This genre seems to really have impacted this group of boys and their learning. It's great to see the power of literature on a student's learning.

Not only were the boys learning and working on their literacy skills but they were also getting a more well rounded education. They were able to think about the environment and their responsibilities.

This is amazing. I'm thoroughly enjoying this article. I love to see how these boys have gone from criticizing fairy tales to really engaging in realistic fictions.

This is great. The boys were thinking about real life situations and the problems their communities face. This is something that is very important for kids of this age who will be at the top as generations pass.

This little boy was able to make sense of something he read. When a child can do this, you know that they are understanding the information.

Without the unrealistic features, these boys were able to actually listen to a book and learn. They were able to relate to real life and hypothesize, compare and contrast, etc. This is the type of literature that really got through to them.

This is an important point. To have and be civically competent is crucial in todays society. Improving our lives and the lives of others should be a goal in peoples eyes.

This is a great way to discuss picture books when you have students who see the unrealistic features in a fairy tale. Some students need this in order to learn, such as these African American males in the group.

Literature that is relatable to a student's life can be very interesting and create an engaged child. Everything always makes more sense when we can relate it back to something in our life which we have understood at one point.

I really like this quote. It is so meaningful and really explains the importance of students being "turned on" to literature versus "turned off".

I agree with this point the author makes. When a teach is given children's literature in the core curriculum, chances of every student being engaged is extremely slim.

A child's interest is crucial to their learning. If a student isn't engaged, you will see this in their academic work.

This would be a fun activity for students. I feel that they would become excited if they found real letters, dialogue or opinion. It would make the story/event even more real to them and some students would love this.

This is crucial. Students need to understand what these actually are. They must be aware that the person who is telling the story is not the actual person but rather an interpreter of the emotions and events.

Especially for students, this could be very engaging. For a child to feel that the narrator is talking directly to them can give them a sense of being important. Rather than a third person narrative where they don't seem this way and can be a harder read for some students.

I agree with this because factual information is still important. The things that we were always taught to look for: the setting, characters, plot, etc. are still very important.

This is crucial to a students development. These skills are important ones that are heavily enforced in school. If we know a fictional biography can do this, then we need to utilize them.

I can agree with this point because I feel as though I struggled with this in my education. I was so trained to look for the important pieces that it became hard to look deeper than this.

Fantasy book clubs for "tweens" seems to be a great idea. Within different meetings, they can really analyze and get to know a story much better. By picking their favorite stories and comparing them to the new ways they're portrayed can create interesting conversation.

Contrasting, comparing, and making text-to-text connections for various versions can really help someone to understand a story better. It would give the student a better idea of the story as a whole including the characters, meaning, etc.

This is a great example of the stage in the meeting where they compare the original story to the new one. It explains how the paintings extend the original story while they keep the same retelling.

Comparing to the earlier read picture book versions is a great idea. This is great to introduce fantasy and make connections to really understand the story.

This is interesting to me. Fantasy is not a topic that I'm particularly familiar with so I'm enjoying reading this article.

I definitely agree with this statement. Children of these ages enjoy fairy tales. The only question that I would have is why the prime audience begins at age 5? I would've thought that much younger, maybe 3 would be more like it. It's interesting.

I agree with this. Culture is very important for students to learn and know about various ones. In fact, mythology and folktales play a large part in culture and should be addressed in school.

This is an important point for future teachers to know. I remember in high school, I was never introduced to myths and never had a class on them in my four years. There are ways for these to fit into curriculum and they should be taught.

I think that this is a great idea for assessment. If students are paying attention in class and taking notes, then everyone should be able to pass the test. For people who decide not to take notes, they will learn the importance of note taking in the higher grades (high school and eventually college).

Allowing the students to select from a predetermined list is a brilliant idea. The teacher has some control being that they created the list but then the students are allowed to choose on their own from there.

This sounds like a great introductory unit for mythology. It forces students to learn stories and rehearse them to the point where they can elaborately present them to the class. I feel as though the kids would be interested and this would help them to learn the topic at hand.

This is a great point. In today's society as future teachers it is crucial to be aware and educated on a variety of different cultures other than our own.

This would explain why I don't have much knowledge in these two areas. It's something that should be reconsidered and maybe students should be acquiring some knowledge in these areas.

Personally, I would agree with this because as a future teacher I feel as though I have very little to no knowledge in myths and folktales.

This is also a great way to adapt using fables for critical thinking in the higher education levels.

