Critical approaches to literature in secondary English require greater attention to narrative discourse. In this conceptual article, I provide interpretative tools from contemporary narratology and demonstrate their critical potential for high school English. In particular, I outline critical literacy's vital but overattentive focus on the…

Students in the English Language Arts classroom have access to more author commentary than ever. While following authors on social media may deepen students' engagement with their assigned reading, it also threatens to subdue students' own interpretations of the authors' texts. This essay explains how educators can introduce basic aspects of…

Previous research has established relationships between reading fiction and increased empathy levels, an effect amplified by reading young adult fiction and by feeling transported by, or wholly immersed within, one's reading. Given the established correlation between increased empathy and decreased intolerance levels, reading fiction may decrease…

In this article, the authors describe the impact of a reader response game in an English language arts classroom. They explore the theoretical intersection of game-based learning and "good games" and transactional theory as a framework for this practice. After incorporating a "good game" of reader response in classes, the…

Promising approaches to transforming English language arts classrooms into dialogic, democratic, and critical spaces for literature discussions involve the selection of compelling young adult literature (YAL) and the use of student-centered discussion strategies (e.g., literature circles). Scholars have demonstrated, however, the shortcomings of…

Much research exists about adolescent reading, particularly young adult literature (Allington, 2014; Gallagher & Kittle, 2018; Krashen, 2009). Within that body of research are explorations of nontraditional reading experiences among today's adolescents. This research includes gaming narratives (Ellison & Drew, 2019; Hall, 2011; Sylven…

Research indicates that feeling is fundamental to the multilayered experience of literary interpretation. However, despite great strides in U.S. high school classrooms, discussions about literature are still often characterized by known-answer discourses that exclude feeling. This article builds on small-scale studies of affective evaluation, an…

Helping students engage with complex texts has been a longstanding challenge, though teachers have received little guidance about practices that help students in engaging with texts. This paper provides a range of empirical evidence about a tool designed to provide formative insight into text-focused teaching, which we used to reliably score more…

This research study explores the role of social annotation in supporting dialogic teaching in secondary English language arts. Grounded in Bakhtin's dialogism and building upon research into online discussion, this study describes how a high school English teacher and her students used a digital annotation tool to read and talk about texts.…