Texts and Lessons for Teaching Literature: with 65 fresh mentor texts from Dave Eggers, Nikki Giovanni, Pat Conroy, Jesus C olon, Tim O'Brien, J

So I teach regular level seniors and was looking for something to spice up what I already do with my kids. As a general rule, I think that the texts in the book are meant more for 8-10th graders than my kids, but the description makes no claims that it is for older students. The selections do seem engaging and while I have no intention of following the "scripts," they do suggest a variety of activities and starting points for discussion. I will probably use the texts to allow for some differentiation with my lower level students. Overall, it's not what I needed but having taught the lower grades before, I can see the quality and versatility of the selections for younger students.My real complaint for the book is that I was disappointed with its alignment to the CCSS; it almost seems like an add-on to a book that was already written. For example, the standard related to structure has been very challenging for me to teach and I was looking for some ideas. One of the texts related to this standard is a poem by Sherman Alexie (yea!), but the only guidance for the standard is a single question "What about the poem's structure makes it work?" The variation section gives a little bit more: "If these lines were typed in prose form on a page, would they still make a poem? If so, what ingredients cause that?" These aren't exactly what I consider high-quality questions since they could apply to any poetic work out there. Add to this that there are no possible answers provided, and color me disappointed.That being said, for a new teacher or someone looking to add some contemporary texts to their curriculum, this would be a valuable resource.

I read these at an AP workshop I attended. I purchased all four, but as an English teacher I use the Texts and Lessons for Teaching Literature far more than the others. It has a wealth of information on writing/reading activities for group and whole class instruction, and an assortment of mentor texts so I can use them with both my American and British lit classes. I'm glad I purchased the set, because I do use them for pairing pieces, but if I could only get one I would choose this one.

Harvey Daniels always produces fantastic teacher resources. I have several of his books and utilize them often. The only grumble I have is that I teach middle school, and several of the texts are not sixth grade appropriate. But, that does not stop me from using the rest of the texts. The reading selections are at appropriate Lexile levels. Plus, my students find the texts to be interesting and engaging.

I also have the nonfiction version of this book, and that's how I came to know of this series..wow! I seriously have almost every page of this book dog-earred because I can see myself using these lessons and texts in my classes. Some of the texts I think will be too complicated for my 8th graders, but the strategies in this book will apply to just about any text and gave me some new ideas. It's so worth the money to just have an awesome collection of texts at your fingertips if you're teaching literature or reading skills.

This is an excellent resource for teachers and homeschoolers teaching reading in literature. It includes excerpts from recently published poetry and literature that are relevant for middle-schoolers today. The reading samples are sure to encourage a lot of discussion on many topics. It includes step-by-step guidelines for teachers to implement the lessons. Covers many of the concepts outlined in the Common Core standards.

The book is a good source for the classroom teacher. I was able to use a couple of lessons after I got it. I am using the workbook to help fill in lessons with more additional practice via the activities in this book.

I needed some mentor texts for the new common core standards for grade 6 English language Arts. There are lots of great pieces in this book.I would have given it 5 stars if it had lessons with CCLS guidelines attached.

This is such a great resource for my middle school reading classroom. Having the text pieces to use is so convenient, but I also love that the activities are flexible enough that I could pull another story in and use the lesson with it. Sign me up for any future Text and Lesson publiishings!!

One of the BEST teaching resources I have ever used. I can't recommend highly enough. The text selections are short and meaningful and my students were so engaged. Texts can be used individually or followed in sequence based on reading strategy, or by theme. Amazing!