Inspire Student Connection with Literature
One of the best parts of teaching is watching a student experience an aha moment—seeing them follow their curiosity and then make a connection, where they really get it. When a student can read a piece of literature like The Alchemist and articulate that the plot is about a boy’s journey but the novel itself is an allegory for self-discovery, both their understanding of and connection to the text is deepened.
Every day, high school English language arts (ELA) teachers strive to spark student interest in literature and guide readers to these magic moments where they reach a higher level of understanding. How can you inspire student curiosity and improve learning outcomes in ELA classes? Utilize a resource to help students contextualize the literature they’re reading and connect it to relevant literary themes, devices, and supporting material.
Designed with high school students in mind, Gale In Context: Literature provides context for literary classics and diverse new texts by using a robust multimedia collection of videos, images, infographics, eBooks, and more. This high-interest content is available in the user-friendly Gale In Context platform, complete with accessibility and navigation tools that ensure a seamless user experience. Spark greater interest in literature and inspire more-compelling class discussions when you connect your students to Literature.
CONNECT STUDENTS TO LITERARY CONTEXT
Literary context matters to ensure student understanding of the texts they’re reading in ELA lessons. Imagine giving a student a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird without first discussing the setting of the novel: Alabama in the 1930s. Students need to comprehend the historical context of the Great Depression and Jim Crow era to develop a better understanding of character behavior and themes. Studying a novel like To Kill a Mockingbird alongside its historical context is also essential for students to make parallels between classic literature and current events.
With Gale In Context: Literature, educators can easily connect students to standards-based resources that provide the context necessary to fuel understanding. This resource includes diverse content that supports language arts lessons on everything from classic poetry to graphic novels to novels in verse as well as materials that expand the representation of more-inclusive multicultural narratives.
OFFER MORE VOICE AND CHOICE
When students are free to study literature that resonates with them, they can connect to texts on a deeper level. Student interest fuels literacy, drives better comprehension, helps develop literary analysis skills, and improves ELA learning outcomes.
Gale In Context: Literature makes it easy for educators to help learners engage and thrive in English language arts by offering more depth and breadth in literature content. Students can explore materials covering diverse, relevant writers―from classic to contemporary authors and poets to nontraditional genres like graphic novels.
Give your students access to an expanse of literary content―and offer more voice and choice in English language arts.
BROWSE LITERATURE CONTEXT WITH BOOKSHELVES
In addition to powerful search tools, Gale In Context: Literature is organized with bookshelf browse paths that guide both teachers and students to the literary materials they need with easy-to-follow ELA portals. Browse bookshelves by literary period, genre, or theme to discover supplemental material relevant to student interests or curriculum and lesson plans.
Gale In Context: Literature also includes bookshelves that focus on historically marginalized communities to help expand representation in ELA studies. Find portals with literary context supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander literature, Black literature, Indigenous literature, feminist literature, world literature, and more.
MAKE LITERARY ANALYSIS TOOLS MORE ACCESSIBLE
Gale In Context: Literature includes ready-to-use materials designed to help engage students and teach English language arts in a classroom setting. For easier introductions to literary works, topic pages offer scaffolded, grade-appropriate overviews; reference materials; ties to the present day; and additional contextual information like primary sources from the author’s world. Educators can also find discussion question prompts to help stimulate student curiosity, frame the content, and offer a launching point for close reading.
As part of the Gale In Context suite, Gale In Context: Literature offers an enhanced user experience with a modern design to help users successfully navigate the platform. Tools like translation, text-size adjustment, and text-to-speech improve accessibility for all students and provide an enjoyable, hands-on experience.
Ease of use is combined with frequent updates to bring students and teachers the most- current news and literary context for more relevant language arts research and learning.
GET THE MOST VALUE OUT OF YOUR INVESTMENT
Gale In Context: For Educators gives teachers the power to amplify the rich content within Gale In Context: Literature in their classrooms. When used in conjunction with For Educators, teachers can:
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Access prebuilt lesson plans for literature resources with differentiation tools and quizzes to check for student understanding.
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Use curation tools to collect a variety of resources into lesson folders, making it easier to pair Gale In Context: Literature content with other contextual Gale content or outside materials and links that might be useful.
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Customize assignments to embed instructions, writing prompts, or critical thinking questions, all within existing student workflows.
FEATURED REVIEW
“I saw a way that I could collaborate with my colleagues more efficiently and get resources to students and make it more effective and personalized for their learning.”
- Teacher, Central York High School, Pennsylvania
Look Inside
Additional Details
subjects covered
- Literature
- Literature Analysis
- English Language Arts Lesson Plans
- High School Literature Resources
Platform Features & Tools
Translation Tools
ReadSpeaker text-to-speech technology, and on-demand text translation into over 50 languages.
Workflow Tools
Google Workspace for Education and Microsoft 365 tools enable users to share, save, and download content—including highlights and notes. Learn More
Citation Tools
Integrated directly into the user’s workflow, formatted citations can be easily imported from single or multiple documents to services like EasyBib or NoodleTools. MLA-, APA-, and Chicago-style citations are supported.