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. 

Historical Fiction (Chapter 8)

Historical fiction offers a window into the past through literature. What a wonderful way to inform an audience of what occurred in a particular time during history than through a captivating piece of literature. One of my favorite types of novels and books to read growing up were written either about The Titanic or The Holocaust. I found both historical subjects absolutely captivating. I have always had curiosity about the past, mainly about how people lived their day-to-day lives. I was very rarely interested in reading a history textbook or sitting through a history lesson, but if I was able to read a book that was well written and told a story of the characters lives, I would instantly begin to feel interested in that time period or even of history. 

Knowing this I would like to run with that idea in my classroom. I have always been someone who believes integrating multiple subjects into one big unit is a very effective way of teaching. I feel that it would be beneficial for the students to read a historical fiction book (or any book depending on the unit!), learn about a period of history, complete art and creative writing projects about the period of history, and even possibly involve math and science within the same unit.

 Even though historical information can be gained and learned through the reading of historical fiction texts, the first purpose of historical fiction is to be a story that is created with a sense of realism to bring the time period alive. Historical fiction has not been a popular genre with children, but has recently began to increase in popularity, being called the "new fantasy".

Some benefits of historical fiction include:

• conveys a sense of life as it was lived
• happens to ordinary people
• broadens perspectives
• helps children understand that the present and the future are linked to actions of the past. 

Historical fiction can help children to understand that everyone plays a role in shaping history, and can help them determine their own role in what will become history. 

When selecting historical fiction texts for student's to read, the teachers should make sure that the book includes strong character development, an engaging plot that is credible, effective writing style, detailed setting, and a relevant theme. All of these aspects should come together to develop a story that brings the period  of history to life. Historical fiction can be used in conjunction with a history or an art history lesson and history textbooks. It can also be used to provide historical backgrounds for discoveries and advances in math and science. 

Top 10 Read Alouds for Historical Fiction: 

• Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607 by Elisa Carbone
• Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
• Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz
• I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting
• The Legend of the Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West by Gary Paulsen 
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia Williams
• Whittington by Alan Armstrong
• Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

I hope to include historical fiction books in my classroom library and use them to direct class read alouds and discussions about particular time periods in history. How do you think you would use historical fiction in your classroom?

Nonfiction: Biographies and Informational Books

Of the many genres of text available to read, "informational books" may sound like a boring category, at least to me it does.
In fact there are many myths surrounding the genre: 

• that they are a dry recitation of facts. 

• they are not as good as a method for informing as a text book.

• boys and girls would rather read fiction.

However informational books and biographies offer an extremely broad range of individuals and topics to acquire knowledge about while reading. Nonfiction literature is based on facts that are based on the social and scientific world. The main thing to remember is that they are all based on the truth. Nonfiction books, while having the main purpose of informing, should and can also be a pleasure to read.
As a future teacher, including a variety of biographies and informational books for children to read will provide they type of variety that is needed to satisfy the readers of a diverse classroom. It would be beneficial to know and understand your students interests and passions when picking nonfiction literature to expose them to. For example, many young boys enjoy cars, trucks, boats, machines, and things of that nature. Including books that are about those topics can help inspire those students to read and enjoy literature.
Informational books can also offer a multicultural experience for students. In fact nonfictional books can be read alongside fictional books on the same topic to offer a broader understanding of a particular culture. For example, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a fictional novel about the Nazi invasion of Denmark during World War II, it can be read alongside the book Darkness over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews by Ellen Levine, which tells of the lives of 21 Danish people she interviewed who experienced this event in history personally.

Biographies offer a peek into history, whether ancient or recent, by presenting information based on one individual who experienced life during the part of history being discussed. As a future teacher I will consider including many biographies in my classroom library that will be of interest to the students. I will do this by including biographies of children and of people who were influential in a topic that the students find interesting. I personally think that autobiographies are very interesting to read and offer a very personal and detailed recount of what happened in history.

In my future classroom I will choose informational and biographical books wisely and will research my students interests and passions before selecting appropriate books for them to choose from. I hope to instill a love of all types of literature by helping to break the myths and stereotypes surrounding certain genres, such as nonfiction, by only recommending books from this category that the students will hopefully fall in love with.

Realistic Fiction

What is realistic fiction? When I thought about this question the first thing that came to mind was something to read that is fake, but is written in a way that it seems real. However I know that it is much more than that, now. Realistic fiction is realistic because the settings, characters, and events could actually happen and they are believable. What makes them fictitious is that the aforementioned elements did not actually exist or take place. Realistic fiction may be based on real events that occurred in history or the author's lives.

Realistic fiction is an important piece of children's literature. I myself have always found that this genre is my favorite. There is something so important about reading books that are relatable to children's lives.  In my own life I read books, such as Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume while going through some tumultuous times in my own life as a pre-teen and young teenager and felt that I could relate to some of the aspects of the characters lives.

Some important benefits of realistic fiction:

• It honestly portrays the realities of life so children can gain a more in-depth understanding of human problems and relationships.
• It helps expand children's frames of reference and ability to see the world from another point of view.
• It helps children understand and taking comfort in knowing that their problems are not unique and they are not alone in the world. 
• It allows children to experience vicariously interactions with the characters in books.
• It provides a literary framework for the development of a sense of personal and civic competency and the ability to make improvements in our own lives and the lives of others. 

