Mission High School (MHS) librarian, Margie Longoria shook things up at this year’s Region One Education Service Center Fall Media Conference. Her presentation session was called, “Shaking Up Shakespeare”. Longoria said it is designed to encourage communication and teamwork between English Language Arts teachers and campus librarians.
In her presentation, she helped librarians with ideas on how to work with the teachers to get reluctant readers excited about classic literature through modern retellings of classics, fairy tales, legends, and mythology. Longoria showed how young adult literature is filled with adaptations of classics. Her session also illustrated these connections in an effort to help other librarians help their teachers incorporate the young adult works into their lessons. She has found that as students identify with the modern versions, it increases the chances for them to give the original classics a try.
Margie Longoria is pictured holding an example of a modern adaptation of a classic story.