An example such as this a great way to explain there "it depends" to the student.

These are all great questions to get a student thinking and looking at the situation from a different point of view. With this example, I can really understand what they're trying to say about the use of fables to aid critical thinking.

This is a great point and fables would be a great way to teach the idea of critical thinking. You could have the child view the story from a different point by asking a question as the story mentions. Fables are something that I'm not extremely familiar with so I'm enjoying reading about them.

This is so true. Most children that I've worked with prefer and are used to "black and white" thinking. When asking students to think about something, the idea of multiple answers could confuse them. It's something that definitely needs to be worked on and kids should be pushed to their highest potential.

This short quote stands out to me. I find this so meaningful as a future teacher. I have a strong belief that if a teacher isn't motivated to teach something, then why would the students be motivated? A teacher must have a passion for teaching the information, a passion so great that it reflects on the students learning in a positive manner.

It's fascinating that by digging into a child's thinking, you could lead to them creating poems where they're able to mimic the original poems intent. Children are capable of much more than we give them credit for.

I've always had the misconception then, that first graders would only be rhyming to write poems. The fact that they have this ability should be taken advantage of. We should push our students to be the best that they could be.

This is so true. I agree with this 100% because this is my exact experience with poetry. We never really had to read/write poems so on the rare occasion when we were asked, we would all become instantly fearful.

I find this interesting because I can totally relate to this! I remember as a high school student being so confused about poems and terrified when asked to read/write one. People shouldn't be afraid of poems and I'm beyond excited to read about and be educated on teaching poetry.

I'm glad that they made this point. This might be an effective strategy sometimes but definitely not all of the time. It's important to know your students and meet their needs.

This is a great point to be made. By teaching phonics through real literature is going to accomplish to things at once. The student will be learning about whatever the literature is and will also decode the words for themselves.

This is something that I know is not true. A student isn't going to just start reading spontaneously. To begin reading requires a great amount of phonics instruction and no child is just going to start reading solely because they've been read to.

I agree with this comment. I'm currently taking SED 435 so I'm learning the importance of explicit phonics instruction in developing a students reading ability but I also know that it's very important that students are read to, participate in assisted reading, etc. Any exposure is sure to be beneficial when combined with the right phonics tools.

This standard is a step up from grade 1 because now they aren't just identifying the different voices in the story but must read themselves in a different voice to demonstrate their understanding of the switching voices. Again, any 2nd grade appropriate book with switching voice roles would work.

Kindergarten students must know different types of texts and be able to recognize these. For this young of a grade, the focus is on common types such as storybooks, poems, etc.

As a 3rd grader, the student must be able to identify the ways that individual characters could affect the story with their actions. The book that comes to mind is Giraffes Can't Dance because there are certain characters whose actions change the sequence of the story.

A 1st grade student is to be able to identify who is telling a store a various points. This means that the student must know the different view points and know that sometimes the speaker in the story changes. Any 1st grade appropriate book where the speaker changes would be a good way to demonstrate this.

It's important to notice the gradual increase in student work and the decrease in support. As you can see, in kindergarten the students are to ask and answer questions about key details in a text with prompting and support. In grade 1, they are expected to ask and answer questions about key details in a text but without the prompting and support. Next, in second grade it becomes even more difficult and they are then expected to ask and answer questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate their understanding of key details. If you pay attention to most standards, they work in an increasing demand such as this as you go up in grades.

This is something that I've been learning about in one of my other education courses. The value students have in being able to actually watch and see themselves grow as learners is fascinating. It might not seem like it, but students love recording themselves periodically to watch their growth. This really interests me and I hope to use this technique one day in my classroom.

This is an interesting way to share speaking time. I've never heard of this exact technique but I do find it interesting. It is a way that not only addresses who gets to speak but it also shows who is talking a lot and who is barely talking. This is also important information for the teacher/students to see.

In some districts, you will face situations such as these where there's a revolving door. This makes the teachers job 10X harder when it comes to literature circles because when kids are always being switched in and out of groups, it becomes harder to create a sense of security.

Sometimes, a teacher can plan so much but then certain obstacles such as these high poverty children's lives greatly affect their learning. Sometimes, you can do something about this but then other times the hurdles seem like they're just too big. Being a teacher requires passion, empathy, and knowledge on ways to adapt your plans for your students.

This main goal shows how unsuccessful the literature groups were in the beginning of this reading. By bullying, students were completely defeating the purpose and not promoting a "supportive and safe environment".

