An English teacher in high school was told to conform to the Common Core standards by reducing fiction inhis classesand including more informational text. Here is his reading list:

“I put together this list of required readings for 9-12 when I was told by our curriculum director that we could, with few exceptions only teach “informational texts” in English class, because it was what Common Core Standards required. Here is my list with the explanation following of why it is an informational text:

A New Curriculum for the Common Core

Ninth Grade

1. The Odyssey – A Traveler’s guide to aging gracefully, with sections on Parenting, building effective life-long relationships, and finding peace with God.

2. Oliver Twist – The young person’s guide to life on the streets.

3. The Sea Wolf – A guide to success in the workplace and getting along with difficult people.

4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – A how to guide to getting in touch with the darker side of our natures and learning to manage it.

5. Romeo and Juliet – A guide for young people on the consequences of unhealthy relationships with a section on community policing.

6. To Kill a Mockingbird – A handbook on effective lawyering and making the legal system work for you with a section on making lasting friendships.

Tenth Grade

1. The Secret Life of Bees – A manual for raising bees and strong families.

2. Hamlet – A useful guide on how not to build a happy family life, with a section on madness in children and how it can be recognized.

3. Fahrenheit 451 – A manual on how to establish an effective school curriculum and how to deal with books that do not belong in the curriculum.

4. Catcher in the Rye – A do it yourself guide to recognizing sincere and insincere people with sections on telltale signs to insincerity.

5. The House on Mango Street – A guide to building a healthy community.

6. A Separate Peace – A guide to knowing who your friends are with a section on athletic training and perseverance.

Eleventh Grade

1. The Last of the Mohicans – A manual on cross cultural relationships and diplomacy.

2. The Red Badge of Courage – A guide to effective soldiering.

3. Walden – For a change a story about a man living in the woods.

4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – A handbook on deception, parenting, and human discord.

5. The Crucible – How to recognize and treat witches, warlocks, and wizard. An antidote to Harry Potter.

6. Ethan Frome – A do it yourself guide to domestic tranquility.

7. Grapes of Wrath ¬– A how to guide to surviving the coming economic collapse.

8. Their Eyes Were Watching God – A how to guide to living the good life, with a section on raising capital and a gamblers “how-to”.

Twelfth Grade

1. Beowulf – A manual on leadership and crisis management.

2. The Canterbury Tales – A brief history of the rise of the middle class.

3. Le Morte d’Arthur – A manual on statecraft and creating a just society.

4. Macbeth¬ – A guide book on goal setting and how to execute those goals, with a novel approach to the execution of goals.

5. Gulliver’s Travels – Travelogue recounting trips to unusual places.

6. Frankenstein – A handbook on cloning and the development of artificial intelligence.

7. Great Expectations – A handbook for the quintessential gentleman.

8. Wuthering Heights – A guide on how to establishing one’s self on the property ladder with a section on effective community relationships.

9. The Importance of Being Ernest – A guide to the proper naming of children, with a section on giving them a good start on making a life of their own.

10. The Dead – A how to guide to planning the perfect dinner party and Christmas celebration.”