“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
Sydney J. Harris
Connecting with Literature

E
M
C

Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?
A Study of Recent High School Graduates, College Instructors, and Employers.*
1. High school graduates, college instructors, and employers agree that students are significantly underprepared in writing and math.
2. Areas in which there are gaps include graduates’ abilities to read and understand complicated material, think analytically, apply what they learn to real-world problems, and communicate orally.
3. A low percentage of graduates surveyed said they were challenged in high school. A large majority of graduates said they would have worked harder in high school if more challenging courses had been offered.
*
Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies prepared for Achieve, Inc., Feb. 2005.

Closing the Gap Between High School
Graduation and College Readiness
Preparing Students for College and Work
“…a strong positive relationship exists between the amount and kind of high school coursework students take and their readiness for college. The more courses students take and the more challenging those courses, the more likely these students will be college ready and will persist to a college degree.”
(Crisis at the Core; Preparing All Students for College.)
J. David Armstrong, Jr., Chancellor Division of Community Colleges and Workforce
Education; Cheri Pierson Yecke, Ph.D, Chancellor, K-12 April 18, 2006 , Florida
Department of Education

from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
“Getting It Right at Ground Zero” by Rudolph Giuliani / “Land of the Living” by Lucy Kaplansky / “On This Day in 2001” by Garrison Keillor
Connecting with Literature
“The Rising of the Moon” by Lady
Augusta Gregory
“Catch the Moon” by Judith Ortiz Cofer
“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
Sydney J. Harris
“Learning to Love America” by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim
“The Ravine” by Graham Salisbury

• Engaging and motivating readers with
three types of connections to the text
• Three levels of reading support: guided, directed, independent
• Gradual release of responsibility leads students to become independent learners
• Assessment practice after selections
(gr. 9-12) and at end of unit (all grades)

1. Text-to-Self Connections
Reader’s Context questions before reading
Mirrors & Windows questions after reading
2. Text-to-Text Connections (three types)
Informational Text Connection
Primary Source Connections
Literature Connections
3. Text-to-World Connections (cross–curricular)
Science Culture
History
Literary
World History
Humanities
Social Studies

• Eight units
• Emphasis on theme (“Meeting the Unexpected,”
“Facing Challenges,” etc.)
• Highlighting genre within each theme
– Two units on fiction
– Two units on nonfiction (literary and informational)
– Two units on poetry
– One unit on drama
– One unit on the oral tradition
• Introducing independent reading at the end of each unit

• Six units
• Emphasis on genre
– Unit 1: Fiction
– Unit 2: Nonfiction
– Unit 3: Poetry
– Unit 4: Drama
– Unit 5: Folk Literature
• Emphasis on independent reading
– Unit 6: Independent Reading (Strategies and Skills)
– Units 1-5 end with a collection of independent readings organized by theme

A. Guided Reading (ATE Red background)
1. Model–“The Open Window”
2. Understanding the Plot–3 selections
B. Directed Reading (ATE Blue background)
1. Understanding Point of View—2 selections
2. Understanding Character—2 selections
3. Understanding Setting—3 selections
4. Understanding Theme—3 selections
C. Independent Reading (ATE Green background)
1. Theme: Choices
2. Twelve selections

Revised Bloom’s
Taxonomy
Mirrors & Windows
Middle School Program
Mirrors & Windows High
School Program
Remembering
Understanding
Applying
Analyzing
Evaluating
Creating
Find Meaning:
(Remember)
(Understand)
Make Judgments:
(Apply)
(Analyze)
(Evaluate)
(Create)
Refer to Text:
(Remember)
Reason with Text: Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create

*EMC Access Editions featured at appropriate grade levels

EMC Titles Lexile Level *
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque
• The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London
• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• Hamlet by Shakespeare
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• High Elk’s Treasure by Virginia Driving Sneve
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
• Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
• My Ántonia by Willa Cather
• Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• Othello by William Shakespeare
990L
950L
830L
900L
1120L
1160L
1170L
760L
1200L
NP*
1020L
820L
890L
800L
NP*
1010L
900L
590L
1370L

• Emphasis on chronology & literary analysis
• Nine units divided into parts based on theme or literary movements
• Highlights
– Understanding Literary Forms
– Author Focus
– Comparing Literature
– Understanding Literary Criticism
– Literature of the Americas (Grade 11) and Literature of the
World (Grade 12)
– Development of the English Language (Grade 12)
• Independent readings at the end of each part

• Chronological organization: Time periods divided into parts based on themes and literary movements
• In-depth literature study: Author
Focus & Understanding Literary
Forms
• Emphasis on literary analysis:
Comparing Literature and
Understanding Literary Criticism
Assessment practice after selections and at end of unit

Unit Opener
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Time Lines cover Literature, American, and World History
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Author Focus
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Understanding Literary Forms
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Focus on the Novel
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Understanding Literary Criticism workshops focus on six major theories of criticism.
1. Reader-response criticism
2. Biographical-historical criticism
3. Psychological criticism
4. Political criticism
5. Sociological criticism
6. Feminist-Gender criticism

Understanding Literary Criticism
Grade 11, Expanding Frontiers (Unit 4)

Comparing Literature
Grade 11, The Modern Era (Unit 5)

Multiple Selections by Authors

Rigorous Literary Topics

• Grammar and Style
• Vocabulary and Spelling
• Comparing Literature
• Connections
• End-of-Unit materials
– For Your Reading List
– Speaking and Listening Workshop
– Writing Workshop
– Test-Taking Workshop

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
Sydney J. Harris
Connecting with Literature