Teaching Young Adult

Literature in High School

Environments
Storyboard
By Nathan Tamborello
Title/Captions: Teaching Young Adult Literature in High
School Environments

Narration: How can YA literature replace the current

method of rigorously teaching only what adults deem the
classics? One of the core debates in the English-Language
Arts classroom recently is the use of Young Adult (YA)
Literature in the classroom.

Images/Video Clips:
Bookshelf by Nathan Tamborello. Filmed on 22 October 2017.

Music: Tranquility by Purple Planet Music. Free to Use.

Downloaded from
https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/151819444/download?sec
ret_token=s-
vMovr&client_id=cUa40O3Jg3Emvp6Tv4U6ymYYO50NUGpJ
on 22nd October 2017.
CAMERA PAN
Notes: Fade into title card, fade out and back in with
music first, and enter voice after 3 seconds.

Dramatic Question
Title/Captions: None

Narration: Proponents for using YA literature argue that

teaching The Classics not only alienates students, but seems
to have little to no relevance on their daily lives.

Images:
YA Books by Nathan Tamborello. Stop motion filmed 23
October 2017.

Music: Same as above.

Notes: Will come back and clean up stop-motion;
havent edited it in Premier yet.

(This is a stop motion video)

Proponents For
Title/Captions: none

Narration: Arguments against using YA literature find

that the classics are the classics for a reason, and children
should be taught them even if they dont necessarily relate
to the literature.

Images: Classics by Nathan Tamborello. Stop motion

filmed 23 October 2017.

Music: Same as above.

Notes: Will come back and clean up stop-motion;
havent edited it in Premier yet.

(This is a stop motion video)

Proponents Against
Title/Captions: none

Narration: The TEKS for English Language Arts are

not text-specific. This essentially means that the
objectives that are laid out before us by the Educational
Board at both the state and ...

Images:
Texas State Capitol by BorisStudio. Free to Use, Share, or
Modify. Downloaded from
https://www.twenty20.com/photos/5136539a-79e2-4e78-
9258-e315897bc420.

Music: Same as above.

Notes: Image will transition to USA picture during
this slide

TEKS
Title/Captions: none

Narration: ...national level do not specify or

mandate that any particular book or text must be
taught.

Images:
Image by Pixabay. Free to Use, Share, or Modify.
Downloaded from
https://www.pexels.com/photo/ancient-antique-
antique-map-atlas-269646/ on 23rd October 2015

Music: Same as above.

Notes: Will slide up to replace Texas picture.

TEKS
Title/Captions: none

Narration: So why do we insist on teaching classics that were

written by adults, for adults, hundreds of years ago, when students
could get so much more enjoyment and knowledge from a book that is
relevant to them and will foster lifelong readers in the process?

Images:
Blue and Gold Cover Book on Brown Wooden Shelf by Negative Space. Free
to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from
https://www.pexels.com/photo/books-old-book-knowledge-bookstore-
34592/. Downloaded 22 October 2017.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Rephrase Question
 3
Title/Captions: none

Narration: Here are 3 ways to effectively utilise, introduce, and teach

young adult literature in the classroom while adhering to TEKS through
differentiated instruction, not only in the ELA classroom, but in any
setting:

Images:
Blackboard by kidaha. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from
https://pixabay.com/en/blackboard-the-classroom-clip-art-2841752/.
Retrieved 23 October 2017.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Content Begins
Title/Captions: none

Narration: The first set of instruction deals with

teaching YA books in a Whole Class setting. This
essentially means that the entire classroom is reading and
discussing the novel at the same time, almost like a circle
discussion, where reading is done outside of the classroom
and discussion inside. There are 4 questions for selecting
YA novels to use for instruction at this stage:

Images: Image by kropekk_pl. Free to Use, Share, or

Modify. Downloaded from
https://pixabay.com/en/sketch-szkicowac-ludek-man-
363071/. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Method #1, Reading Circles/ Outside Reading

Title/Captions: Does the novel fill a gap within your
curriculum?

Narration: Does the novel fill a gap within your

curriculum? If youre studying a historical period or theme,
these books can help supplement a curriculum-adopted text.

Images:
Own Image.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Question 1
Title/Captions: Does the gender or ethnic identity
of the main character contribute to the diversity of the
works you present in the course?

Narration: Does the gender or ethnic identity of the

main character contribute to the diversity of the works
you present in the course? Students need to see
themselves in the texts. Black, white, gay, straight,
transgender, etc. Examples include The House on Mango
Street, George.

