YA [ Sports ] Literature as a Vehicle for Promoting Teen Reading - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Alan Brown Wake Forest University

ALAN Workshop November 23, 2015

To cite this presentation: Brown, A. (2015, November). YA [sports] literature as a vehicle for promoting teen reading. Workshop breakout session at the annual meeting of the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN), Minneapolis, Minnesota.

YA [Sports] Literature as a Vehicle for Promoting Teen Reading

Examining Assumptions & Beliefs (Promoting a Sound Mind and Body)

• Participation in sports builds character.
• Participation in sports reveals character.
• Winning is what sports are all about.
• Winning is what life is really about.
• Sports play a major role in the social culture of secondary schools.
• Sports are overemphasized in the social culture of secondary schools.
• Athletics prevent students from prioritizing academics.
• Sports keep students in school.

Adapted from Smith, M. W., & Wilhelm, J. D. (2002). Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. pp. 85-86.

Connecting Academics and Athletics

*

Sports are…

*among the most popular extra-curricular activities in

secondary schools

*among the most likely school-based extra-curricular activities

to keep at-risk students in good academic standing

*an entry point into various forms of literacy, particularly for

adolescent males

*rarely a topic of meaningful academic conversation in

secondary classrooms

*one of many extra-curricular interests that offer a “tension

with the schoolishness of school” (Whitney, 2011).

Motivation for English teachers and literacy educators from Parsons (2014)… “I began my teaching career convinced that athletics was a minefield easier left unexplored with my students— easier for me, because it is difficult to complicate and nudge students toward thinking critically about that which they take for granted. But it was the study of English that offered me the tools I needed to dismantle and rebuild the lens through which I viewed athletic competition and nearly every cultural paradigm to which I had subscribed. And the result has been a far richer, more life-affirming connection to my past, my physicality, my gender, and the world at large. I want no less for my students” (p. 14).

Instead of asking why students aren’t reading…

I like to ask…

What are students doing instead of reading? In what literacy practices are students already engaged? How can we as educators promote existing literacy practices? How can we use books to develop and extend extra-curricular interests? Through these books, how can we push students toward new ideas, understandings, and ways of being in the world?

Adapted from Brown & Crowe (2013)

And this matters because…

The eleventh and twelfth NCTE/IRA standards: Students should become active members of a variety of literacy communities while using language to accomplish their own purposes.

Connecting Sports & Literacy through Young Adult Literature

Young Adult [Sports] Literature

From Chris Crowe’s (2004) More than a Game: Sports Literature for Young Adults

Game Novels: Formula stories about sports/athletes More-Than-A-Game Novels: Stories with more character development & subplots Sportlerroman: “Although sport may be the hook for many readers, writers of sportlerroman recognize that, for many teenagers, sport is only

• ne part of life, and that the real social and family issues of

adolescence are always more important than athletics are” (Crowe, 2004, p. 39).

Pre-Reading Activity Who is the greatest competitor?

During-Reading Activity

Read excerpt from Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. In groups of six, divvy up the following roles and create a play-by-play account of the story. Roles: Coach Arnold Roger Play-by-Play Announcer Color Analyst Field Reporter Question: What does it mean to be a competitor?

Critical Literacy “Rather than holding popular culture in judgment, he [Henry Giroux] argues, our task as critical educators is to recognize its centrality to the lives of youth and confront this culture in a sensitive and affirming, yet problematizing way” (Morrell, 2004, p. 114). “Critical lenses provide students with a way of reading their world; the lenses provide a way of ‘seeing’ differently and analytically that can help them read the culture of the school as well as popular culture” (Appleman, 2009, p. 4).

Four Dimensions of Critical Literacy (Lewison, Flint, & Sluys, 2002)

• 1. Disrupting the commonplace
• 2. Interrogating multiple viewpoints
• 3. Focusing on sociopolitical issues
• 4. Taking action and promoting social justice

Critical Sports Literacy “We seek to connect sports and critical literacy in a way that allows students—sports-minded or otherwise—to examine the pros and cons of an emphasis on sports in the world around them and allows for shared conversations where students can deconstruct—and redesign (Janks, 2014)—the meanings, values, and purposes of sports and sports culture. When educators connect sports and critical literacy, they are empowered to craft lessons centered on what we have termed critical sports literacy.” From Brown & Rodesiler (in progress).

