Developing Critical Awareness at the Middle Level

Using Texts as Tools for Critique and Pleasure

Holly Johnson and Lauren Freedman

“This book balances theory and practice well and even addresses student resistance.”
— Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

Young adolescents need and want more than a diet of worksheets and rote skills that asks them to think little and talk less.

This book presents an instructional approach that mixes critique and pleasure, allowing middle-level students to read literature they enjoy while they develop critical awareness and address issues of social justice.

An IRA Book Club selection, July 2005

© 2005 | 240 pp.
ISBN 10: 0-87207-571-0 | ISBN 13: 978-0-87207-571-9

Also of interest:

Puzzle Them First!

Adolescents Talk About Reading

Critical Literacy and Writer’s Workshop

What a Character!

Related ReadWriteThink.org lesson plans:

“Crit Lit for Kids: From Critical Consciousness to Service Learning”

“Critical Perspectives: Reading and Writing About Slavery”