Traditional Literature (Chapter 5)

The name of this post feels, well, traditional or maybe a bit uptight. However traditional literature is filled with literature that will inspire and take us to a place far from where we are. It's traditional because it has stood the test of time.

Traditional literature is also known as folk literature or oral literature, stories that have been passed down by word of mouth for many generations. Because of this, there is no record of who told them first. Folk literature meets human needs and that is why the stories were able to be passed down through the ages.

Often times there are many traditional stories that are alike from all over the world, this is because they were used to teach valuable lessons to children that are universal. For example, there are almost 700 versions of the Cinderella story.

There are six categories of traditional literature:

1. Fable: A brief story in which the moral is explicitly stated.
2. Myth: Explains aspects of culture or how something came to be in the natural world.
3. Legend: Traditional narrative based on historical truth. 
4. Religious Stories: Stories of important events and people of different regions.
5. Tall Tale: Exaggerated humorous stories of characters that perform impossible acts.
6. Folktale: A fairy, human, or animal tale passed down by word of mouth. (there are 7 sub genres of folktales)

When selecting traditional literature it must be evaluated by different criteria because many of the elements of text that are usually present may not be in this genre.

Evaluation Criteria:

Cultural Consideration: Accuracy, Authenticity, Authority

Literary Consideration: Literary/ Illustrative Style, Plot, Theme

Traditional literature helps children learn the art of storytelling, which they have most likely experienced throughout their childhood. Children also simply enjoy this type of literature. It is considered the "mother of all literature" and will prepare them for the art, literature, and drama that they will encounter throughout their lives. Another great reason why I will make a point to incorporate it into my classroom is that ELL students' can make connections to their own cultures based on the fact that each culture has their own stories that may be similar to ones being studied in class, which will open up an opportunity for the entire class to learn about a similarity bonding two different cultures together. 

Reading by Children: Independent Reading and Writing and Literature Circles (Chapter 14)

Independent Reading:

Many of us can remember class time specifically set aside for silent reading, sometimes called SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) or DEAR (Drop Everything And Read). Although the idea of encouraging children to read independently each day is valid, most often the time is not spent reading, it is more often spent off task. It has been found the effective teachers employ intentional independent reading, where an hour of time is allotted for the task.
It looks a little something like this:

• 5-10 minutes preparing children to read
• 40-45 minutes spent wit children reading and teacher conferencing with individual students.
• 5-10 minutes spent engaging students in follow up activities related to reading

Tips for preparing students for independent reading:

• Give students a reading inventory to fill out a few times per year.
• Organize the classroom library with a large variety of books that are of the students interests and on various reading levels.
• Teach children how to select the "perfect book"
• Include centers with audiobooks, which can be beneficial in many ways.

How to select a just right book & sustain reading:

Tips to teach students about picking the perfect book to read and what to avoid doing in order to not be a distraction.

What is a just right book?

• Something you're interested in
• The right length/ number of pages
• Favorite authors
• Right level
• Can read most of the words
• Reminds you of something in your past
• Pictures/ illustrations are good
• funny

What distracts us from reading?

• someone tries to show you something or ask a question
• someone asks you for help with a word
• someone is reading too loud or is making noises
• people walking around 
• picking books that are not just right

Independent Writing:

Independent writing is a mainstay in literacy instruction for many reasons. It contributes to the development of reading comprehension because when a student understands a particular aspect of writing, they are better able to understand reading in the same style, they coincide. It also can help with a childs' self image as they learn that someone values reading their thoughts and experiences. It also helps to prepare children for success in the outside world in the future. Children need to be competent in writing, using word processors, emailing, editing, etc. in order to be successful in today's world.

The Writing Process:

1. Explore

• notice events, people, objects in the world around you
• Record thoughts and observations through writing and sketching
• discover interests, focus, and purpose
• Create discovery draft

2. Draft

• Tentatively plan writing
• write discovery draft and successive drafts to final draft
• revise, select from, or expand discovery draft
• focus on voice
• develop ideas and attend to text organization
• attend to sentence variety and word choice
• work on beginnings, details, language flow, and endings

3. Edit

• Proofread and edit for conventions- grammar, spelling, capitals, punctuation
• complete final copy

4. Publish

• conduct final, formal editing
• produce published piece with final layout illustration and graphics.

