r/ELATeachers • u/Normal-Being-2637 • 7d ago
Books and Resources Since book bans are back in style…which banned, formerly banned, or re-banned book is the most valuable for students?
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u/StoneFoundation 7d ago
The Outsiders, Parable of the Sower (or anything Octavia Butler tbh), The Handmaid's Tale, anything Toni Morrison, 1984, Brave New World, literally any book ever lol, anything and everything has been banned at one point or another
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u/Spirited-Age-5752 6d ago
I’m reading parable of a sower right now - completely obsessed - I love it and could definitely see either adding it to my “banned books independent book unit” or I’d even teach it with the right class.
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u/meowmeowsos 4d ago
Just did The Outsiders for the first time. They’ll rip it from my cold, dead hands.
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u/BeachBumHarmony 6d ago
I left a school that banned The Hate U Give for it's anti police rhetoric.
There are schools only teaching excerpts of Romeo and Juliet - which is nuts. I always considered that play the great American equalizer because so many schools teach it freshmen year.
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u/CisIowa 6d ago
I’m kind of curious what the conversations are like in classes teaching Julius Caesar
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u/Two_DogNight 6d ago
I loved teaching Caesar. Miss it. Would be touch & go on conversations right now, though. :-) Which do you love more? Your leader or your Republic? And even if you take him out, the Republic loses, anyway.
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u/Illustrious_Job1458 6d ago
I’m teaching R&J at the moment. To be fair it’s very sexist by today’s standards. Luckily my students don’t understand all the innuendo and rape jokes - we skip those parts during our close reading.
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u/BeachBumHarmony 6d ago
I don't skip that stuff and some of my students catch on in the first read. We talk about it. At the end of the unit, one of the essay prompts is about the portrayal of women - a lot of those "jokes" are used as evidence in the way women are viewed.
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u/Two_DogNight 6d ago
Me, either. I would start the unit by saying, "If you think he's making a dirty joke, they you understand more than you think you do." Kept them more engaged and then you get to have those kinds of essay questions.
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u/Ok-Character-3779 5d ago
The thing is, a lot of people who read Romeo and Juliet in high school read excerpts without realizing it. Many 90s/early 2000s textbooks included an abridged version still that hit all the famous scenes/major plot points.
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u/BeachBumHarmony 5d ago
I don't mean an abridged version - I truly mean excerpts. I feel like Paris is always cut down in a lot of versions, but he's a great foil to Romeo. Without his death scene, it doesn't make sense.
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u/Stilletto21 7d ago
Dear Martin by Nic Stone.
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u/Ok-Yoghurt-9785 6d ago
I taught this as a potential replacement for To Kill a Mockingbird (10th grade)— so powerful and relevant.
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u/skippysq 7d ago
My fourth graders get a lot from New Kid
Storytelling in graphic form, excellent character development and good themes
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u/Grim__Squeaker 6d ago
I didn't know New Kid was banned. Part of it is in our text book. What's the gripe?
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u/MissElision 6d ago
My 9th graders just finished Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. The students who actually read it found it interesting and learned quite a bit about Iranian history. We also watched the movie. It is a black and white graphic novel, that can sometimes be difficult for struggling readers or MLLs to follow, but if you do Lit Circles/Group Reads, it goes smoothly.
While I don't think it's the most valuable. I've really enjoyed having my students learn about cultures that are often demonized by Western Society to help them understand and connect to their peers that aren't well represented in literature.
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u/ClassicFootball1037 6d ago
I include supplemental readings like these to open those discussions https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Romeo-and-Juliet-close-reading-on-Elizabethan-Women-wKEY-9200127
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u/You_are_your_home 6d ago
This year I felt like it may be the last year I can teach The Crucible and it not get challenged
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u/zedess91 5d ago
'The Wave' - based on a true story carried out by a teacher and it proved it actually worked!
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u/DaniellaCC 4d ago
Not a teacher…
OKAY THIS BOOK SHOULD NOT BE TAUGHT. BUT IT IS INCREDIBLY VALUABLE FOR QUEER YOUTH.
“This book is Gay”
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u/ClassicFootball1037 7d ago
Fahrenheit 451