Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5: Traditional Literature

Traditional Literature is also known as folk literature. Books that are part of traditional literature are books like Cinderella. Traditional literature is meant to teach children the personal dimension and standards of behavior of a culture. Some benefits include:
1. The common characteristics traditional stories share make them very appealing and accessible to children: concentrated action, stock characters, patterned language, elements of fantasy, and simple themes such as good versus evil and weak overcoming the strong and powerful.
2. The emphasis on oral storytelling by librarians who draw heavily from traditional oral resources, which creates a demand for publishing in this area.
3. The increasing demand for multicultural literature from non-European sources over the past ten years. Traditional tales have ready-made characters and plots that can be extracted from sources in the pubic domain that require no royalty payments.

4.The power of the stories themselves. The tales have survived for their sheet power as stories that deal with universal truths.

 

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 religions
5. Tall Tale- Exaggerated humorous stories of characters the perform impossible acts.
6. A fairy, human, or animal tale passed down by word of mouth.

In my opinion, Traditional literature has become a popular form of literature for children. It allows them to experience other cultures with stories similar to their own. For example there are over seven hundred versions of the story Cinderella. Children know the story of Cinderella, and they can hear it in all different versions to get different views about different cultures and life with just one story

Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Reading by Children: Independent Reading and Writing and Literature Circles

Independent reading is a crucial and very big step for many students, especially ones who don't enjoy reading. Growing up, I was not big on the independent reading and I honestly believe that is why I do not enjoy reading now. It is important for students new to independent reading to have books that are not too challenging, but not ones they have read over and over. This was you can keep your students interest.

 

 

 

Independent writing is a new process for students in elementary school, too. As a teacher, I think it is important to relate both reading and writing together. This is a great way to evaluate your students for comprehension.There are many different ways to inquire activities that involve reading and writing.

 

 

Literature circles are very beneficial to student because this allows students to be able to discuss their and make connections to the story. Having these discussions can build listening skills and build connections that can help benefit students with better communication skills.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Modern Fantasy

Modern Fantasy can be classified into two categories: low fantasy and high fantasy. Low fantasy stories take place in the real world but magical elements make them impossible. Books in the low fantasy category include Charlotte's web and The tale of Peter Rabbit. Both of these stories include talking animals, which make them impossible to be real stories, even though they take place in the real world. High fantasy takes information and experiences from the real world and projects them into an "other world." Some examples to high fantasy are The lord of the Rings and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The worlds in these books (Middle earth and Narina) are magical "other worlds" created by the authors.

In my opinion, Modern Fantasy is a genre that many children enjoy. I personally enjoy reading modern fantasy. Fantasy books can teach children ideas that would otherwise be difficult to convey to young readers.

Here are a few Modern Fantasy themes:
Animal Fantasy
Dreams
Fairies
Fantasy
Ghoasts
Good & Evil
Heroes/Superheros
Supernatural
Toys
Witches
Time Travel

Activity

Modern Fantasy can be created with a good imagination and some key words to get started. Each student will be given a worksheet with the words WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY on it. This exercise will get them started writing their own story.

As they use thie imaginations the will answer questions associated with the guide words. For example;

WHO are the most important people or characters?

WHAT is the problem or what went wrong ?

WHEN did it happen?

WHERE did it happen?

WHY did they do what they did in the story which has been created?

Writing an original story will give the students a chance to create their own adventure that they will love.They can enhance this writing project by letting their characters take on extraordinary characteristics like flying, turning different colors, disapearing in thin air and becoming an animal or other form of life. Imagination is the key to staying interested and if these students stay interested they will want to read and write more.

     

Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Historical Fiction

In this chapter, we learn about historical fiction, like the genre of fantasy, it creates another world that has strong connections to our own world. Historical fiction conveys a sense of life as it was lived, happens to ordinary people, broadens perspectives and helps children understand that the present and future are linked to actions of the past. As stated in the book, “Historical fiction helps children realize they are not just outsiders looking in on great historical events; it helps them appreciate that everyone plays a role in shaping history."  (Pg. 209)

In my opinion, I believe historical fiction is something that should be taught. It provides students in today’s class with historical truths. Historical fiction does more than give information to the reader, but it connects the reader to that particular time error.

 

 
 

 

Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Nonfiction: Biographies and Informational Books

In this chapter, we focus on the foundation of nonfiction, which is truth. Nonfiction has come a long way over the years from the dry facts to interesting information we can use in everyday life. Nonfiction is the literature of fact consisting of biographies and information books that revolve around the social and scientific world. Nonfiction can benefit the students in our classroom in six major different ways, as stated in our textbook:
1. It offers a key to success in later schooling
2. It is ubiquitous in the larger society
3. It is the preferred reading material for some children
4. It addresses children's interest and questions
5. It builds knowledge of the natural and social world
6. it includes many important text features.  

In my opinion, I believe nonfiction books should also be a top priority in the classroom for many different reasons. We can use these books to benefit the classroom, as listed above. Also I believe promoting information through interesting nonfiction books can capture my audiences attention by reading these nonfiction books that can relate to the subject. There are many different projects and activities that you can use on nonfictions books. These can give teachers the opportunity to challenge the students and to build and interest in nonfiction books, as well.

Chapter 7

 

Chapter 7: Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction has quite a few catagories. Survival/Adventure, Mystery, Humor, Animals, Sports, Family, Growing Up. Along with childrens books that are realistic fiction many things can be addressed that are contraversial with pros and cons for every book itself. Some of the benefits of realistic fiction include:
1. Portraying the realities of life so children can gain more in-depth understanding of human problems and relationships.
2. Helps expand children's frames of reference and ability to see the world from another perpective.
3. Helps children understand and take comfort in knowing that their problems are not unique and they are not alone in the world.
4. It allows children to experience vicariously interactions with the characters in books.
5. It provides a literary framework for the development of a sense of personal and civic competency and ability to make improvements in our own lives and the lives of others.


In my opinion, I think it's a great way for students to learn and express themselves with family problems, disabilities, and other social problems that are hard to confront.There are many different ways that realistic fiction is so good for children of all ages. It really promotes thinking outside the box, can help students confront social or personal problems. In the book, Because of Winn-dixie this can relate to some students who do not know much about their mothers. Refering back to the benefits above this goes to show how you can go in-depth with your students to have them open up and relate to them using books.

 

Activities

 Have students fill in character face. Answering questions ( What did he/she see? What was he/she thinking? How would you feel under similar conditions?)

 

Have students complete KWL chart.

Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Diverse Perspectives in Children's Literature

In this chapter, we learn multicultural literature is an important in every classroom. With all of the literature books provided about multicultural literature, this gives students an opportunity to learn about other cultures and backgrounds. This creates a diverse environment in the classroom to help students understand different perspectives.

In my opinion, I believe multicultural literature is an opportunity to expand the knowledge of students about diversity. At home, each student has different traits they bring to the table to offer to other students. These books can be extremely informative and expose students to other perspectives. As a future teacher, I plan to use multicultural resources to help teach my future students.