This is a great point that children's literature can be used for more than just making connections to the child's own life. It can also be used to show these children that they are able to be part of the change they want to see.

This is great that not only were the boys able to connect the stories and situations to their won lives, but they were also able to come up with responses that worked towards something meaningful.

Students must realize that the person telling the story is not the same person the events happened to. The author trying their best to emulate the emotion the person was feeling during what was happening.

Great point that these stories are not to meant to make up things about someones life, but rather to say what happened in a more interesting way.

I think that this is especially more important for kids at younger ages. It will keep them more engaged and wanting to read pieces like fictionalized biographies.

This is true! I think there is a reason for this, because fantasy and science fiction books help readers make great connections to their own lives while reading.

This is a really interesting thought. I really like that fantasy books can provoke students to use their morals when thinking of what they just read.

This is a great point showing that kids might rather talk about a book they can relate to in fantasy. I think children can make great connections between their own fantasies and those they read about.

This is a very good point. I would have ever thought about it this way, that the villagers just jump to the conclusion that boy was lying.

I think this is true because of how great not only the stories are, but the lessons that they teach are. The lessons themselves are timeless.

Fables are great ways of teaching life lessons to kids! The stories always result in learning a new lesson

This is a great point that shows how great reading to young children is. It expands their vocabulary and also their reading and listening comprehension.

This is very important that the books have a controlled vocabulary because it will make the book a lot easier for the kids to understand, thus letting them read it independently.

This is a very good point made, that picture books are made to interest the kids not to really measure their reading ability. Picture books will get kids interested in reading, and then from there they can move to more advanced books to measure their reading ability.

I like how the teacher walks around the classroom and helps out whoever is in need. This way the teacher is able to get to everyone and see how they are progressing.

This is a great chance for children to not only build on their phonics skills but also grammar in general. When a teacher models the work for them, children can actually see the correct way to write something or say something, giving them a better opportunity to learn.

Giving feedback is always important especially at a young age. I think it is very good for the children if they receive a lot of feedback.

This is a goop point that you should not use this all the time. Only use this strategy if you think it will work well with your students.

I like this whole-part-whole approach because it allows for the children to get a phonics lesson with real text, rather than just random words or letters on a worksheet.

It is proven that phonics instruction will help our students with their word decoding, recognition and comprehension. I think that phonics instruction is very important at a young age and would be very beneficial to our students.

I think this is a great idea. Although it may have more of an effect at an earlier age, it doesn't mean it cannot be used throughout all levels of education. In higher grades it can be used for creative writing or design classes as well as reading.

When Mr. Sheets is forced to be concise it can be very beneficial for the students. Since he has to be short and to the point the children are given the information right away and not given too much all at once to take in.

I like the idea of the teacher as the "recorder" for the group. This allows for the kids to all stay engaged in what everyone is talking, while you get to write down what everyone is saying so you can reflect on it later.

I like that kids are able to read books of their choice so that they are more engaged. It will help keep them more interested in reading and help with their reading skills.

These are two very important skills that kids should learn at a young age. I think it is great that the kids learn these things so they can better develop their writing from an early age. Complete sentences will also help them in oral language as well.

decoding skills for children are so important especially at a young age. If they can "learn to read" earlier then later on they will be "reading to learn" a lot more.

Personally I learn better from direct instructions rather than a big long lesson where some information may be lost. This is a good idea to have these mini lessons, as they are very beneficial to the kids.

This is a great message that relates back to the beginning of the article. If a great book really does change us, imagine how much it can change a child who can relate to it. Using books that all children can relate to can make some great changes in the classroom.

I think this is a great point that this work needs to be shared. The more people/educators it is shared with, the more publicity it will get. Eventually it will make its way to the CCSS.

It makes sense that if you are surrounded by something you can relate to then you will do better. How can we expect children of color to succeed at such high level;s if the are not given relateable materials?

This makes a great point that it is not just a social justice concern for the "significantly gender variant or transgender" but for all learners. It is important for everyone, not just children who are transgender or gender variant.

It really is sad to hear that anyone is getting bullied and especially for just expressing themselves in a way they feel appropriate. Just because someone is wearing different clothes or a different hairstyle does not give anyone the right to bully them. I think if kids are brought up from a young age without gender roles it can really help when they are growing up.

This is very interesting because a lot of people (including me) probably don't know this. The preschool teachers don't know what kind of affect they can have on kids as young as this when it comes to gender roles.

I totally agree with this statement that there are all these social norms about men and women and how we should act. In reality, it is your life and you can do whatever you want and carry yourself anyway that you want. You should not have to go about your life a certain way because "everyone" thinks you should.

A 2nd grade student must be able to describe how a story is laid out.

Knowledge

I think a good example of this is Charlotte's Web

A kindergarten student must be able to know the author of a story or book.

A third grade student must be able to refer certain parts of a text using specific terms.