Classics in the Classroom

Reading the classics isn't easy. Students often balk at the difficult syntax, unfamiliar settings, and descriptive passages. Length alone keeps some books out of the curriculum. For a teacher to persistsometimes coaxing, sometimes drivingrequires an act of will. In Classics in the Classroom Carol Jago provides practical ideas for making these challenging texts come alive for contemporary students.

Continuing in the tradition of her popular book With Rigor for All, Jago argues that all students, not just those enrolled in honors classes, deserve to read great literature. To make this happen requires artfully crafted lessons that address specific textual challenges. In Classics in the Classroom Jago shares her lesson plans and materials for teaching:

• vocabulary
• character study
• story grammar
• literary elements
• metaphorical thinking

Carol Jago has taught English in middle and high school for 32 years and is associate director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA. She served as president of the National Council of Teachers of English and chair of the College Board's English Academic Advisory committee. Carol has published many books with Heinemann including With Rigor for All: Meeting Standards for Reading Literature; Papers, Papers, Papers; Classics in the Classroom; and Cohesive Writing: Why Concept Is Not Enough. She has also published books on contemporary multicultural authors for NCTE. Carol wrote an education column for the Los Angeles Times, and her essays continue to appear in educational journals and online forums. Carol edits California English the journal of the California Association of Teachers of English and worked on the planning committee for the 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Framework and the 2011 NAEP Writing Framework. She is a consulting author on the HMH Collections program. In 2015 Carol was awarded the International Literacy Association's Adolescent Literacy Thought Leader Award and in 2016 the CEL Exemplary Leadership Award. She has been named by the U.S. Department of Education to serve on the National Assessment Governing Board overseeing the NAEP assessments. She can be reached at cjago@caroljago.com or on Twitter @CarolJago . >> Listen to an interview with Carol Jago on Education Talk Radio - 2/23/2012 (34:20)