As I mentioned earlier, when readers can relate the text to their own lives, it heightens their interest in reading. These boys began making connections between the realistic fiction that they read and their every day experiences, and this led them to think about what they were reading on a deeper level.

I think that this is a great point. I was in a reading group in elementary school, and I was never particularly interested in reading as a child, but this group really made me excited about reading. We had a book that we would all read on our own time and meet up once a week to discuss the portion of the book that we were to read that week. We had great conversations and brought new perspectives that we may not have thought of on our own. I think that reading in a group like this is a great way to get students to enjoy reading.

I think that it is fantastic that this group of young men decided to come together to read and discuss the world around them. Not only would this be helpful for their reading skills, but it would also help develop communication and critical thinking.

Not only could realistic fiction books be more relate-able to modern students, but they also can be a great tool to teach real world lessons. If children read these books which discuss real life issues, they could learn to apply the lesson taught in the book to their own lives.

I agree with this statement; there is definitely a need for more modern, realistic themes in children's literature. Although I do believe that fairy tales can be entertaining for young students as well as helpful in teaching the fundamental aspects of reading, children would benefit from reading fiction books with setting similar to where they live or characters with a similar heritage as their own families, etc. as opposed to the typical fairy tale which is set in a far away land with magic.

This little boy's statement really demonstrates why children need more books to read that they can relate to. Being able to relate to what is being read is the key to getting children interested in reading. Stories like "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs" have very little basis in reality, and this could lead to lack of engagement in students.

This is a really important point. Students need to understand that fictional biographies or historical fiction are not created to be a completely factual re-telling of an event in history. Although the characters may seem real and the story is based in a real time period, teachers need to explain that while they are informational, their main purpose is to create interest in the history and encourage kids to want to do research on their own.

I definitely agree that reading the personal story of a historical figure can be a great way to get students interested in the text. I think that the task for us to write a journal entry as a soldier in the Civil War would be a perfect activity for a classroom like this where historical biographies are being incorporated into the curriculum.

The ability to determine fact from opinion is a very important skill fr young readers to develop. It will help them to determine whether or not an author of a biography is biased in their writing as well as being able to pick out the factual information from the story.

I think that the use of fictionalized biographies as a transition from typical fiction children's books to non-fiction biographies is a good strategy. This genre can be used to bridge the gap between fiction and non-fiction books, and it can help students learn the skills necessary to make the most out of each type of book.

I think that social studies could be a difficult subject for younger students because when they were just beginning to read, the majority of children's books are read to them for their enjoyment. It could be difficult to make the transition from simply recalling the events of a story to looking deeper in the text to find more information.

I think that reading to children is one of the most important things that parents can do to develop their children's literacy. The first exposure that kids have to books and reading before school is through their parents. Reading to kids at home helps develop their vocabulary, print awareness, and a general love of reading which will help them throughout their lives.

Reading multiple versions of the same story, such as that of Cinderella which has been re-written many times by different authors, could be an interesting lesson in a middle school classroom. Comparing and contrasting the different story elements and points of views of different authors would be a fun activity.

This portion of the article actually gave me the idea that books like these ones could actually be used as a good transition from a unit about mythology to that of fantasy. It is important to explain the differences between the two, but books like these which have similar themes to myths and legends could be used to show the distinction between the genres.

I think that fantasy stories are good tools to use in middle school to teach children important life lessons that would be otherwise difficult to talk about. They often tackle difficult themes like this one which addresses deception, greed, love, and betrayal.These books can open up a line of dialogue about these important topics.

I think that transitioning from reading fairy tales as children to reading fantasy novels as young teens is an important step to take as readers. As the article states, the protagonists of fairy tale stories usually have their problems solved by magic simply because of the concept that good triumphs over evil. Whereas the protagonist in a fantasy story will overcome an obstacle as they grow and develop as as character. This concept teaches kids as they get older that every issue is not solved by magic, you actually have to adapt to the situation and make decisions that may not always be easy in order to reach your goal.

It is hard for young children to view the world through the perspectives of others, and at this elementary age, they see the world as very black and white; there is right and there is wrong. As we grow older we begin to realize that there are many gray areas, but fairy tales are perfect for children because they typically have a hero and a villain and an overarching theme of good vs. evil. Therefore, they can take parallels that they see in these stories and apply them to real life.

Children typically will read a story like "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and take it as is. However, if you pose these "what if" questions and encourage them to think about something they hadn't considered before, (such as- what if the boy really did see the wolf when he cried for help?) it pushes them to think critically as opposed to just reading the book itself.

