Follow us:
DR. BICKMORE'S YA WEDNESDAY
  • Blog
  • Contributors
  • Weekend Picks 2021
  • Weekend Picks 2020
  • UNLV online Summit 2020
  • YA Course Fall 2019
  • Bickmore's Posts
  • Weekend Picks 2019
  • Weekend Picks old
  • English Education, CIL 642 Resources
  • Contact
  • Music and YA
  • Zeiter LDC
  • YA Research
  • About
  • National Book Award for Young People's Literature
  • Books I Just Happen to Like
  • Writers as a Positive Influence
  • 2018 Summit
    • 2019 Summit on Teaching YA
    • YA Course Fall 17
  • Untitled

Come See the Toe Tag Monologues at #NCTE17!

11/15/2017

0 Comments

 
What does a dramatic performance by a 13-year-old have to do with English Language Arts or with Young Adult literature, for that matter?

Too often, classroom English instruction is removed from the concerns and activities of the adolescents we are trying to teach. We know that many of our students are carrying baggage right below the surface.  Byron Stringer, the director of the Toe Tag Monologues would symbolically call this baggage a toe tag. Some toe tags can be removed, but others are the real markers that police, EMTs, and coroners place on the toes of those adolescents who die from shooting, bully, drunk drive, abuse, and suicide.

The classic texts are rife with the very issues that modern students face: racism, broken homes, betrayal, substance abuse, and greed. Name a vice in a piece of classic literature, and it exists today.  Many of use believe that culturally responsive pedagogy is important in the classroom. Equally important are activities that are empathetic, that break down the emotional barriers that might keep us from really connecting with students who needs us to support them through the actual life threatening challenges of their lives.

R. Byron Stringer theatrical troupe address through Toe Tag Monologues. Through assemblies at schools these young performers bring awareness to the issues that effect the lives of students. In most cases, after a school performance students approach the actors and share with them that one of the stories they just heard is their stories. Byron hears reports for teachers, school counselors, and administrators indicate an increased number of students who open up to them and their friends.

Our goal is to promote the idea that students in classroom settings can write and perform their own monologues. In addition, we promote the ideas that the topics of these monologues exist in young adult literature as well as in the classics. If the issue of body image is to close to a student, then perhaps reading a YA novel that centers on the issue might help them write a monologue in the voice of the character. 

This is, of course, not new; however it seems that in the age of constant testing we have neglected drama as way to let students practice speaking and listening through performance. Come watch and listen to these performers as we explore strategies to include more writing that moves to performance in the classroom.
Using YA to find and define an Identity.
Nuts and Bolts for helping the Novice Teacher
Remixing and Going Digital!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Dr. Bickmore is an associate professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and the current president elect of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

    Co-Edited Books

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    Categories

    All
    Chris-lynch

    Blogs to Follow

    nerdybookclub
    http://blogs.ncte.org/  
    yalsa.ala.org/blog/

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly