. Teachers across the country are calling for more diversified texts that reflect students’ varied experiences in multiple genres and formats.
However, many others are concerned that contemporary and digital texts are not challenging enough for students. Those looking to diversify their reading lists and increase student representation and engagement, can tap resources available through organizations like We Need Diverse Books and publishing houses like Lee and Low.
Teaching literature presents unique challenges for educators Unlike other subjects, there are no clear right and wrong answers Interpretation is subjective and ideas nuanced. Students can find classic texts intimidating.
However equipping learners with strong literature analysis skills pays dividends. They build critical thinking, writing and reading comprehension abilities. Immersing in impactful stories provides cultural literacy and emotional development too.
Use these key strategies to make your literature lessons engaging and enriching:
1. Start with Short Stories
Ease into literature with short stories versus jumping right into dense, long novels. The limited length makes short stories more manageable for initial analysis.
Choose stories with intriguing themes that relate to students’ lives. Ones with twist endings or unexpected perspectives work well to pique interest too.
Analyze short stories collaboratively as a class before moving into small group or solo work. Students will gain confidence tackling meatier books after discussing bite-sized literary pieces first.
2. Focus on Key Literary Elements
Equip students to analyze any story by focusing on fundamental literary elements:
Plot – How events unfold including exposition rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Have students map out the plot.
Characters – Protagonists, antagonists and minor characters. Explore characterization techniques like actions, dialogue, thoughts and motivations.
Setting – When and where the story takes place. Discuss how setting shapes characters and plot.
Theme – Central ideas, lessons and commentary on society. Have students identify themes and support with text evidence.
3. Incorporate Active Reading Strategies
Passive reading leads to shallow analysis – get students actively engaging with texts.
Have them annotate key passages that reveal character, advance the plot, develop themes, etc. Underlining and margin notes keep attention focused.
Jotting down predictions also boosts involvement. Students can confirm or revise initial guesses as the story unfolds.
Summarizing each chapter requires processing events and selecting key details. Use reading journals for written synopses.
4. Select Diverse, Engaging Texts
Stale, outdated literature hampers student engagement. Choose modern, diverse texts featuring perspectives they can relate to.
Seek student input to select some titles each term. Youth adult novels, graphic novels, and contemporary short fiction make material feel fresh and relevant.
Scan books yourself before assigning to ensure appropriate themes and reading level. Also mix mandatory core texts with student-selected options.
5. Use Multimedia to Enhance Themes
Film, art, music and more provide multimedia perspectives on literary themes. They also help visual and auditory learners grasp concepts.
Show short thematic videos or songs during analysis. Have students create artistic interpretations of key scenes. Compare book and movie versions of the same title.
Multimedia connections make literary themes resonate more deeply across learning styles.
6. Visualize Complicated Concepts
Some elements like symbolism and irony can be hard for students to grasp. Use visuals aids to clarify:
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For symbolism, chart symbols from the text and what they represent.
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For irony, draw a diagram with the expected outcome on one side and the opposite, ironic reality on the other.
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To compare book and movie versions, make a Venn diagram highlighting similarities and differences.
These tangible representations of abstract concepts reinforce student comprehension and memory.
7. Conference One-on-One
One-on-one conferences allow personalized coaching time with each student. Have them bring notes on a particular text to review comprehension and analysis.
Probe areas they’re stuck on. Model think-aloud strategies for tackling tough sections.
Develop individual plans to strengthen reading and analysis skills. Conferences build confidence and accountability in analyzing literature independently later.
8. Facilitate Small Group Discussions
Peers often explain concepts in ways that better click with students. Schedule regular small group discussions for collaborative analysis.
Float between groups to check progress. Have students take turns leading the discussion each session.
Groups allow learners to verbalize thoughts and gain feedback. Struggling students can also get clarity from groupmates without having to ask the teacher in front of the full class.
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Approaching literature instruction with methods tailored to young learners helps demystify analysis. Blend whole class, small group, one-on-one and independent work modes. Use visual aids, multimedia and active reading strategies to deepen comprehension. Select diverse, contemporary titles that connect with students’ lives. Literature study will become an enriching journey of discovery instead of a daunting or monotonous task.
Complementing Novels With Films
One of the more popular methods of teaching literature is connecting it to other media. The use of film to supplement written texts has the potential to enhance student interactions with texts, increase real-time emotional engagement with literature, and promote content retention and knowledge transference. ReadWriteThink offers a variety of lesson plans to help teachers effectively introduce film into their literature classrooms at all levels.
Scaffolding Student-Led Literary Analysis
Traditional methods of literature instruction rely on teacher-led discussions based on a set of questions often developed by textbook publishers. While this method is intended to model effective analysis for students, it encourages students to think about what others got from these works, rather than to engage in inquiry themselves.
Teachers like Marisa E. Thompson have developed student-centered approaches, like the Thoughts-Questions-Epiphanies method (TQE), which requires students to come up with questions and discussion points themselves. Thompson found that, after modeling discussion with handouts and initial guidance, her students started identifying themes and questions entirely on their own. Furthermore, students began reading the assigned texts in preparation for class discussion.
How to teach literature
How do I teach literary skills to my students?
Here are some tips you can follow while teaching literary skills to your students: Balance theory classes with discussions and projects. Maintain a balance between classes that focus on theory, monologues, multi-media aid, discussions and assignments. Ideally, you can combine these formats in most classes to keep your students engaged.
What are literature skills?
Literature skills are proficiencies linked to reading fictional compositions, including critical thinking, vocabulary and writing. They involve analyzing a text to understand its core themes and the motivations of its characters, which can teach a student how to construct a narrative themselves and ask meaningful questions about a text’s relevance.
How do we teach literature?
We want them to have an experience of literature they will remember years later, so they will continue to read beyond their middle and high school years. These strategies for teaching literature fall into three specific categories: before reading, during reading, and after reading.
Why is teaching literature important?
Teaching literature skills can help an instructor provide critical knowledge about a fictional text and some helpful methods for analyzing it. When students understand how to approach a literary text, they can develop important capabilities that can help them succeed in a future career.
