Sad Monsters Are Sad
Classic Horror in the Classroom

Most of us like a good scare; I find this to be true of my middle school students.  Many of them are reading Stephen King and Clive Barker on their own; the zombie-themed Enemy series by Charlie Higson and The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey are popular young adult fare, so why not incorporate the genre into your reading and literature curriculum.

One interesting theme to explore with students is the plight of monster--a pitiable figure, as characterized by Mary Shelley in the classic Frankenstein.  He just wants to be loved by his creator, who's a total dick to the anguished creature.  Granted, it's a tough read (Shelley's prose is pretty turgid and the level of sentimentality is cringy), but older, proficient readers can tackle it.  Another compelling classic is Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; the writing is better and will generate great class discussions about the nature of good and bad.  Talk about complex texts!  They also present excellent opportunities to compare the original texts with popular movie retellings.  Click onto the image below for a potential study guide:

If you're willing to slog into murkier candidates, how about Lovecraft's Reanimator?  A novella separated into six mini-chapters, it's more gruesome and vivid than Shelley's and Stevenson's classics (I had one child opt out because it was just too scary for her), which might well improve interest and compliance in your audience.  Much like Frankenstein, the mad scientist is caught off guard by the consequences of his attempt to play God.  I use it as an exercise in getting students to locate and elaborate on textual evidence (a skill most lacking in their essays).  Check out my study guide:

Get your kids reading and thinking in the coming school year with a dose of good old fashioned horror!

Up Against the Wall!
Encouraging Reading, Promoting Young Adult Literature

I think that I missed my calling as a librarian (not media specialist, thank you very much--library = books).  I love being surrounded by books, the smell of lignin, the touch of paper and binding.  I love reading, I love the magic of storytelling, the crafting of other worlds, other lives:

          The poet's eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

          Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,

          And as imagination bodies forth

          The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen

          Turns into shapes, and gives to airy nothing

          A local habitation and a name.

Or as Dunsany puts it:

          And little he knew of the things that ink may do, how it can mark a dead
          man's thought for the wonder of later years, and tell of happenings that
          are gone clean away, and be a voice for us out of the dark of time, and
          save many a fragile thing from the pounding of heavy ages; or carry to us,
          over the rolling centuries, even a song from lips long dead on forgotten
          hills. 

And most of all, I love sharing books with students, watching them discover those other worlds, other lives, discovering the pleasure of curling up with a well-told story full of compelling characters, appreciating the clever and artful use of language.  In a world suffused with easy entertainment and immediate gratification, it always surprises me that students, for the most part, still respond to the written word (ok, sometimes the spoken word, but I won't quibble too much over audio books).  I don't believe in reluctant readers, only readers who haven't met the right book yet.

I teach middle school, and I am keenly aware that the pressures and demands of high school (not just academics, but driving, dating, working, socializing) means little time available for analog activities like reading books.  I feel a tremendous urgency to spark a love of reading and lay down rails of habit that will remain throughout a lifetime.  I want to keep students reading, and that means holding them accountable, but the old-fashioned summary book report does nothing to encourage interaction with the text (it does, unfortunately, encourage cheating).  Instead, I challenge students to advertise their reading selection by creating posters and book jackets that I display on the walls around school: students are given a creative outlet for interacting with the text, authentically address audience and purpose, and promote literacy school-wide.  Win-Win!

Check out some samples from this year's crop of pleasure reading choices: