This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is asking about the top ten books you would give as gifts.

As for me, I am thinking of a greater gift you can offer.

You see, the best part of my job is watching children and young adults find that special book; a treasure they clutch to their chest and/or start reading as soon as they pull it off the shelf.

This is why I encourage the support of any program that helps create and build upon this passion, knowing it will be a part of them all of their lives. Literacy cannot be undervalued – ever.

So instead of listing books to give, I’ll list suggestions of organizations you can support. In that way, much more than ten people will benefit from your gift.

What better way to improve society, than to help kids get their hands on books, and build a love of something that will give immeasurable value to their life.

1. RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) is the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. They prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. RIF provides new, free books for children to choose from and make their own. The seeds of inspiration in these books have motivated children to follow their dreams and achieve their potential.
2. First Book is determined to see that all children, regardless of their economic conditions achieve more in school and in life through access to an ongoing supply of new books. With the help of partners, donors and dedicated volunteers they’ve provided more than 85 million new books to schools and programs serving children in need.
3. Bookwallah is a non-profit organization whose vision is to transform the lives of children who have undergone hardship by sharing the gift of imagination. Their mission is to collect and distribute children’s storybooks, set up libraries, and spread the joy of reading to children of orphanages and children’s homes throughout the world.
4. Scholatic’s Read Everyday. Lead a Better Life  program is a global literacy campaign that underscores the importance of reading to better prepare children who will need strong literacy skills to survive and succeed in the 21st century.
5. Literacy Bridge’s mission is to empower children and adults with tools for knowledge sharing and literacy learning, as an effective means towards advancing education, health, economic development, democracy, and human rights.
6. Festival of Children Foundation was founded in 2002 by Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, a leading business professional and children’s advocate who saw an opportunity to bring charities together to collaborate. They currently serve over 400 member organizations nationwide that support an endless number of causes, from cancer research to arts programs for children.
7. Adolescent Literacy (Adlit.org) is a national multimedia project offering information and resources to the parents and educators of struggling adolescent readers and writers. Their mission is to distill literacy research and share best-practice information to as many people as possible through the power and reach of the Internet.
8. Highlights For Children is committed to the belief that children experience fun and joy when they use their innate creativity, curiosity, thinking ability, and imagination. Their commitment to the motto “Fun with a Purpose” can still be found on every page of Highlights magazine and in an expanding family of products. (I grew up on this magazine and I credit it for fostering my creativity, curiosity, imagination, and critical thinking skills. It is one of the few magazine subscriptions I highly recommend for a home dedicated to helping a child develop creatively.)
9. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. In 1996, Dolly Parton launched Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Dolly’s Imagination Library became so popular that in the year 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Currently over 1600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to almost 700,000 children each and every month.
10. Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI) is a non-profit that works with teachers to transform instruction so that children can become powerful readers, writers, and thinkers. Their goal is to close the gap in literacy achievement between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers. Early reading = lifelong success, so they know there is no stronger lever for improving student outcomes than giving teachers high-impact instructional strategies. They invest in schools by providing training and coaching  to teachers and administrators and quality children’s books to classrooms. They work school by school—pre-kindergarten through third grade—to strengthen instruction and create a culture of literacy. Over the past 10 years, teachers coached by CLI have taught more than one million children. 

I hope one or more of these choices has inspired you. I can’t think of any greater gift than helping those who don’t have the same advantages everyone else has. When it comes to literacy, this is one right ALL humans should possess.

One of the things I am proud of, and always will be, is the community of bloggers of which I am a member.

This community is made up of the most diverse individuals who I would have never met otherwise. Included in this group are readers, writers, critics, moms, dads – nearly every type of person: those of many races, beliefs, and opinions.

Among these are those I value the most: educators.

It is not an easy job, and sometimes not appreciated as much as they deserve.

Not long ago, I wrote an essay/commentary titled “A Canon Under Fire“. It was inspired by a situation that caused me to evaluate my own opinion on high school English curricula. Shortly thereafter, a discussion began on Twitter during which an English teacher, who is also a book blogger, brought up some excellent points and insights.

She followed up by leaving the following comment on that post. I reproduce it here, in its entirety (and with permission), as I wanted my readers to see an educator’s perspective.

Thank you Becky for your time and willingness to share. I applaud the work you do and the effort you make  to help your students in every way you know possibly how.  

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Wow. As an English teacher, who teaches both AP courses and regular courses, I have to say that the scenario your post centers on is not foreign to me. Every year I have a student who is either not allowed to read one of the pieces I’ve selected, or whose parents ask for a lengthy explanation behind its validity. I know, it’s my job, so I readily do my best to accommodate. A lot of times, the “canon” or “classics” are taught as a way of setting a literary foundation so that students see the progression that American and British literature have undergone. It’s HARD work, but there are definitely ways of drawing students into the canon so that they find personal connections, and ways of seeing the reasons a piece might have endured for so long. No, we don’t stick just to the oldies, but it’s funny how you’re “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” If you do teach them, people want you to teach more “relevant,” contemporary pieces. If you don’t teach them, people feel that you haven’t adequately exposed students to the foundation pieces of that curriculum. It’s a hard line to walk, and I know that with each year, I try to mix things up, and take away the best…tossing the worst! Who would have thought that my students would love what I had them do with Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (all read in class as a performance), and hate the contemporary short stories I shared with them out of Asia? In the end, I take responsibility, and have reevaluated my unit plans.

I really think that teachers need to already have a plan in place for possible accommodations, where they have to give a student another option. I also think though, that parents should get a global view behind why a novel is being taught before demanding it not be taught at all. If someone flat out told me that I couldn’t teach something, I’d be pretty gutted, because I wouldn’t have put it in place if I hadn’t thought through how I wanted to use it! Just this year I had a mother who refused to allow her daughter to read Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, on the grounds that it’s “dirty,” and that women don’t feel that way. Because it was an AP course, I couldn’t excuse her from the novel, but gave her some alternatives.

The funny thing is though, that her banning from this book caused a real stir in my other classes, and we had several days of in-depth conversations about expectations we place on wife, mothers, and women. The conversations were fantastic, AND that test ended up being on the AP exam! By the way, to the commenter, please be aware that many AP programs are trying to grade students NOT according to where they will score on the AP exam, but on their progression across a hard, rigorous curriculum. I have no doubt that I probably have students that scored an A-/B+ in my class who probably showed up on the day of the test and didn’t pass.

Do I feel those students are prepared for college? Absolutely. The difference…they didn’t get credit and will be taking literature courses rather than jumping ahead. In my opinion, high school students are at a severe disadvantage when it comes to the the AP Literature Exam, as they don’t have the brain development and life experience to really “get” it. That’s a hard test, and we go into it with a full understanding that they have a lot they have to do to prepare for that test. I think it’s pretty unfair to say, “Ok. You did all the assignments, read all the pieces, but can’t intellectually understand the plight of an unhappily married wife and mother, so I’m going to dock your grade.”

We give them the skills to get there, but they can’t all wrap their heads around it, and I can’t just fail them. Most of my students work their tails off, and do all they can to pull a high B, high A in AP, but still might not pass the test. We do our best, but that’s the nature of using a test to quantify what a student knows. Honestly, I don’t give A+, but can say that there will be some students that will not do well on the test, even after all we’ve done to prepare them.

Listen, I get what you’re saying, and I don’t think kids are better prepared for college, because very few of them are motivated. To that end, I have my opinions (need more integration of technology and possible splitting of schools according to skill), but watered down curriculum comes as much from outside pressure as it does to a teacher’s lack. Sometimes, as with the situation created in the article, a teacher feels defeated and does whatever makes parents, students, and administrators off their case. Is that good? No, but I see why it happens. Thankfully, it’s not happening for all of us.

In the end, there should obviously be differences in expectations and curriculum for the different types of classes. Communication between all involved, and some accommodations in place “just in case,” would probably have solved a lot of the bad scenarios presented.

