Writing for critical thinking and logical cohesiveness (or, how to survive the shift to common core) -- Begin with close reading -- The great Gatsby : applying the skills of close reading -- The Taming of the shrew : an introduction to Shakespeare -- Teaching Hamlet, or, How to approach the most important piece of literature ever written -- Teaching fiction writing : the importance of allowing students to create, revise, and publish -- Slaughterhouse 5 and The things they carried : appreciating postmodern approaches to fiction -- Toni Morrison's Beloved : recognizing and evaluating theme and purpose in a complex text -- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Abraham Lincoln : designing a cross-curricular unit of study.
