A bibliography of sources used when writing the fictionalized bio graphies and diaries is often provided. Children could check the sources to determine if the author has included real letters, dialogue, or opinions
Real letters and dialogue make the writing become real and it may help the readers to connect to the situation in which they are reading about. By showing these inside of fictionalized biographies, it helps students see the difference in the texts.
Accuracy and authenticity are of prime concern even if the presenta tion is fictiona
It is necessary that all students can tell the differences between fiction and the actual time in history when something happened. This is something that some students may struggle with, but it is important as becoming a teacher to make sure you don't leave students behind.
Students can judge whether the author provided a true-to-life char acterization of a historical individua
This is true and it is a good way for students to truly see the difference between real life and not. When students can read historical information that is real, some of the time it is hard to believe just because of how bad things really were.
As children grow, reading outside structured reading classes becomes increasingly importan
Reading outside the classroom is very important in child development. It helps children develop even when they are not inside the classroom. It helps students increase their reading skills as well as their vocab knowledge.
always allow alternatives for students who are not comfortable with the text choices.
I completely agree with this statement. I feel as if teachers do not have alternatives for students who are not comfortable with the text choices and that is not right or fare to that student. Students should all receive a great education, and something simple as giving them a different text would change the world for them. Also, I think if more teachers would have alternatives, then more students would enjoy the learning.
The Harry Potter series, perhaps the most demonized work of fantasy to date, is a story of good’s triumph over evil, perseverance in diffi cult times, and the importance of loyalty and friendship
A lot of people love Harry Potter and the stories that have been made, however there are other people, like me, who find it hard to understand. Also, some people may just not be interesting in fantasy's such as Harry Potter.
many fantasy and science fi ction works provide rich opportunities for students to safely use their own moral thought
I do believe that fantasy and science fiction books do provide for students to come up with their own moral thought, however, from other students it may be hard to come up with a moral.
I have found that often those issues that we fi nd the most diffi cult to discuss—issues that are perhaps a little too close to home—
I think that this is an interesting thought added to this article. From experience, reading about something similar to what you are going through, can be a little scary. Some students are able to read it and not link to it, but other students may have a hard time reading that material depending on whats going on in their lives.
Thus, the connection from the Greeks to the pre- sent world is made.
Having students make connections to the different lessons they are taught is a great way to have the students participate. This also helps students see similarities between different things. I like how they can make connections between Greek and the present world.
My ninth-grade unit on mythology requires stu- dents to learn and tell stories to the class.
I like the idea that the students are sharing their work/findings to the class. More classrooms need to be open and have the students collaborating with one another, instead of teachers just lecturing.
An effective ap- proach to mythology should illustrate the connec- tion among international myths, folktales, and leg- ends that continue to be told in current literature and media, including films, songs, television, and cultural icons
Students should know that there are different ways in which a story could be told. Also, students should know that even though stories have been around for years, doesn't mean they can't be told.
That mythology is any- thing more than a group of long-dead stories does not occur to them.
I don't agree that mythology is long-dead stories. Even thought these stories may not be "real" there is still some type of idea that students will walk away with.
It was clear to me that this folk tale genre had provided the class with a concise structure and enjoyable motivation for their pieces
By giving students different examples of something you expect them to do, it will help get their minds moving and them thinking towards what they need to do.
Students who were more advanced in language development were often on target with the moral Aesop had intended.
After reading different Aesop fables, the morals for some of them were easy to figure out. For some of the other fables, they were not as easy. I think its great that students can figure out a moral to a fable without a teacher telling the students what it is.
the original fables and a modern version. That way, the students would have a broader view of the genre.
I think that when teachers use different views of something, it defiantly does help students have a broader view on something. I think that this is a great thing to do through fables.
with young children can increase their word banks, widen their background of experiences, extend their listening and comprehending ability, and ex pand their capacity to relate to the environment
Having children look at books, will gradually lead them to reading them at young ages which is good for them to be doing. When children begin to read at a young age, they tend to have a larger vocabulary, and tend to enjoy reading more than those who start reading later.
sharing books aids in conceptual development and vocabulary expansion, produces awareness of a variety of syntactical patterns, and alerts the listener to the symbolic function of language and its flexibility.
