A Web Site Every Literature Teacher Should Visit

Whether you’re a classroom teacher or a homeschooling parent, the Great Books Foundation is an essential resource for those who teach literature to teens. Here’s how the foundation describes itself:

The Great Books Foundation is an independent, nonprofit educational organization with a mission to help people think and share ideas. Towards this end, the Foundation offers workshops in Shared Inquiry discussion and publishes collections of classic and modern texts for both children and adults.

The Great Books Foundation was established in 1947 to promote liberal education for the general public. In 1962, the Foundation extended its mission to children with the introduction of Junior Great Books. Since its inception, the Foundation has helped thousands of people throughout the United States and in other countries begin their own discussion groups in schools, libraries, and community centers. Today, Foundation instructors conduct hundreds of workshops each year, in which educators and parents learn to lead Shared Inquiry discussion.

Shared Inquiry discussion is one of the best ways to explore literature, and I have used it in my classroom with great results.  I was introduced to Shared Inquiry discussion by reading this helpful Shared Inquiry tutorial found on the Great Books Foundation web site.

Another helpful area is the page of discussion guides for almost 50 books, including such works as Jane Eyre, Emma, Dubliners, The Divine Comedy, Moby-Dick, My Antonia, Leaves of Grass, and Machiavelli’s The Prince.

I applaud the work of the Great Books Foundation and encourage everyone who cares about helping teens develop into literate thinkers to visit Greatbooks.org.