Life is not easy! Life is full of ups and downs, turmoil, humor, and stressful situations. Realistic fiction addresses all of these and many more components of real life. 

Good realistic fiction needs to be credible. If it is not credible and backed with a meaningful theme, it will not be engaging or be able to help children who read it. It also can be controversial and deal with issues such as death, divorce, moral choices, mental health issues, abuse, homelessness and poverty, and sexism and sexuality. People may believe young children should be sheltered from these things, and to a degree I agree that before a certain age children should not be exposed to the trials of the world before they have to. But the truth is that these things happen. Every day. And children are very fragile beings who will encounter many tough situations and by giving them some exposure to fictional stories that address these issues it may offer some much needed guidance or simply comfort in knowing that they are not alone. 

Teachers have an important influential role. We can expose children to realistic fiction that they may relate to. By simply suggesting a wide range of books on the subject the chances are that a student will read at least one and can gain some comfort or insight.

Realistic fiction can also help students engage in critical analysis of literature. Many books of this genre will get children thinking about the world around them and how situations that occur in the book might effect them. This is exactly what a reader should be doing while reading, critically thinking and analyzing the text.

In my classroom I intend to include a lot of realistic fiction. For one reason, because it is my favorite genre, but for another, because it is an important genre that many children can relate to and it may stir their love of literature as it did for me. 

Chapter 11: Diverse Perspectives in Children's Literature

Chapter 11

The world that we live in is a very diverse place and this comes as no news to any of us. Especially pre-professional educators, we are consistently reminded of the need to include adaptations and foster diversity in our classrooms and lesson plans. However this has not always been the case. As stated in the text, in the 1940's and 1950's, which wasn't THAT long ago... culturally diverse literature (that is anything not about white culture) was nearly nonexistent. Now with the growing acceptance of the need to expose children to diversity there is more and more material available for us as teachers to share with our students and help them become informed and insightful citizens of the world. Especially because the world is heading in a more "diverse" direction. The 25% of  the U.S. population that is "of color" now will be 33% as we move through the next 80-85 years! It is time to educate our students and what better way to do that than by sharing literature that embraces different cultures and offers insight in an entertaining way. 

This chapter discussed how some multicultural books may be considered "risky" because they address social issues that are not easy to discuss, or because the teacher does not come from the culture the book is referring to and people believe that it is not appropriate for the teacher to speak from another cultures' point of view. However this is not true! It is important for teachers to read these books and discuss these topics because this is exactly how you educate the students. Diversity is not taboo, it should be embraced, discussed, and valued. Children can not do this unless they are exposed and allowed to explore cultural diversity. 

There are different categories of multicultural literature: 

Cultural Diversity:

-Culturally Neutral: Diverse characters, but topics are not about diversity.

-Culturally Generic: Focus on culturally diverse characters, but few details that differentiate 

                                    the culture.

-Culturally Specific: Incorporate specific, culturally authentic details that define the 

                                    characters and the story.

Religious Diversity:

5 Predominant Religions in the U.S. and notable books (other than Christianity):

-American Indian Spirituality: Native American Wisdom and Gifts by Niki Walter

                                                    and Bobbie Kalman

-Hinduism: This is my Faith: Hinduism by Anita Ganeri

-Buddhism: Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja

-Judaism: Festival of Lights: The Story of Hanukkah by Maida Silverman

-Islam: What Will You See Inside a Mosque? by Rukhsana Khan

Other topics covered in culturally diverse literature: 

-Aging

-Gender Equity

-Exceptionalities

-Language

-Social Diversity

-Family Structures

It is also important to read through diverse literature before sharing it with the class in order to examine it for things such as racism and sexism. 
There are things to look out for such as:

-The illustrations: stereotypes and minority roles: how are they depicted?

-The Story Line: how are the problems of the minority viewed?

-The Characters' lives: too simplistic? Do the lives of people of color represent stereotypes?

-Relationships Between People: Do whites have power? Females subordinate? 

-Discover the role of models and heroes:  do minority heroes resemble white heroes? In whose interests does the hero work? 

The benefits of reading translated books in your class are also discussed in this chapter such as the importance of knowing classic stories from other countries in order to create an attitude of understanding for said culture. 

Critical Literacy, a new term for me, invites readers to go beyond the author's message and examine the relations that exist between readers and authors. This allows the students to examine the literature on a much deeper level and also discuss some of the "taboo" topics that go hand and hand with multiculturalism. 

A list of the top 10 read alouds for diverse children's literature:

1. El Barrio by Debbi Chocolate

2. Faith by Maya Ajmera, Magda Nakassis, and Cynthia Pon

3. I lLost My Tooth in Africa by Penda Diakite

4. Jazzy Miz Mozetta by Brenda Roberts

5. Only One Year by Andrea Cheng

6. Poems to Dream Together by Francisco X. Alacron

7. Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins

8. Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light by Time Tingle

9. Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding by Lenore Look

10. We by Alice Schertle