12 Strategies For Teaching Literature In The 21st Century

by Terry Heick
https://www.teachthought.com/literacy/12-strategies-for-teaching-literature-in-the-21st-century/

How can you teach Shakespeare to students accustomed to tiny screens with brief flashes of
communication that instantly fade away (both in meaning endurance and visible text)? Begin by
focusing on the macro.

The context and need here is clear enough I think to jump right in to the strategies.

12 Strategies For Teaching Literature In The 21st Century

1. Use combinations of media–classic and modern together, leveraging one against the other.
2. Have students analyze diverse media forms for their strengths and weaknesses–and involve
both classic and digital forms.
3. Have students turn essays into videos into podcasts into letters into simply-coded games into
poems into apps. (See also #7.)
4. Allow students to choose media while you choose themes and/or academic and/or quality
standards.
5. When designing units, choose the media first, then the standards (yes, this likely goes against
what you were taught–but give it a try).
6. Insist all student work “leaves the classroom” and is published–then design units
accordingly.
7. Use RAFT: Role, Audience, Format, and Topic/Tone/Theme. Then have them revise media in
response to new roles, audiences, formats, or topics, tones, or themes. Martin Luther King’s “I
Have A Dream Speech” in a new format (a video?), or to a new audience (modern hip-hop
artists?), or with a new tone (angry?). Students experimenting here are experimenting with media
design, which is exactly what authors do.
8. Use a thematic focus to design units, assessments, project-based learning–whatever activities
students ‘touch.’ One of the hallmark characteristics of classic literature is that it endures. This
is, in part, due to timelessness of the human condition. Love lost, coming of age, overcoming
obstacles, civil rights, identity, and more are all at the core of the greatest of literary works.
The ability to the texts to nail these conditions gives them their ability to endure, so teach
through that. The author (e.g., Shakespeare) or media form (e.g., a play) may not seem relevant
to a student–and that’s okay. The author chose that form based on prevailing local technology.
Help them focus on what is being said and why–and how.

9. Use tools for digital text annotation on pdfs, note-sharing, and more to help students mark
text, document questions and insights, and revisit thinking or collaborate with others during the
reading of classic texts.
10. Create social media-based reading clubs. Establish a hashtag that anchors year-long
discussion of certain themes, authors, text, or whatever other category/topic that makes sense
for your curriculum.
11. Have students create and produce an ongoing podcast or YouTube channel on, as above,
relevant themes, authors, texts, etc.
12. Connect the old with the new in authentic ways to center the knowledge demands of
modern readers.

12 Strategies For Teaching Literature In The 21st Century

STRATEGIES IN TEACHING
LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
CLASSROOM
rooneey (60) in education •  3 years ago  (edited)

https://steemit.com/education/@rooneey/strategies-in-teaching-literature-in-english-classroom

STRATEGIES IN TEACHING LITERATURE IN ENGLISH CLASSROOM

I. INTRODUCTION

Literature is creative writing of recognized artistic value or it is the art of written

works. But since there are so many written works such as novels, prose and
stories which are adapted into film or even the play which is performed by the
performers, so literature is also broadly defined as any written or spoken
material that refers to creative works.
Literature is important to be taught at schools or even universities. By learning
it, the students are hoped getting helpful things to their life. Usually when
students hear the word literature, soon a thick old book of poems, prose and play
and also a bored class come to their mind. Actually it is not true; in teaching
literature the teacher can build the joyful situation. So, the students can really
involve into the lesson and have fun, and then later they will get something from
it. In this paper I will discuss the strategies and procedures which can be applied
in teaching literature in English classroom.

II. STRATEGIES IN TEACHING LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

CLASSROOM

As teachers of English, we have to help our students to understand the linguistic

expression. We can not avoid that they still have problems in comprehending
the nuances, creativities of the writer or the implicit things from the words
chosen in the poems, prose or play. First of all, I would like to introduce you at
a glance about approaches to teach literature before we jump to the strategies
themselves.
There are three main approaches to teach literature, they are:
a. The cultural model, which asks the students to explore and interpret the
social, political and even the historical from the content of the text. From what
they have done, they can compare to their own cultural things.
b. The language model, which asks them to access the linguistic features, such
as figurative language. So they can get the real meaning of every word, phrase
or line.
c. The personal growth model, which allows them to make connection between
what they have read or listened from the text and their personal and cultural
experiences. Here they will be asked to express their opinions and feelings.
What is needed in the best teaching literature is the integrated approach from
these approaches.

