TERI LESESNE

YA Goddess, Professor Nana

WHO IS TERI LESESNE?

Author
Specializes in Young Adult Literature
Frequently does in-person workshops for teachers
Former middle school teacher
Current professor at Sam Houston State University in the
Department of Library Science
Teaches

classes in literature for children and young adults,

specificially

AWARDS, RECOGNITIONS, &

MEMBERSHIPS
Active Young Adult Library Services Association
(YALSA) member
Served on the Printz 2010 Committee
Member of the Young Adult Library Services
(YALS) Editorial Board
Recipient of the 2007 Assembly on Literature for
Adolescents (ALAN) award

LESESNE ON HER BACKGROUND:

It is when I start writing about my experiences with teens and books and reading
that I realize how long it is that I have been in this business (translation: how OLD I
am!). I started as a middle school English teacher in the 70s. YA literature was still
new, but it found its way into my classroom, onto my bedside table, and into my
heart. I read aloud to my eighth graders. I nagged (um, kept talking to) teachers on
my team to set up a time after our students returned from lunch that became our
daily silent reading time. Eventually, this crazy idea (of giving kids time to read,
having books in the classroom, sprawling on the floor) caught on and we had school
wide silent reading every day.

As I continued my education, I thought it might be fun to

teach literature for children and young adults at the university
level. I completed my doctorate and landed a job in the
Department of Library Science at Sam Houston State
University. Here I was, an English teacher by training with a
new doctorate in literature for children and teens, working
with folks who had been school librarians before coming to
the department. Instead of feeling like a duck out of water,
these librarians welcomed me into their world and allowed
me to work with preservice and inservice teachers and
librarians. I am now a twenty year veteran of the department
and still love what it is that I do: I talk about books and
reading and connecting kids to books.

BOOKS

MAKING THE MATCH

It is of the utmost importance to discover what adolescents care about
Typical teenagers will want to read things that matter to them
Therefore, teachers and librarians should focus on three main concepts to
match readers with books they will love:
You have to know the reader
Know the theories in the development of adolescents (including mental,
physical, moral, and social)
You have to know the books
Be familiar with various forms, formats, and genres of YA
You have to know the strategies
Concrete ideas for motivating students to read

NAKED READING
age-related patterns of young adults;
evolving interests for young adults;
motifs and plots young adults find most captivating;
Annotations for children's and YA literature most
appropriate for adolescents;
practical classroom activities for igniting young adult
commitment to reading.

Also contains specific titles to help connect students with books that will
appeal to them the most

READING LADDERS
Many of us are searching continually for that just-right book for each and every one of our
students. It is my hope to help you find those books. More importantly, I hope to help you
guide students to the next great book and the one after that. That is the purpose of
Reading Ladders. Because it is not sufficient to find just one book for each reader.
-Teri Lesesne

*select books to create reading ladders for your students

*build a classroom library that supports every student's needs
*foster content-area knowledge and build independent readers
*assess where students begin and end on their reading ladders.

LESENSES MAIN CONCERNS

Young Adult Literature can, and should, be incorporated into middle and high school
classroom curriculums.
Teachers should model good reading and writing habits.
Adolescents should be able to read whatever they want.
Literature that adolescents are exposed to should mirror their lives and interests.
There should be no such thing as a taboo topic.
Typical teenage plotlines can be, an often are, atypical.
Graphic novels can be great supplements to the classroom.
Fostering a love of reading should be a primary concern on the part of the educator.

CENSORSHIP IN THE CLASSROOM

According to the American Library Association, or the ALA, A challenge is an attempt to
remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is
the removal of those materials. Out of hundreds of books that are challenged per year,
only a tiny minority actually make it through to the banning process.

Once a book is challenged for content, the book will be passed on for review by a
committee or board who will then determine whether or not to remove it from the shelf.

Depending on the outcome, these rulings can end up at the Supreme Court where a final
ruling will be issued (that can never be challenged again).

CENSORSHIP, CONT.
Jane Agee, in her article on The Effects of Censorship on Experienced High School
English Teachers,says that A teachers willingness to take risks with text selections [is]
related to several specific factors. Strong support from school and district administrators,
department chairs, and colleagues [is] particularly important to the stances of teachers who
[seek] to include diverse contemporary texts.

So, what that basically means is that what you are protected to teach depends highly on
your school board and administrators. Also, because challenged material usually becomes
challenged by the hands of parents, schools usually select texts based on individual
community standards. So, the odds are that if I want to a challenged book in my
classroom, Ill need to send a permission slip home before Im actually allowed to teach that
material, or any material, that is frequently challenged.

What kinds of things

should teachers keep
in mind when
developing lifetime
readers?

DEVELOPING LIFETIME READERS

1. Lifetime readers are made, not born.
If we do not teach children to love reading AS we teach them to read, our efforts
will be all in vain.
2. Children and young adults need role models to emulate.
Teachers and parents MUST be readers themselves.
3. Children and young adults need time in school to read for pleasure.
4. Free reading can be used to develop lifetime readers.

If students are provided time to read, appropriate reading materials, the opportunity to share reading
experiences with others,' and reading guidance which remains focused on interests, they develop
positive associations with reading.
The pleasure of reading can then include the pleasure of knowledge and thought
Students who find reading pleasurable are those who are most likely to develop lifetime habits of
reading.

5. A curriculum rich in response will aid in the development of lifetime readers.

Students need the opportunity to respond to materials with their own personal
reactions.

INSPIRING STUDENTS TO LOVE

READING

What are traditional symbols of love?

What symbols would we use

for our love of books?

HOW TO FOLLOW & INTERACT WITH

DR. LESESNE
Follow her on Twitter @ProfessorNana
Follow her Tumblr, Nerdy Book Club
Visit her website, www.professornana.com
Look up some of her presentations at
www.slideshare.net/ProfessorNana
Or, check out her books at the Mary and Jeff Bell Library here
on campus.
Making the Match Z1037.A1 L47
Naked Reading Z1037.A1 L48

REFERENCES
Lesesne, T. (2012, February 1). Developing a love of reading in our students. Retrieved
from http://blog.stenhouse.com/archives/2012/02/01/developing-a-love-ofreading-in-our-students/
Lesesne, T. (2010, September 29). Teri S. Lesesne. Voya. Retrieved from
http://www.voyamagazine.com/2010/09/29/teri-s-lesesne/
Making the match. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.stenhouse.com/content/makingmatch
Naked reading: Uncovering what tweens need to become lifelong readers. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Reading-Uncovering-LifelongReaders/dp/157110416X/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Teri Lesesne. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.heinemann.com/authors/4820.aspx