I do believe that sharing books helps many children in all different ways. It can help them with their vocab as well as help those who are struggling, to work with someone who is a little above their level. This is how they work together and end up having a conceptual understanding of the material they are reading.
They further cau tion that books vary in difficulty from one part to another and that "average" grade level assignments do not insure that a child will be able to read an entire book equally well
I agree with this. There are different types of picture books, which does make them differ with the different level of difficulty.
"that group of books in which pictures and text are con sidered to be of equal importance.
I agree that pictures and text are definitely of equal importance because pictures can help explain to the children what the text has to say. If you have no text with the pictures, then it is not beneficial to the reader.
They are written for the young child's interest and apprecia tion level, not his reading ability level
This is true. Picture books are made for children's interest and they are getting children to want to read. They may not be at the reading level of that child, but children love to flip through and look at different pictures. Sometimes children even draw their own story of what is going on in the story.
I can clearly remember the fear I felt when one such instructor asked me to voice my opinion about the meaning of a particular poem.
I remember feeling this way when we were going over poetry in classrooms, Poetry is hard for me to understand and when inside a classroom, teachers want to know how you feel, or what you think about the poem. Honestly, I think a lot of students have issues with this and find it hard to understand the words inside the poems. I think if teachers work more with students to help understand poems, then they may be easier for students to understand.
y looking at my successful attempts to teach poetry, I demonstrate how to skillfully incorporate the writ ing of poetry into the classroom using ideas from others and relying upon the skills many teachers al ready possess.
When teachers work on assignments, they usually research and collaborate with other teachers to get ideas about assignments that work and don't work.
Working as a team, two students read aloud, alternating pages, and provide support for one anothe
When students work together on a subject, they are able to learn from one another which is a great way to learn. I like the strategy of students working together to help each other out.
The teacher and students can reread the story excerpt several times until the stu dents make the short a letter-sound associa tion
Once students are able to do this, the teacher then moves on and works on other skills. These skills are essential for understanding the key ideas of reading before the students move onto higher readings.
Practicing and applying a phonic principle in quality children's literature pro vides students familiar, meaningful, natural language and engrossing plot
When children practice and apply the phonic principles, it will help them gain quality reading skills that are essential for them to use while they grow. Learning these skills at a young age, will help students not fall behind in their reading skills.
ession is whole-to-part. Taking this concept a step further, I pro pose a whole-part-whole sequence, integrat ing phonics instruction with quality children's literature as follows
This is a new concept to me, and I think that whole-part-whole sequence is a great concept. I think it is a great way to teach complex skills that students need to know.
This approach can be achieved when phonics instruction is provided within the con text of real reading tasks and texts, especially through the use of quality children's literatur
Phonics is very important to children's literature and if children learn this through reading when they are younger, it will help them in their future readings.
Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text
This standard requires students to be able to describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text by determining the key details in text. Also, they students should be able to describe the author's purpose and how it supports comprehension.
Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text
This standard requires students to be able to know a connection between two parts is a relationship. The students should also be able to identify individuals, events, ideas, and pieces of information from the text. By being able to do this, the students will better understand the text and the author's message.
how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text
This standard requires students to know how to explain the speaker's reflection on a topic and how that impacts the theme. Also, the students should be able to write a summary by using details from the text.
describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action
This standard requires the students to know how the beginning or introduction usually talks about the important problems the characters have along with information about characters. Also, the students know the conclusion usually talks about how the characters solve their problems.
Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding
Students need to be able to work with a group of students and be able to work on activities related to reading. These activities need to have purpose and the students need to be able to understand the activity. For example, you can have students engage in group readings or poems by sharing something learned or something that they enjoyed.
lthough we were pleased that the students were making connections, we were also happy that they built on one another's responses, demonstrated lis tening behaviors, and referred back to one another's comments.