2.1. Strategies and Procedures in Teaching Poems

Strategies for Teaching Poem

In this section, I have chosen a poem entitled ‘The Road Not Taken” by Robert
Frost, to become an example of teaching poem. If you want to teach poems to
your students, here are some strategies that can be conformed. They are:
a. Pre-reading

 Ask the students about the poem (you have read the poem by your own
already, but not your students). Your students must be ever in confused
condition. Ask them these questions: “how is their feeling? what do they
have to do? Do they ever get back to the first thinking or not?, which will
lead them to tell their ideas.
  Pay attention to the title. Ask the students whether they can get the whole
meaning of the poem before reading it or not (only by looking at the title).
Based on the title “The Road Not Taken”, ask the implicit or maybe the
explicit meaning that the students got at the glance when they look at the
title. You will hear many different ideas from your students.

b. listening

 Ask them to listen to your poem reading. This activity can prepare them
to read by themselves and discuss it. And then you can start reading it
with good rhythm. The good rhythm shows the abstract feeling from the
poem.
 Read the poem aloud; pause where the punctuation marks appear, not
where the line ends. Because, stopping at appropriate spots helps the
students to clarify the meaning and get the feeling.
 Pay attention to sound devices. A good poem uses sound devices for a
reason, usually to draw attention to major points.
c. Becoming familiar with the poem.
Hand out the copy of the poem to the students, or just write it down on the white
board. But if you have the copy, it is much better than write on the board.
d. Discussion Questions.

Remind the students that the questions about poem do not always have “right or
correct” answers. So students can answer it freely based on their ideas,
experiences and maybe their imaginations. Ask the students such questions like
these:
What does the title “The Road Not Taken” mean to you?
What is the connection between the title and the content?
How do you interpret the first and the second line in the third stanza?
Do you ever have the same experience just like this poem? What it is?
You can ask them to sit in pairs or group, so they can share the idea, but ask
them to work on questions individually.

e. Reading
  Ask the students to read the poem by themselves, not only once but
several times. So that they can deeply get into the poem and hopefully get
into the point that the author purposed to be understood. The point from
this poem is that the confused condition when someone makes the chosen
to be taken as the path that she or he will pass in your life. And she should
think carefully which one she should take as her path. And she should
realize that she will never come back to the other path when she has
chosen another one. This point should be the same as what your students
have got, but they are free to say the different thing, because everyone has
different point of view on looking at some things.
 Determine the rhythm as you read and the rhyme scheme.

f. Writing practice.

 After they have discussed and read the poem several times, now ask them
to make connection between the title and the content, also and their
experiences.
 Summarize the poem’s meaning.
 Ask them to imagine that they are the one in the poem. Then ask them
“what can you see?, how do you feel?”. Write a paragraph describing the
scene. Use their own words, but feel free to borrow some sights, words
and phrase from the poem.

Procedures for Teaching Poem

After having good enough preparation, there are some procedures based on the
strategies:

 Copy the poem and hand out it to the students. If you do not copy it yet,
write it on the board.
 The teacher reads the poem “The Road Not Taken”.
 Giving a good model when you read the poem to the students, so it will
help them to clarify the meaning of poem.
 Read the poem together with your students, and then ask them to read it
by themselves. The purpose of doing this is to encourage them to “dig”
deeper to find the meaning. Ask them to read several times.
 You can ask them to sit in a group, but later work individually.
  Write a paragraph or even the simple idea that they have understood from
the poem.

As I experienced in my literature class on September 23 up to September 26,

2010, taught by Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M. S, one of the poems that we got was
“The Road Not Taken”. Firstly, the lecturer wrote the poem on the board and
read to us with beautiful rhythm. Reading the poem with good rhythm is a key
to help the students to acquire the meaning. She let us to understand the poem
deeply and to imagine that we were on that situation. Then she asked about the
sense or feeling of ours; many ideas came out from us. A student said that it
talked about a confused situation, another said about chosen, and many more.
Since those differences of the students (us), she asked us to read it again
together with her, and discussed it. And then, we wrote our own work on a
paper about the content of the poem. We sat in a group, so we can share the
ideas, information or sense with friends and of course we still got the guidance
from the lecturer.

