With the Common Core State Standards, instruction in English language arts will dramatically change. Unlike prior state standards, these new standards place a greater emphasis on reading challenging texts. To that end, teachers will need to support students in paying closer attention to such texts. Instead of focusing on pre-reading activities…

Readers of most literary works usually find themselves in the role of witness, where their very act of reading initiates a process in which students or apprentices and teachers or educators take part in a "narrative" of imparting knowledge. An intertextual reading of literary works on the one hand and of current educational texts (e.g., programs,…