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Adolescence is one of the most difficult stages in life. It is a period filled with both physical and emotional growth, a turbulent, confusing passage from childhood to adulthood. The teen years are rife with anger, self-doubt, frustration, confusion, and alienation. Adolescents are in constant pursuit of independence. Every human being must pass through this stage of youth, for it is during adolescence that the child becomes the adult. Autonomy is the desired end result and obtaining this freedom is vital and necessary for future survival in the adult world. This unit will look at the emotional and cognitive aspects of adolescents as they are found in the world of children’s literature. The fictional young people examined here are all looked at in the context of their family situation. Four novels will serve as the foundation of this teaching unit, which will also look at the developmental and intellectual needs of the middle school student.

The average middle school student is just entering adolescence. When these students enter junior high as 5th graders, they are still children interested in toys, games, make-believe play, and the latest cartoon shows. In just three short years, an amazing transformation takes place. When the 8th graders graduate, they leave behind their dolls and trucks and replace them with records, dances, make-up, clothing, and serious thoughts of the opposite sex. The subject that interests these young people most is themselves or stories and situations about other people the same age and going through similar experiences. The student’s interest in teenage encounters can be used successfully to motivate and encourage them to read, write, analyze, discuss, and to express themselves. At the Conte Arts Magnet School, I want to provide my students with educational opportunities that will be meaningful. This curriculum unit has been designed to meet the needs of my average level 6th grade English students, who are right on the edge, developmentally, between childhood and adolescence. Though supplemental activities will be needed in the areas of grammar and spelling, most of the class work will come from the chosen works of literature and the topic of family. They encourage other teachers to mold this unit to fit the needs of their students. They might easily adapt this project for use with older students or substitute different novels, yet still employ the same philosophies, objectives, and activities. The unit has been purposely designed in an open-ended manner. The children will take from it what they need and teachers should feel free to do the same.

The heart of this unit is the adolescent, himself, and his relationship to his family. The adolescent will be viewed within the context of the family because the family plays a vital role in a teenagers search for self. Much of the frustration a teenager feels while passing through adolescence is unrecognized and ambiguous. The child blames not himself, but his parents and siblings for much of his uncertainty. Parents, in particular, are singled out. Just a short time ago, Mom and Dad were seen as benevolent protectors but now they are interfering persecutors. This is because they are the people who set the limits, who must say no. The teenager, in seeking independence, will constantly test and push those limits, thus causing conflict. These conflicts are necessary for the child’s growth, but all too often cause pain and turmoil within the family structure. Shakespeare wrote of the classic adolescent rebellion in Romeo and Juliet. Both the young lovers ignore the quarrels of their parents as well as the family law about fraternizing. They meet, fall in love, and marry in secret. Their rebellion brings about their deaths, but it also allows them to grow up. For Juliet, it is the first time she stands on her own and makes independent decisions.

Teachers can help children to move from concrete thinking to formal operations by constantly challenging them. Children need to learn in an environment that is flexible, open, daring. They need to be shaken up; their logic confronted while they are exposed to situations that will allow them to flip-flop on previous held notions. Students should share their opinions often so that they can see how others think and feel. They need to explore open-ended questions; exercise their brains by reading, thinking, speaking, and writing and, as a class, analyzing the end results of all this work.

Each student will find elements that connect directly to his real life, and yet definite challenges to the current mode of thinking exist. These books were selected because they cover a wide range of heroes, time spans, situations, and family problems. Each book has a pivotal theme that students will respond to. These books with the discussions and activities that will follow each reading will shake the students up, forcing them to interpret character motivations and to form opinions. This thinking and exercise will give further opportunities for the concrete child to think formally.