Friday, October 24, 2008

Language Inquiry

What is a justifiable reason for assigning a particular book? What should be your rationale?

There are definitely many justifiable reasons for assigning certain books in your English classroom. For one, the book may meet certain standards that are set out by the state, the district, or by the school itself. It may be a required text at that grade level. For books that do not fall into this category, a book may be justified if it deals with a topic that is of particular interest to the students and is educational in some regard as well. It may deal with actions and decisions that may come up in our students' lives, or it could be about a topic that could help prepare our students for life after and outside of school. Books may be justifiable if they open our students up to new ideas or if they pertain to certain assignments our students may be doing throughout the school year. Overall, I think the two most justifiable reasons for assigning a particular book are that it is of some interest to our students and that it is educational or eye-opening in some manner.
A teacher's rationale for assigning a certain text ought to be rather detailed. It should include the parts of a book that do prove to be educational. It should include the assignments and lessons that will go along with the text. The rationale should include some sort of information that would help them if an argument over the book were to arise in regards to its validity within the classroom.

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