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Frederick E. Berry Library and Learning Commons

EDU 335 - Secondary School Curriculum Materials and Methods - English

Resource guide for EDU 335: Secondary School Curriculum Materials and Methods - English

Text Sets

A text set is a collection of sources that support a common theme, issue or topic. Text sets should include a variety of genres, text types, levels and formats.

Examples of material include (but are not limited to):

  • fiction (novels, picture books, short stories)
  • non fiction
  • poetry
  • images
  • newspaper and magazine articles
  • webcasts and podcasts
  • websites
  • artwork
  • songs
  • primary sources (interviews, documents, artifacts)

Creating Text Sets

What steps are involved in putting together a text set?

  1. Start with the content - what do students need to know or in other words --  what do you need to teach?
  2. Build the text set  - find material that supports the content you want to teach and want students to learn.
  3. Organize the texts - how and when will you use the texts?
  4. Creating and responding to texts - how will students work with the texts, what will they do with the texts?

A few essential questions to ask and/or issues to consider when assembling a text set.

  1. Think about the standards. What are students expected to know and be able to do? This can dictate the topics/themes chosen.
  2. What do you (the teacher) want students to know (beyond the standards)?
  3. What topics/themes/content will engage and excite students?

Analyzing Text

Primary Resources

C-SPAN Classroom

Free primary source materials for social studies teachers.

HistoryBuff.com

A nonprofit organization devoted to providing FREE primary source material for students, teachers, and history buffs. This site focuses primarily on HOW news of major, and not so major, events in American history were reported in newspapers of the time.
Sets of primary sources on specific topics.

Poetry Resources

Poetry Foundation

The children’s poet laureate aims to raise awareness that children have a natural receptivity to poetry.

Poets.org

Creative and inexpensive suggestions for making poetry a more important part of school life during April and throughout the year.

Reading Levels

TeachingBooks.net - Search for a specific book to find out the reading difficulty level of that title.
Lexile Framework for Reading

Search for a specific books or a list of books

Teacher Book Wizard

Use Quick Search to search for reading difficulty and interest level of a specific book title, or use Leveled Search to find a list of books by reading difficulty level. Includes lesson plans, more.

Audio / Visual Resources

history.com/speeches

History.com offers a collection of audio and video speeches organized by theme and historical period.
CNN Student News
Provides national and world news with background material, activities, discussion starters and teaching guides.

BBC's Witness podcasts
Witness history as told by the people who were there. Five days a week we will be talking to people who lived through moments of history to bring you a personal perspective on world events.