Example: Bullying in Sports

*Bullying

Excerpt from Nailed by Patrick Jones (2006): “I outwardly ignore All-American asshole Bob Hitchings’ usual greeting as I take my seat, but the words beat me down inside. It’s first period on the first day of my junior year in English class, the great melting pot that makes big fat fibbers out of Our Founding Fathers. All men are not created equal; some are smarter, some are stronger. If Jefferson, Madison, and the rest of their ilk had spent a day at Southwestern, they would have flushed that claptrap right down the toilet. I’m smarter than a lot

• f people in this room, more talented in the things that matter to
• me. But guys like Hitchings, who are stronger than most people,

and guys like me, who are smarter than most people, are not

• equals. A born athlete, Hitchings cares about kicking a football,

capturing a wrestling pin fall, and catching a baseball. I’m a born artist who cares about books, music, and theater. In my eyes, he isn’t better than me, nor am I better than him; we’re just different, and different is okay with me” (p. 26).

Theme: Not like Me The Hoopster by Alan Lawrence Sitomer Mexican WhiteBoy by Matt de la Peña Out of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Black and White by Paul Volponi Boy21 by Matthew Quick Literary Connections: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Boy21 by Matthew Quick

Sample Assignment:

• Read the Preface from Boy21
• Respond to the following questions:
• What are three questions you would like answered

about this book based on the information provided in the Preface?

• What is one aspect of the Preface to which you can

relate personally?

• What is one aspect of the Preface to which you cannot

relate personally?

* Pleasure Reading * Literary Analysis * Critical Thinking * Oral Discussion * Fiction * Nonfiction * Informational Texts * Poetry * Graphic Texts * Writing (Narrative,

Descriptive, Analytical, Artistic)

* Media * Social Media * Inquiry * Statistical Analysis

Advantages of Connecting Sports and Literacy

Ideas for Connecting Books and Ball

• Classroom book talks (from librarians…or athletic coaches)
• Sports literature courses (offered as electives through the English

Department)

• Collaboration with librarians (library scavenger hunt via student

interest surveys)

• Collaboration with coaches (football summer reading)
• Fantasy sports leagues (in the media center)
• School newspaper book reviews (in the sports section)
• Sports movie marathons (for students who read ## books)
• Read-a-thon fundraisers (for athletic teams)

*

* Start Date – After-school bus (mid-October) * Recruitment – At-risk students / Student-athletes * Support – Teachers, coaches, and administrators * Schedules – Student-athletes * Retention – Sports seasons / Semesters * Incentives – Snacks and out-of-school opportunities * Grants – Books and supplies * University Students – Gender / NCAA

Resources

http://sportsliteracy.wordpress.com/

Themed Issue of English Journal A Whole New Ballgame: Sports and Culture in the English Classroom

Guest Editors: Alan Brown (Wake Forest University) Chris Crowe (Brigham Young University) September 2014

Developing Contemporary Literacies through Sports: A Guide for the English Classroom Book submitted for publication by Alan Brown and Luke Rodesiler Sections:

• 1. Facilitating Literature Study
• 2. Providing Alternatives to Traditional Novels
• 3. Teaching Writing
• 4. Engaging Students in Inquiry & Research
• 5. Fostering Media & Digital Literacies
• 6. Promoting Social Justice
• 7. Developing Out-of-School Literacies

SIGNAL Journal

Call for Manuscripts: Spring/Summer 2016 Theme: The Role of Sports in Young Adult Literature Deadline: February 1, 2016

http://www.signal-ya.org/index.php/signalj/call4manuscripts

Questions / Comments: Alan Brown Assistant Professor of English Education Wake Forest University brownma@wfu.edu http://sportsliteracy.wordpress.com/

References

(For any other references, please contact the presenter.)

Appleman, D. (2009). Critical encounters in high school English: Teaching literary theory to adolescents (2nd ed.). New York: Teaches College Press/NCTE. Brown, A., & Crowe. C. (2013). Ball Don’t Lie: Connecting adolescents, sports, & literature. The ALAN Review. 41(1), 76-80. Crowe, C. (2004). More than a game: Sports literature for young adults. Lantham, MD: Scarecrowe Press. Gee, J. P . (2007). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Janks, H. (2014). Critical literacy’s ongoing importance for education. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(5), 349-356. Jones, P . (2006). Nailed. New York: Walker and Company. Lewison, M., Flint, A. M., & Van Sluys, K. (2002). Taking on critical literacy: The journey of newcomers and

• novices. Language Arts, 79(5), 382-392.

Morrell, E. (2004). Linking literacy and popular culture: Finding connections for lifelong learning. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc. Parsons, C. (2014). The redemptive power of sports in the writing classroom. English Journal, 104(1), 13-18. Smith, M. W., & Wilhelm, J. D. (2002). Reading Don’t Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. pp. 85-86. Whitney, A. E. (2011). In search of the authentic English classroom: Facing the schoolishness of school. English Education, 44(1), 51-62.