Category | Arts & Living

Youth literature hot topic of English dept. conference

Published on April 3, 2007 by The Sentinel

    KSU hosted the Annual Conference on Literature for
Children and Adolescents March 27-28 at the KSU conference center.

 
    Several well-known and nationally awarded authors
were in attendance, including Jim Aylesworth, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
[winner of the Newbery Medal for “Shiloh”] and Pete Hautman [National
Book award winner 2004 for “Godless”], among others.

    Several of KSU’s own professors and English education students made presentations as well. 

    “The benefit, besides getting to know authors that
write young adult literature for a living, is to be with and talk to
other teachers and future teachers who have genuine appreciation for
young adult literature,” said Dr. Aaron Levy, assistant professor of
English.

    This is Levy’s third YA literature conference at KSU.

    Levy also said that this is a great conference for
local teachers and future teachers to do a presentation; this is
exactly what Dr. Jennifer Dail’s class, Teaching Literature to Young
Adults, did.

    Reynolds Erin Davidson, Andrea Anderson, Cristobal
Cortes, Hannah Bobo, Holly Sumpter and Sheri Easton presented their own
digital stories on Pete Hautman’s book “Godless” in the session
“Literary Exploration for the You Tube Generation: Using Digital
Technology to Enhance Student Response.”

    “This project forced students to examine the text,
in depth, create a concept influenced by the book, and then figure out
a way to express that concept through pictures, music and small text
graphics,” said student Erin Davidson.

    The presentation was incredibly insightful and the
technological approach was unique and engaging on multiple levels. The
idea of digital storyboards allows for the progressive changes in
literature while integrating the many modern uses of technology.

    Today, students function on a different level, so it is important to reach them at that level.

    In a generation of Myspace, Facebook and YouTube,
digital storyboards are just what students need to get them interested
in the presentation and understanding literature.

    It is all about making the literature relevant to
students and the digital story is a great way to achieve this
connection.

    The entire conference had an overall theme of
“Multiple Literacies for the 21st Century Reader,” so each presentation
brought something fresh to the approach to young adult literature.

    “YA literature [is] an amazing teaching tool, like
no other we have,” Levy said. “It’s the one place where story connects
to our pre-teens and teens, and teachers have a common middle ground to
talk about what’s really going on with their students.”

    Levy also spoke on the creation process of his
recently completed young adult novel, “Blood Don’t Lie.” Writing
alongside his students generated material for the novel.

    Dr. Jennifer Dail also presented, alongside
Katherine Mason, in her own session entitled, “Speak Up, I Cant Hear
You: Silence as Empowerment for Females in Young Adult Novels.”

    This session examined female protagonists in popular
YA novels and their uses of silences as a means of empowerment.

    By including novels with empowered women, female
students can find a connection to the novel. Again, it comes down to
making connections to the literature for readers.

    Young adult novels are growing in popularity,
especially with the “Harry Potter” series, and there is no better time
than now for teachers to take advantage and embrace literature, making
it relevant and applicable to their world.

    The subject matter of YA literature may be
considered controversial, as Naylor discussed in her keynote address,
and many parents make attempts to ban several of her books. But this is
the stuff young adults relate to and what they want to read, so why not
create literature for young adults to enjoy?

    Teachers can reach students by using literature that is relevant to their world and their own interests.

    These connections make for fertile soil for the
growth of lifelong writers, readers and learners, and were the subject
of the entire conference.