What I experienced is more and less the same as the strategies and procedures
that I have discussed above.

2.2. Strategies and Procedures in Teaching Prose

Strategies for Teaching Prose

For teaching poem and play does not take longer time than teaching prose,
because prose especially novel need to be focused more than one meeting. So, it
is better if the students can watch the film adapted from the novel. They can
discuss together about the film, such as the theme, characterizations, the moral
message and many things as the same as what the novel talks about.
Teaching prose focuses on increasing students’ comprehension of the material
and establishing personal connection to it. The key is to use a variety of
strategies to keep students interested and involved. The prose that I want to
discuss is “Everyday Use”, since the story is quite short, so no need to watch the
film if there is adapted film about it. The students can cover it by reading the
story. Here are some strategies:
a. Pre-reading
Ask the students to look at the title carefully, so that they will have their own
idea about the content of the prose that they are going to read. The title is
“Everyday use”, maybe the students will think that it is about the daily language
or the things that they usually use. The difference ideas are good to keep their
interest to read the prose.

b. Reading

 Ask the students to read it together with you or they can read it by
themselves. If you have the copy, you can ask them to read it by
themselves, but if you show the slide you can read it together.
 Identify all lines or sentences that could be difficult to be understood by
the students. The teacher can help them or the students can contribute
their assist by helping to each other.
 Ask them to identify the characterization and the characters from the
prose. Let them sit in a group or in pairs to discuss it, so that they can
present what they have done later. For example the characterizations from
“Everyday Use” are:
Mother: her character is a great strong woman.
Maggie: her character is less confident, not educated well.
Dee: her character is contrary from Maggie.
 Identify the plot and setting from the prose. From the prose “Everyday
Use”, the setting is at their old poor house.
 Teach them to observe what is on the page, the facts and answers to "who,
what, when, where, and how”. For example:
What is the main idea or the theme of this prose?
Who are the characterizations?
When does Dee visit her mom and sister?
Where does the conversation among the mother, Dee and Maggie take
place?
How does Maggie react to Dee when she asks her grandma heritage?
c. Writing
One of the best ways for students to increase comprehension is to write about
the story they've read. Just let them do it individually, since they have already
worked together while reading part.

d. Discussion

 After your students have done their work, ask them to present or discuss
together, whether there is a different idea or not from the rest. This way
will keep the enthusiasm of the students to discuss together in the class if
there is a different idea.
 Ask them to find the relationship between the title and the
content.

 Teach students to discover the theme of the text, what the author intended
for the readers to understand. You can say that each person has different
way to appreciate something. Let say the contradictory between Dee and
Maggie. Dee wanted to appreciate her grandma’s heritage by hanging it,
while Maggie wanted to use it everyday. This contradictory will lead to
the theme or even the title.

Procedures for Teaching Prose

The procedures for teaching prose are:

 Share or hand out the copy of the prose, or you can show the story by
using slide.
 Read the prose together, or just let the students work it out by themselves.
 Write the idea that they have got from the prose.
 Discuss and present their work. It should be about the basic things from
the prose such as the relation between the title and content, the
characterizations and character, plot, and setting.
 Working group or in pairs is better to construct students-centred work. So
they will learn together not only will wait the teacher’s reaction. Writing
task is exception; ask them to do it individually.
 Guidance from you is needed.
2.3. Strategies and Procedures in Teaching Play

Strategies for Teaching Play

Drama strategies are the everyday means of the drama teacher. They help to
develop examination skills, to get the character or to help the actor to
understand the character. I have decided to choose the play “The Show Must Go
On” as the example to be discussed. It told us about the panic situation when the
opera or performance will be presented. Every actor or actress is nervous. The
moral message from this play is “easy to say but hard to do”. The strategies for
teaching play are:
a. Building up the characters