Images:
Own Image.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Question 2
Title/Captions: Is the novel useful in teaching
elements of a novel?

Narration: Is the novel useful in teaching elements of a

novel? In this question, we are looking for novels with a more
complex plot, vibrant characters, interesting themes, good use
of setting, or innovative points-of-view in order for students to
get a good grasp on the makeup of a novels elements.
Examples include Harry Potter, Alices Adventures in
Wonderland, and The Book of Lost Things.

Images:
Own Image.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Question 3
Title/Captions: Is the novel interesting to a broad
array of students and student interests?

Narration: Is the novel interesting to a broad array of

students and student interests? Some novels in the classroom
generate a wide appeal on historical subjects, such as Night and
A Wrinkle in Time.

Images:
Own Image.

Music: Same as above.

Notes:

Question 4
Title/Captions: none

Narration: So what is a read-aloud? Reading aloud means just that-- reading aloud.
When we read to students, or students read to other students, we take advantage of the fact
that young people have a "listening level" that significantly surpasses their reading level.
When we read aloud to students, we engage them in texts that they might not be able to read;
in the process, we expand their imaginations, provide new knowledge, support language
acquisition, build vocabulary, and promote reading as a worthwhile, enjoyable activity. The
best books for reading aloud have a compelling plot and characters students can identify
with. Since these are books for students to enjoy, not to study, sometimes the ones we
choose to read aloud are those we wouldn't use for whole class study because they do not
lend themselves to sophisticated literary analysis. The novels of Chris Crutcher, for example,
have wonderful characters, themes, and plots, but they do not support the type of analysis
required by our high school literature curriculum. Occasionally teachers edit as they read,
and books that would be inappropriate for whole class use-because of language or the
content of particular scene-become accessible to more students.

Images: Image by sisint. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from

https://pixabay.com/en/children-book-dear-pa-asia-1822474/.

Music: Same as above.

Notes: Method #2, Read Aloud
Title/Captions: none

Narration: Finally, we have YA novels for student choice, incorporating

Glassers Choice Theory into reading literacy. This way of teaching is part of a
reading workshop classroom structure. The reading workshop approach requires
students to choose the books they read, write journal entries about their books,
and periodically discuss their reactions to the books with the teacher or the
whole class. Every day the teacher spends 10-15 minutes on a mini-lesson about
some aspect of reading, but the rest of the time the students read, or write about
their reading, or they discuss their reading and writing with the rest of the
community of readers. The key to the success of this model is that students are
free to choose the books they read. The role of the teacher is to know about a lot
of books in order to recommend specific books to students with particular
interests ("Oh, you liked this book? I bet you'd like this other book."), to share
his or her own reading interests (that is, to model being a reader), and constantly
to search the world for books of interest to adolescents. This promotes autonomy
in the classroom and allows for freedom of choice while still adhering to a
specific curriculum.

Images:
Image by Stock Snap. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from
https://pixabay.com/en/table-chairs-sofa-people-alone-2593395/.
Music: Same as above.
Notes:
Method #3, Autonomy
Title/Captions:
Credits:
Music: Tranquility by Purple Planet Music. Free to Use. Downloaded from https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/151819444/download?secret_token=s-
vMovr&client_id=cUa40O3Jg3Emvp6Tv4U6ymYYO50NUGpJ on 22nd October 2017.
Video 1: Own video.
Image 1: Own images.
Image 2: Own images.
Image 3: Texas State Capitol by BorisStudio. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://www.twenty20.com/photos/5136539a-79e2-4e78-9258-e315897bc420.
Image 4: Image by Pixabay. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://www.pexels.com/photo/ancient-antique-antique-map-atlas-269646/ on 23rd October 2015
Image 5: Blue and Gold Cover Book on Brown Wooden Shelf by Negative Space. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://www.pexels.com/photo/books-old-book-knowledge-bookstore-
34592/. Downloaded 22 October 2017.
Image 6: Blackboard by kidaha. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://pixabay.com/en/blackboard-the-classroom-clip-art-2841752/. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
Image 7: Image by kropekk_pl. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://pixabay.com/en/sketch-szkicowac-ludek-man-363071/. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
Image 8: Own image.
Image 9: Own image.
Image 10: Own image.
Image 11: Own image.
Image 12: Image by sisint. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://pixabay.com/en/children-book-dear-pa-asia-1822474/. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
Image 13: Image by Stock Snap. Free to Use, Share, or Modify. Downloaded from https://pixabay.com/en/table-chairs-sofa-people-alone-2593395/. Retrieved 23 October 2017.

Music: None

Credits Slide/Scene