LLED 420Teaching Adolescent Literature and Literacy

3 credits · Language and Literacy Education · Penn State

Exploration of adolescent literacy and curricular designs for teaching adolescent literature and literacy in secondary schools. LL ED 420 is designed to provide the personal experiences and inquiry with adolescent literature and literacy patterns essential for pre-service teachers. Participants reflect upon personal experiences with adolescent literature, examine critical education perspectives in pedagogical and philosophical terms, build supportive relationships with colleagues to develop the best curricular and instructional decisions, explore the literary character of adolescent literature, the representation of cultural diversity in the voices of adolescent literature, and the curricular design of experiences with adolescent literature in secondary schools. A strong emphasis is placed upon the teacher as collaborator, risk-taker, and researcher, who tries new ideas, documents the classroom experience that results, and shares reflections with colleagues to help construct a better understanding of using adolescent literature in secondary schools. Course work involves extensive reading, written documents of a variety of types (journals, reviews, reports, original research) done by individuals and small groups to pursue the course objectives.