 Teacher in role
It is a technique for shaping the dramatic process. As we know, the
students are little bit shy if they are asked to perform the play in front of
the class. As the warming up activity, the teacher assumes a role in
relation to the students. Teacher in Role does not require great acting
skills. A role can be adopted quite simply to communicate the key
attitudes and emotions of a particular character and encourage them to
become involved in occupational mimic activities. So the simply work in
guessing emotional thing. For example: From the play “The Show Must
Go On”, you stand in front of the class or just sit in the chair, and then say
”I will forget my lines” of course with the appropriate mimic.
Furthermore, ask the students to guess what has happened? Or in what
condition is the actress?.
The students will make connection between the sentence said by teacher
and her mimic. This kind of work will make the students understand the
situation faced by a characterization and use to say the sentence with
appropriate intonation also with suitable mimic when they perform the
play.
 Image theatre is a flexible tool for exploring issues, attitudes and
emotions for those who are confident with drama and those with little or
no experience. Imaging can enable students to explore their own feelings
and experiences. So they can do their best in their performance later.
b. Reading
  Hand out the copy of dialogue from “The Show Must Go On” to the
students.
 Ask your students to sit in a group based on how many the
characterization requires from the play that you have already handed out.
 Ask them to read it and they can help each other if there are any words or
sentences that difficult to be understood. Probably, your help is required
by them.
 Ask them to identify the character of the characterization and also the
condition of the play by using the above techniques about building up the
characters. So they will be able to act as the author means. Based on the
play “The Show Must Go On”, you just let the students to imagine being
the characterization, so they will get really involved to the characters. Ask
them to feel the feeling of the characterizations when they are in that kind
of condition and situation.
 While reading, they should know the moral message of the play, so they
can deliver it well to the audience.
 To get the points about the content, ask your students to make questions
based on the play they have read. One group has to exchange the
questions to the other group. Later they can present the answers and the
group which the questions belong can judge the answers. The scheme of
this activity is just like this:
Group A asks:
1. Where did the play take place?
2. Who are the characterizations?
3. What is the relationship between the title and the content?
Group B asks:
4. Why did Mr. Gage faint?
5. To you, what figure just like Mr. Gage in your life?
6. When did the play happen?
Then, these two groups exchange the questions.
c. Practicing
If they think the play is clear enough, now is the time for practicing. Ask
them to prepare anything based on the play, included the property. Since
wrong intonation will lead in to wrong interpretation, by practicing it, the
students can also help each other to put the good intonation while talking.

d. Performing
The last activity is performing what they have already read, understood and
practiced together. Ask every group to perform, and then they can compare and
discuss one performance to the rest. For example, one group only act as on in
the script without any properties, another perform the play as the real play with
properties just like powder, make up tools, chairs mirror, ice cream (properties
in “The Show Must Go On”). Based on these two groups, the other groups can
give comment and discuss it.

Procedures for Teaching Play

The procedures for teaching prose are:

 Teach your students to build up the characters.

 Hand out the copy of the play script.
 Let them read it, ask them to really get every point from the play. They
can ask their friends and you to confirm what they do not know.
 Practice the play in a group. In the class there will be several groups that
will perform the play.
 It is the time for performing.

III. CONCLUSION

A good teacher should have talent or skill to develop a great lesson plan which
qualified strategies and procedures. By having it in the class, the lesson included
literature will be really enjoyable for the students. Since there is a phenomena
thinking that literature class is a boring class, so the literature teacher has to
have basic knowledge about appropriate approaches, methods and techniques to
teach it. The best approach to teach literature is the integrated approach from
cultural, language and personal growth model. By using this approach, the
students can make a link between the scripts of the poem, prose and play and
their experiences, so they can get the meaning easily.

To build up the joyful strategies and procedures, the literature teacher has to
construct the steps which are needed and suitable to the students. Due to,
literature is hard to be understood commonly, let they work together with their
friend, but the guidance from the teacher will always stand by if it is required.

Above, there are the strategies and procedures for teaching poems, prose and
play. Hopefully it will help the literature teachers to develop the class more
interesting and the students will be interested to study it.

REFFERENCES

Tom Glass. 2009. English Teaching Forum Number 4: Poetry Corner.

Website:http://www.teachingliterature.org/teachingliterature/chapter4/activities.
html. Accessed on September 27, 2010.
Website: http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature.html. Accessed on
September 27, 2010.
Website: http://www.ehow.com/way_5557572_effective-teaching-strategies-
prose.htm. Accessed on October 5, 2010.
Website: http://www.dramaresource.com/strategies/conscience-alley. Accessed
on October 5, 2010.