Literature Discussion:

Literature discussion is not simply asking questions about the book such as "what was the plot?". That is not engaging and does not deepen the understanding of the literature at hand. Instead discussing literature is about looking at the positives and negatives of a book, how it made you feel, what you were thinking at different points in the book, and how at the end your opinions had changed.

Effective teachers have classrooms of students who engage in this type of conversation with the teacher and their peers. This is a perfect way for teachers to not only increase childrens' reading comprehension, but to also instill in them how to carry a deep, meaningful conversation, which is the basis for critical thinking. 

Guidelines for Literature Discussion Groups:

• Have places flagged for sharing
• Have good log entries to share
• Look at the person who is speaking
• Listen carefully
• Take turns talking
• Participate in the discussion
• Stay on task
• Stick to the topic
• Enjoy the discussion

Overall I think that all of this information is very beneficial for future teachers. I certainly appreciated the information about how to conduct independent reading in the classroom the most effective way. I always thought how difficult of a transition it was to go from class to discussion to 20 minutes of supposed reading, I was not usually able to get into the book for about 10 minutes and that left only 10 minutes of actual reading. Discussing literature is not something I was exposed to much in my elementary education, but I believe that it is important to teach students how to do this at a young age, so that they can continue to grow in this area and also expand their understanding of literature, not just the elements. I previously had issues understanding the deeper meaning of texts because I was really only taught to look at the obvious elements. I will take this in to account when developing my reading instruction in my own classroom.

Modern Fantasy (Chapter 6)

Modern fantasy, a favorite genre of text for many children, has roots in folktales, legends, and myths. Though some similarities exist between folktales and modern fantasy such as heroes that go on a dangerous adventure, folklore is "is grounded in cultural belief and shaped by the story teller, whereas modern fantasy is shaped by the author's artistic vision. 

There are two categories of modern fiction:

1. Low Fantasy: Stories take place in the real world but with magical elements that make them   impossible.  Example: Charlotte's Web and The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
2. High Fantasy: Concepts and information from the real world are set in a story that is an "other world".  Examples: The Lion, The witch and The Wardrobe and The Lord of the Rings.

Categories in Modern Fiction:

• Animals: Attributes human thoughts, feelings, and language through animals that have human characteristics.
• Toys and Objects: Demonstrates belief in human characteristics children give their playthings.
• Miniature Worlds: Highlights human emotions by displaying them on a minuscule level.
• Time Warps: Focus on central character going through difficult adjustment periods, such as loneliness, alienation, and sensitivity associated with time travel. 
• Unreal Worlds: Setting of the story is in a fantasy land, although the great amount of detail makes the fantasy world believable to the reader.
• Ghost Stories: Stories about ghosts who haunt the real or imaginary world.
• Magic Powers: Characters possess magical objects, know a magical saying, or have magical powers themselves.
• Preposterous Characters/Situations: Characters developed through vivid and descriptive images of dress features, and actions.
• Quest Tales: Borrow magical settings and characters from traditional tales of heroism; a common theme is the victory of good over evil; often becomes a search for an inner enemy rather than an outer enemy.

There are many benefits of using modern fantasy in the classroom. For example, modern fantasy can allow children to think about and address complex philosophical topics that would other wise be difficult to get across. In the book Charlotte's Web children read about fear of death, friendship, selfishness, sacrifice, and death. Although the book is clearly not real because it includes personified animals, but the way the author explains death can allow a child to contemplate the sad subject.

Good modern fantasy creates an engaging and believable story, no matter what the setting. Though the reader may understand that the situations in the book are not feasible, they are able to remove themselves from the "real world" and enter the fantasy world of the story. In the fantasy world, the action and story must be believable. 

As a future teacher, including modern fantasy in my curriculum is important to me because children enjoy reading it and develop a passion for it. Naysayers deny the value of reading modern fantasy because they view it as make-believe and of little substance. However, upon reading about modern fantasy I can clearly say that is not true. The genre allows students to question the world around them and their own personal values. In the classroom teachers can use modern fantasy for reading aloud, clarifying the differences among different genres, discussing motifs, and learning about characterization, setting, and plot. Modern fantasy books are also great for teaching children to visualize what they are reading, since it is many times not something they have ever seen before.