Students need to make connects to the texts they read. This helps them be able to make connects through a lot of other things, and this is something they can use when they get out of school. Also, the best type of conversations between the students is when they can find a way to build off each others responses.
e began to make a concerted effort to pick books that not only related to the students' lives and interests but also facilitated meaty discus sions
When teachers use ways for students to connect themselves to the text they read, or they read about something that interests them, the students end up participating better. Teachers need to be able to do activities and lessons around the students interests to keep them involved and focused. When students read mirror books or books about their interests, they end up achieving more and that is one thing all teachers would like to see their students do.
he rule was that each time a member spoke he or she had to place a poker chip in the middle of the table. When a student's poker chips were gone, he or she was out of the conversation.
I thought this was interesting. I know different teachers have their own ways to making sure the students share within their groups, but I have never heard of this one before. I actually think it would work a better this way and I think that if teachers come up with interesting ways for students to share their thoughts, then more students would find a reason to participate.
e felt that it was important to highlight some shared interests and build a positive relationship before they began their "official" business as a group.
When students know their group members, its easier for them to work together and be able to look past their differences. Yes all the students in the class know each other. However, it is important for students to know similarities between each other because if they have something in common with another group member, it truly helps them bond as a group and work together, instead of antagonizing the other members.
he teacher and I thought we had given the stu S dents the skills to productively discuss a text, but as soon as we pulled away to let them lead the group on their own instances like the previous example became far too frequent.
This happens a lot inside the classrooms. Even when teachers set up students in small groups and give the students certain things to talk about, there are still distractions. We as teachers need to make sure that the directions we give and the responsibilities we put on our students, we need to make sure they understand them well before moving forward.
inally, there has been research in sup port of this strategy stating that it can increase compre hension, improve higher-level thinking, and foster quality responses to text
This is a great example showing the literacy circles can work. However, as a teacher, you need to make sure you have the right atmosphere for your students so this example can truly work. Higher-level thinking is something all teachers should aim for their students to be working towards, as well as being able to respond to text.
n the field that children avoid simply summarizing their daily readings,
Having students react to the text is better than having them summarize what they read. This is important because if the students just simply summarize what they read, then it isn't showing what they think or have learned. It just shows what they remember and that is not the key idea of reading. You want students to express their feelings, and connections to what they read. This is more useful to the students than having the students just recite what they had just read.
tate-of-the-class (3-5 minutes) State-of-the-class has the purpose of in forming the teacher and individual students of their responsibilities and progress during t
I think this reading workshop component is important because if the students and teacher know the responsibility of what they are suppose to do, then the whole process would flow better. Students should have a clear understanding of what they are doing and the purpose behind them doing it. If they don't have a clear idea of why they are doing what they are doing, then they may have a hard time staying on track.
he five main components of the RW structure are: (1) Sharing time, (2) the Mini lesson, (3) State-of-the-class, (4) Self-selected reading and response, and (5) Sharing time
I believe that these five components are important to reading workshop. In my opinion, I think that sharing time and state-of-the-class is most important. Sharing from the teacher to the students is important, just like sharing from student to student sharing. State-of-the-class is also as important because it reminds everyone in the classroom of their responsibilities during reading workshop.
rganizing for successful reading instruction should provide a way to spend much less time completing worksheets while maintaining a well-managed classroom
Completing worksheets is sometimes an inconvenience for students. When students have to worry about filling out worksheets on their readings, they are not even focused on the reading, rather they are focused on finding the answers to the worksheet. If the classroom is managed to the point where the students can talk about the texts, then it would be better for all the students because then they can actually focus on the reading.
second classroom concern centers on making sure that students use their time wisely during the reading period. In an effort to ensure this, many teachers have become trapped into using worksheets as a means of managing reading classrooms
There are many situations in which students are not using their classroom time wisely. This is a situation that I feel many teachers struggle with. For younger students, worksheets are not something I would use. It is sometimes even hard to get students to even sit down and read at a young age. I think if the teachers have the students talk about what they read instead of using worksheets, they will be better off and the students could possibly do better that way as well.
As my classroom library grew, my students began to read and discuss these diverse texts
When students discuss texts, I think it is a good lesson in itself. Students should have the opportunity to be able to read different texts while in school and most of the texts should relate to the students within the classrooms. It's a good experience when students can talk about different topics and either relate them to themselves or to their classmates. Also, it is a time for students to learn more about about each other and see some similarities and differences between each other.