Becky
One Literature Nut…

To understand literature, students must explore it by reading, thinking, and writing about it. According to the editors of Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama :

Through the weave of literary works and literary voices, students comprehend what a human enterprise literature is – the work of talented individuals like themselves. Not only do students explore what and how literature means – interpretation and analysis – but also two fundamental questions about it: How is it made, and how is it related to us?

“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, “I Like Guys” by David Sedaris (which is also a chapter in his book Naked), “Survivor Type” by Stephen King, and “The Crack Cocaine Diet” by Laura Lippman were four stories included on the reading list of an elective English course offered to upperclassmen at Campbell High School in Litchfield, New Hampshire.

They are no longer on that list.

After objections were made by a group of parents, which were then supported by the school’s superintendant, a school board meeting was called and the stories were pulled.

The parents are upset over the content of the stories which include: abortion, homosexuality, drug use, murder, and rape. (Insert obligatory comment regarding the content of several of Shakespeare’s works here.)

The department head approved these stories as she felt they were not only relevant, but would engage the student in a way classic literature could not. She and the teacher of the course understand “the importance of literature as a means to prompt meaningful discussion about many issues, similar to our prior discussion of mental health, racial equality, and the Holocaust.”

Remember, this is an elective. Since it is optional, it would make sense that the required English courses already have the students reading the classics.

These stories were not meant to be read alone. Through reading and then discussing them, students would learn the mechanics of literature and more. They would be asked to to find meaning not only in the story but how it was constructed. How the author used his or her skills in developing a piece of work that engages the reader, making them think about what they are reading, to question the characters decisions, reactions; to learn from what they do right, and what they do wrong.

The double-edged sword of diligence

As a parent, I kept up with what my son was reading in high school. If I disagreed with a book (and this only happened once), it was usually on the grounds that he was asked to read something far above his level. He wasn’t enrolled in an AP/Honors class, so I saw no need in him being assigned a book like The Iliad. It only fueled his belief that literature was old, boring, and assigned by teachers who couldn’t bother to develop a different curriculum for each of her classes. (Regular versus AP or Honors). Yes the discussions differed, as did the test questions. But that wasn’t the point. My son was almost completely turned  off of thinking literature could be enjoyed. Luckily having an avid bibliophile like his mother and grandmother around, this crisis was averted.

I do believe parents should be diligent about what their children are doing in school. However, to the extent of the effect they had in New Hampshire: the pulling of several short stories and the eventual resignation of a well respected and loved department head – well, this goes too far.

As a result, a panel will be put together made of of parents, students, teachers, and administrators to help determine future reading lists. But this doesn’t detract from the fall-out of the reactionary attitude of the superintendant who, without much thought, threw a fellow educator under the bus and force Litchfield into the limelight – and not a very flattering one at that.

After learning about this story, I did some research and found an article that makes some excellent points. I don’t agree with all of them, but it is clear headed, and looks at the issue from an angle I think that panel in New Hampshire should take into account.

In, “Stories by David Sedaris, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, & Laura Lippman banned from English Class”, Michelle Kerns gets right to the heart of the matter:

“What is the purpose of high school English classes?

I would add, or clarify the above by adding: What curricula best suits regular English classes, AP/Honors classes, or electives.

There is a big difference between courses that are required, those that are optional, and advanced placement classes which are geared towards those students wanting to be better prepared for college.

In the New Hampshire dust-up, the course in question is an elective: optional. I bring this up, as optional courses are just that, and reading lists for these courses should reflect a selection not found in those that are required.

In her article, Kerns states reading and writing is an art. But they are more – much more. They are tools to a better understanding of culture and the world around us, which is made up of more than just the canon set forth by a generation that obviously doesn’t have the pulse of the current one.

I am not saying that works by Shakespeare, Steinbeck, or Fitzgerald should be shelved and left to collect dust. But that works by Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, Flannery O’Connor, and others can engage the student with more relevant themes.