I think that this is a very good example of how fables can be used to get children to look at multiple perspectives in a story. The teacher can show them that all of the characters are relate-able in some way even though they may make poor choices. The Fox and the Grapes is another great example. Kids could understand the determination that the fox has to reach the grapes but also the disappointment he feels when he can't accomplish his goal.

I think that a great way to teach this would be to use some form of class "debate" or discussion. The teacher could pose a topic that is relevant to the students and appropriate for their age and allow the kids to discuss their opinions. They would be able to see first hand that other people could have different ideas regarding the same topic and they could come to a conclusion together as a class.

I know that this is not a concept that children learn right away, and that it takes time for them to comprehend that not everyone thinks the same way that they do. Young children and toddlers especially can be very stubborn and get upset when they don't get their way because they can't understand the perspective of the person who is telling them "no". This skill needs to first be in place before children can begin to think critically about what they are reading.

Critical thinking is an extremely important skill to learn as it relates to reading and comprehension, however, I haven't put much thought into how one would go about teaching this skill to children. I thought of it more as something that develops naturally over time. I can imagine that it would be difficult to decide what method to use to do so.

Reading books above the child's grade level to them is a great way to expand their vocabularies, expose them to different cultures and experiences, and give them a better understanding of the world around them. Reading these books to the children is so beneficial for their learning, but it can't be done by the kids on their own.

Very young readers have just learned the sounds that letters made and basic rules about grammar; they do not have the capability to comprehend these complex sentences and concepts. There needs to be an adult reader to facilitate the child's understanding and create an open discussion about what they are reading.

I think that this is a very important concept to understand about picture books. I think that many people assume that the pictures are just meant to fill space in a book because children do not have the attention span to read long texts without pictures. However, the pictures further the story as well as the child's understanding of what they are reading which ultimately makes the pictures just as important as the text.

I also was not aware of the fact that most picture storybooks are written at a third grade reading level. That would make reading a book on one's own nearly impossible for most children from preschool age to grade two. Therefore, reading to the child is necessary in order for them to gain anything from reading the story.

I had never thought about this concept before I read this article. I think that I had always assumed that parents know that children's books are meant to be read by adults to the kids, but I could see how some people would think that because they are books for children that they would be able to read them on their own. Reading to young children is so important to teach them the basic elements of reading such as pace, inflection, etc.

I believe that this is true not only with poetry, but with all subjects. If you are not passionate about what you are teaching, how can you expect your students to be interested in the topic? If you seem intimidated by it, then your students definitely will because they are taking their approach from watching you and how you handle the situation. If you have an open mind about poetry and how dedication to it, then your students will reflect that.

I'm trying to annotate the first paragraph on page six, but it won't let me choose this piece of the text for some reason, but I think that this method would be very successful to teach kids how to find patterns in poems which would then lead to the discovery of the author's style of writing. In the example in this article, they found that the author used short lines and stanzas as well as vivid language. That gave the students a model which they could use to create their own poems in that style.

This is an important point. We only become afraid of poetry after we have a negative experience with it, but if we expose young children to poetry who are not afraid of it and are open to the idea of imitating it, then we could foster a love of poetry in them at an early age so that they are not so intimidated as they get older.

In my opinion, a lesson like this is pointless for the students. They aren't using their creativity or language skills at all by filling in a word here and there. They aren't getting the opportunity to express their own thoughts and ideas, they are just filling in the blank.

This statement is so relate-able. I remember a literature class I took my freshman year where we had to read many very long confusing poems written about 17th century London, and it was nearly impossible to understand what the author meant. I think it is moments like that which make students afraid of poetry.

This skill is important for the students to show information retention and demonstrate good listening and comprehension abilities.

Having beginning readers draw pictures before writing is a great way to create a visual representation of what they are going to write about that they can use as a prompt for their writing.

One could do this by reading a story where the main character is sad, for example, and asking the student how they would feel if that event in the story happened to them. This way they would be distinguishing their own feelings and opinions from the author's.

It is important for kids to be exposed to different books with the same topics because it allows them an opportunity to compare and contrast characters, settings, and author writing styles.

It is so important to ensure that young students have good print awareness before they can begin to read. They need to first know how to hold a book properly and how to locate the title. Other important skills that can't be overlooked are reading from left to right, holding the book right side up and turning pages properly.

Guided practice is so important for students when learning a new skill in any subject because the concept could make perfect sense to them while they are watching the teacher demonstrate, but it is often more difficult to do the skill on their own. Having the teacher's guidance while the students try something new is a great way to make sure that they are on the right track and provide help as needed.

I think that this is a great way to integrate the concept that was discussed earlier by combining reading aloud with a focus on specific phonics instruction. By first reading the book for enjoyment and then incorporating a mini-lesson on a frequently used phonic element into the story, it really uses both approaches to develop reading skills.