A second reason we must ensure that all children have mirror books is identity development.
Knowing your identity and who you are is a very important part of growing up. When children are in grade schools, they should be bale to read books that are about their identity. This also will help students gain self confidence in who they are as a person.
If we want all children to become proficient readers, we must stock classrooms with mirror books for all children.
I believe that this is a very true statement. Besides students becoming proficient readers, I think that they will also gain self confidence when reading mirror books. All diversities and cultures should have a place on the book shelf in classrooms for students. I think this would help all the students gain self confidence along with bringing up their skill levels.
frames the problem with the metaphor of “mirror” and “window” books. All children need both. Too often children of color and the poor have window books into a mostly white and middle- and-upper-class world.
Students should be able to have the "mirror" and "window" frame within their classrooms they are in. Students should never feel left out in their education and when the students have no "mirror" and "window" frame then they are being left out. Students of all different colors should be able to read books in their classrooms that they can see themselves in. This could help them even achieve better in reading.
whether they are developmentally appropriate
I believe that some of the standards do see that they are not developmentally appropriate for some students. If a teacher is behind in a subject area one year and the students move on, they can fall a little behind since the teacher didn't get there. I know they are moving more complex things up in grade levels from when I was in grade school, but I don't think some of the tasks they want students to do are developmentally appropriate at all and I do feel they should be fixed. In a way this is cheating students out of a well developed education that every student deserves.
Children’s literature may beconsidered an “add-on” to the primary reading instructional program, a frill available only to thosechildren who are able to get all their other reading “work” done.
Students should have more time to read on their own about what they choose. If they finish any assignment before others in the class, I think they should be allowed to read until the teacher moves onto the next thing. I also feel that the reading shouldn't be considered "work" as they put it.
a critical perspective focuses on the ways that texts are constructed in social, political, andhistorical contexts, and on the ways in which these contexts position readers and texts and endorseparticular interpretations
I think this is important for teachers to understand, as well as students. If you know the ways in which a text was constructed, then it may be easier for a students to understand and/or decode the text.
The modernist perspective is based on a belief that meaning resides in the text (Eagleton, 1996).Reading is conceptualized as an orchestrated set of transportable cognitive processes that individualreaders acquire through formal instruction and use to uncover that meaning
In any text a student reads, there should be meaning inside of it. Either the teacher explains the meaning, or students can figure it out while they read it. If a text didn't have meaning then there really is no point in the text.
The ways in which children’s literature is used in the elementary classroom are directly related to theteacher’s definition of reading, her beliefs about how meaning and knowledge are constructed, the roleof the reader in the act of reading, and the context of the reading even
A teachers beliefs are always going to be either similar or different than his/her students. As a teacher, you should have different reading material in the classroom that reaches over multiple areas of interest. I think teachers should see what their students thinking about the definition of reading and see what books would satisfy their definition as well.
the role of children’s literature may be reduced to that of aninstructional device used to teach children how to decode moreeffectively and to identify the main idea of a reading selection in orderto secure higher scores on standardized tests
This is important, but it should be changed. Children's literature is important and it should not only be based on testing and teaching students how to decode. Yes, children should know how to identify important parts on a text, but they should also be able to read books of their interest. Everything is about testing now, and personally I think it is turning a lot of children to not like school.
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
Students need to be able to give examples from the text after reading and be able to explain what the detail means.
Describe the overall structure of a story
When students are able to understand the difference between the beginning and end of the story, they know the beginning introduces the story and prepares the reader for what is to follow. Students know that the end of the story concludes the action.
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series).
Students identify key details, about plots and settings of different stories that have the same or similar characters and they are written by the same author. Students will see this commonly in series books.
Ask and answer questions about key details in a text
Students who ask questions by using words such as who, why, what, where, and when, expand their understanding of a text. They also use words such as setting, events, and characters.
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters
This is when the students understand the difference between the author of the story and the narrator. The students know that the narrator is the story teller, which is the voice of the story in which the story is told. The students also know that the author of the book is the person who wrote the book.