The editors in their introduction to Literature and Its Writers, explain:

We read stories, poems, and plays for many reasons. When you allow yourself to become fully immersed in an author’s words and ideas, you can bring to life an imaginary world that can tell you something about your own everyday reality. As a student of literature, you will find that the stories, poems , and plays…will often enable you to view life with a new clarity as you relate what you have read to your own experience.

In looking at the stories pulled, I see one in particular that is referred to, or included in many anthologies about reading and writing: “Hills Like White Elephants” by Hemingway. This work not only epitomizes his skill in developing a plot through dialogue, the story teaches writers (and readers) about the power of subtext. Hemingway’s story is an excellent example of both these aspects of dialogue and plot.

Here is where I disagree with Kerns. She states, quite vehemently:

But do I think the short stories used in the Chapman High School curriculum were the most appropriate examples to use from the talented authors? No. Do I think that there should be much MORE attention paid to classic authors in a high school English class? Yes. Do I think that the Chapman High School English classes were being hijacked by an agenda that did NOT include proficiency in English literature? Oh, hell, yes.

Uh. No. Hemingway’s story IS an appropriate example to use. As for the other stories, I will concede that better ones can be found. And yes, classic authors should be studied. However it should be recognized that there are contemporary authors who cover the same themes just as well, if not better.

And how is it that you can say, without being part of the class discussion in which the teacher helps the student connect the thematic and literary dots, that there is no way they were becoming more proficient in English literature? Oh, yes, that ‘canon’ thing. That very ideology that nearly ensured my son’s permanent distaste for reading.

Hijacked by an agenda?

It is this contention that has fueled the uproar more than any other: not the banning of the stories, not even their content or appropriateness. As Kerns pointed out earlier in her piece, “The only portion of this story that will be bandied about…will be whether or not parents should have the right to have literature that does not line up with their personal belief systems banned from high school classes.” The parents who objected did in fact raise the “agenda” banner, waving it about to get attention and prove their point. This fits in with Kerns assertion that “ANY English class that is diluted by a political or social science agenda is going to suffer…The end result will be high school graduates that go tripping off to college lacking the English literature foundation they sorely need.”

So if isn’t considered a classic, then it has no place in high school? They can wait to read that relevant contemporary stuff in college?

Well, by then it’s too late. We aren’t talking merely about teaching them literature as we are trying to instill in them that reading is good. It’s entertaining, enlightening, and thought-provoking. It will take you places and show you things you may never be exposed to otherwise. Writing about it will further this process, as well as teach one the finer points of interpretation and expression of one’s ideas and opinions.

So what is the answer?

There is no clear cut answer, no cookie cutter way of pleasing everyone, everywhere, every time. Parents do need to be involved in their child’s education. That is a given. However, a school board should never have subjugated themselves in such a fashion. It sets a precedence for those in the ideological majority believing they are justified in taking away the choices of those in the minority.

Upperclassmen curricula should take into account whether or not the course is required, upper level (AP), or an elective. There cannot be one set of standards for all English classes. Elective reading lists should be developed by educators working with parents and students. It must be made readily available. 

The Western canon is that which many required classes should look to for guidance, however, it fails to offer a wider point of view that is necessary to understand our ever increasing diversity. In looking at the current canon, it is deficient in that regard. If students are truly supposed to be prepared for the world, and college, then greater attention must be paid to contemporary writers and themes.

Sounds like an agenda, doesn’t it? And perhaps it is.

But I would rather have one that builds a better person, as it does a reader and a writer, than simply an automaton full of knowledge and little appreciation for the reality of the human condition.

Articles and Resources:

• Stories by David Sedaris, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, & Laura Lippman banned from English class by Michelle Kerns
• Literature and Its Writers: A Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama edited by Ann Charters and Samuel Charters
• Top English Teacher Leaving Campbell by Albert McKeon, Nashua Telegraph
• Board To Review List of Stories After Uproar by Joseph G. Cote. Nashua Telegraph