This is something that we hear an incredible amount as future teachers. We all talk about the desire/need for a shift to student centered learning rather than teacher (only) directed. To keep up students interest and further their learning, it's important for them to indulge themselves as deep as they can in the material.

This is good point and it raises awareness to how easily kids could get off track when not provided sufficient instructions/directions. Instead of completing their role tasks, the students then turned it into a bullying session. Close monitoring and strict structure is important.

This is an important point because as we all know, with new common core state standards, students aren't only expected to learn information but they also must reflect on their learning now to deepen their understanding. Also, RW could make students feel separated but when you come together at the end to share information, then they could feel the sense of community again.

This is important to note. Even though the students are given the responsibility of signing up for individual reading conferences, the teacher still overlooks these sign ups. For example, if the teacher wasn't watching who was signing up then there could be students avoiding meetings. If the teacher didn't monitor these then some students could fall behind.

This touches on the statement I made before regarding how important it is for students to be able to make decisions for themselves sometimes rather than the teacher ALWAYS telling them every single thing they have to do. This way, in the LRG's, the students are ones who want to be there. They're not there because they're being forced but rather they get to decide.

State-of-the class is incredibly important. I'm currently learning about this in my EDU 330 class about informing students on the purpose of lesson and the importance of doing so. My professor explained that a student has to sit in school for 6 hours a day and be told what to do ALL day long. And this is true. If they're going to be told what to do (write an essay, read this book, do this, do that), shouldn't we tell them why? Shouldn't we tell them the purpose? This is crucial to a kids interest and motivation.

This is interesting to read because I remember learning about ability groups back in EDU 200 and it's something that could really hurt a child's self esteem and that's the last thing you want to do as a teacher. It is crucial to keep up student motivation and by showing them that they're "less smart" than other peers will only hurt them and their motivation more.

This is definitely an important component of the reading workshop because it gives the children a chance to hear about their teachers readings and not just them reciting what they read. This would show students that what they are doing is important because even their teacher has to do the same things.

Many teachers believe that independent worksheets are the answer but more and more it's proving to not be the answer. Reading is not just sitting and reading a book, it can also relate to writing, responding, discussing and getting involved. It doesn't have to be, "Sally, go sit at your desk and read this." How is that fun for the student? We need to open up the minds of teachers regarding reading and let them see that there is much more to it.

This is a very important concept. I can relate to this personally because I remember growing up different situations with reading. When independent reading, a student wants to be able to make decisions for themselves. When this happens, they're more interested therefore there's more motivation. When a student is given something to read with no choice, they won't be as motivated because they didn't get any say. And when students don't like something, they're also less likely to understand it.

This is something that really surprises me. I'm currently taking SED 435 on reading instruction and we're learning how important reading is to a child and their development. Reading these statistics was scary because these kids should be spending much more time, in my opinion.

This made me realize that as teachers, you must know these different theoretical perspectives and know how to implement them in a classroom even though you may not always be able to express your stand.

I'm glad that this point was made because as a future teacher, if I hadn't taken this course and seen the ranges of literature then I might have been held to the same belief regarding decoding.

This is something that makes me upset. Schools and teachers shouldn't be choosing publishers/texts solely based on the "test raising ability". Students should be in reading programs where they're learning everyday important things rather than learning only to raise a score.

It's important to do this but it's also important to know that while it would help, it is still a challenge.

Texts such as these would be very beneficial to our students. To have texts that show a positive route in life that would help them avoid unwanted behaviors, is to provide a student exposure. Exposure is key for someone to learn and do something. It gives examples and could encourage students.

This piece goes along with my first point in teachers needed the resources or knowledge for African American males. Especially, with reading sources, it's important for teachers to be aware of how to choose literature that is appropriate.

I believe that it's extremely important for teachers to try and understand where behaviors are coming from before being quick to suspend, etc. If you know a students' history, then you might be lead to insight as to why they're acting out the way they are. By creating an environment where teachers are looking out for all students, ALL students would feel more comfortable.

I believe that the Three Little Pigs would be a great text to reach this standard. There are detailed illustrations that could help describe the characters, setting, and events.

First graders must be able to utilize illustrations and details in a story in order to describe the characters, setting, or events.

First graders must know the definitions and understand the terms character, setting and event.

I think that the Three Billy Goats Gruff would be a great text in order for a student to meet this standard.

Grade 1 students must be able to use key details in order to describe the characters, settings and major events.

Grade 1 students must know the definitions of characters, settings and major events.