I think that this is a very important point. Children develop their language based on what they hear being said around them, so it is crucial that the books being read to them are meaningful and will enhance their learning.

I agree with this statement. I took a course on reading instruction last semester, and my professor emphasized how important phonics instruction is as a basis for all other aspects of reading.

I definitely agree that the best approach would have to be a combination of both read-alongs and assisted reading as well as intensive phonics instruction. I think that it is important that early readers are exposed to both strategies in order to be best prepared to learn to read.

I think that having structure is very important in the classroom and having something predictable that they can look forward to every day is a good thing. They know exactly what to expect, and they know what is expected of them when that time comes.

I like that he uses the students' weekly writing assignments in a portfolio to assess their progress. I love the idea of portfolios versus testing because they show how the student has grown and improved over time, because not all students progress at the same rate. This shows individually how hard the student has worked to improve their writing skills from the beginning of the year.

This is a great strategy for new writers. You don't want to force the students to write for too long initially because they aren't used to it and may get frustrated, and you don't want writing to become something tedious and stressful for them. Extending the time spent writing gradually as the year goes on and they become more fluent is a good way to ease them into it.

I think that this is also a great idea; using illustration to enhance the students' writing. I had never thought of the idea that having the children draw people doing something in detail could help them elaborate on their writing by helping them focus on the details in the picture and in turn creating more detailed writing pieces.

I definitely think that beginning the school year by teaching various mini-lessons is a great way to build a foundation for these young students who may not have had much classroom experience in the past, so that they can get a feel for the instructional procedures that go into a lesson without jumping right into a full-length writing lesson immediately.

I really like this idea of video-taping the literature circle and watching it back with the students. I think that seeing themselves and being able to visualize what they are doing well versus what they need to improve on is a good way to get through to them. This gives them the opportunity to see how they are behaving first-hand and lead into a discussion about how to improve the circle next time.

The idea of this "revolving door" of students is one that I hadn't thought of before. With students constantly joining and leaving the classroom, it would make it very difficult to foster a sense of community. Once you get all of the students accustomed to how the classroom is run and create that feeling of security, a new child could enter the picture and disrupt the whole process because they aren't used to that kind of environment. It can be very distracting to the other students as well.

This is so true. We can do our best to control the environment at school by providing free or reduced lunches, or extra clothing and coats, and teaching about respect, but the truth is that students are only in school for a few hours a day Monday through Friday. We can't control what they experience outside of school, and if all they know at home is violence or poverty, it can be difficult to impossible for them to focus on activities like this in school when they have so many more important issues on their minds.

I think that the main goal of literature circles is an extremely important one: to create a safe space with trust and respect for the others in the group. Without this, as we've seen in the examples of badly functioning literature circles at the beginning of this article, the students lose focus of the relevant discussion and this leads to descriptiveness and poor behavior.

I definitely agree that literature circles can be very beneficial to students if they are done in the right way. I think that especially with younger students, the teacher should guide the discussion to ensure that everyone is on task and moving in the right direction.

I think that it is sad that teachers and schools today are forced to focus on raising standardized test scores as opposed to teaching students things that are actually valuable to them in their lives. Children's literature should be a vital part of children's reading instruction, not an afterthought.

This concept really relates to the concepts in the article about common core books failing students of color. Here, we are seeing the same thing happening throughout the lives of those students with color, and there still isn't enough culturally responsive instruction to get them to relate to what is being discussed in the classroom. If they don't feel that the material is worth learning because it isn't relate-able, they may distance themselves.

The fact that research shows that children begin to develop their own beliefs about gender in preschool is enough for me to believe that we should be teaching young children about gender at this age. We don't want students to grow up without answers to their questions about their gender beliefs and become confused when they reach puberty. I think it is important that they know all of the options that are out there and don't feel boxed into society's typical standards for boys and girls.

I can't believe that it has been two and a half years since these multicultural titles have been submitted for use by Common Core and they have still not been added to the curriculum or even the CCSS website. In the paragraph below this, the author mentions how children need "mirror" and "window" books that reflect their own lives and that are a window into someone else's life. The children of color in this country only have access to 'window" books and don't have the opportunity to see themselves reflected in what they read.

This fact that only 18 out of the 117 texts recommended for elementary children in the CCSS are written by authors of color when more than half of the children in the US are of color or poor is outrageous. More than half of the population of children in this country are basically being ignored. How are they supposed to comprehend what they are reading fully or connect to it if they can't relate to the culture in the books to what they see and experience in their daily lives? This is something that definitely needs to change to give these students a better chance.