In ten personal narrative essays, Mr. Cassity brings humor and soul to the literary world of his classroom, spanning nearly forty years of his teaching. The author focuses on many works of literature he has introduced to his students, elementary through college, and shares with his readers the surprising and unexpected responses he encountered. Mr. Cassity shunned the use of basal texts and worksheets, using instead trade publications, novels, short stories, drama, and poetry--centered around daily writing, dialogue, and integrated reading activities. The result is a continuing classroom drama of student voices, of a teacher struggling along hilariously with his learners, of a visual history of students mapping out their own growing literary landscapes. This book is for the general reader and the educational professional alike; the world Mr. Cassity describes is a milieu that transcends the school or college, helping us to discover how our culture is moved inevitably by the power of stories.
About the Author: Michael Dennis Cassity holds the B.A. in English from California State University, Long Beach, and the M.A. in English from Colorado State University. He is the recipient of the 1988 California Educator Award in recognition of his innovative approaches in teaching literature to elementary and high school students and providing mentoring leadership in language arts workshops throughout California. In 2001 he was awarded the Gerald C. Hayward Award for Excellence in community college instruction and for his contributions to teaching and developing special education and gifted programs at the community college level in California. He has been recognized by John Hopkins University for his work with gifted and talented students and has worked as a leader in the California Literature Project and California Writing Project. He is a co-author of the three-volume "Living with Our Deepest Differences," a national First Amendment history infusion curriculum used throughout the United States in public and private schools; he co-authored "Differentiating the Core Curriculum," a California State Department framework publication for gifted and talented education. Mr. Cassity served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division in Germany, where he also was a journalist and public information liaison working with the "Stars and Stripes." He lives in Reno with his wife, Joannie, and enjoys the company of a very large library, which they share with eight grandchildren.