Using Children's Literature in the Classroom

One way to use children's literature in the classroom room is simply by reading them a book. Making sure that when reading a book you are excited and use a lot of expression. By reading a book to the class you are automatically setting them up for success. Another way that you could use children's literature in the classroom is by sharing reading with the children. When you use shared reading in the class the children get to use a big book to read. During the reading of this strategy the teacher involves the children in the reading by pointing to pictures and words of the book. Writing with the children the teacher writes while the students tell the teacher what to write and say ideas. When students see the writing process they figure out that what they say can be written on paper. The classroom library should provide the students with independent reading books. Having the students share their reading is a very successful way to get children to read. A lot of students don't want to read what the teacher says they should read because the teacher probably doesn't know what a good book is. If a student reads a book and recommends it to another student then this will encourage other students to want to learn. Having the students use a book recommendation chart could be one way for students to recommend books to others. When children get a one on one reading conference with the teacher it is easier for the teacher to give them feedback that just relates to their reading. Conducting reading conferences helps the teacher monitor the student learning as well as guide the students to effective reading. Having the students share their writing with other students is another effective way to encourage student writing. Some students learn better from their classmates rather than a whole class discussion. Having their peers read and review their writing may increase their writing skills. Engaging children in discussions is a good way to talk about a book. Every student loves to talk to their friends, this way giving the students the opportunity to talk, but instead they are talking about the book. Also having conversations about the book will increase their understanding of the book.

Creating Your Classroom Library

Creating your classroom library is very important, there are many things that you need to take into consideration when creating it. You need to take into consideration the comfort level that students will get when being in your classroom library. Also you need to make sure that it is easy to get in an out of and should not be in a place where students are walking by constantly. Making sure that there are colorful posters and rugs in the library may motivate students to read. Make the library cozy by adding pillows, rugs, and bean bag chairs. Books need to be organized by authors, then the students will have the opportunity to being talking about authors. Using color coated bins are an easy way to organize books by themes, genres, or author. Organizing your books in levels will only create the students to pick books from their level. If the books are organized in a way with authors and themes the students will pick the book that is just right for them. Some categories that you could organize your bins into are pop-up books, number books, authors, genres, class made books, poetry, funny books, girl books, boy books, favorite authors and many many more. If the students have the opportunity to help organize the library this will give them some kind of ownership to the library and they may feel more comfortable going to it.

Importance of Reading

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

I learned in a class that I took in the spring how important reading is. I also figured out why I may be a little behind in my vocabulary and why I had such an issue throughout my schooling. When I was really young I loved to read, but as I got older I hated to read and stopped reading. I think that because I didn't read as much it had an effect on my vocabulary which then effected everything that I did such as tests, homework, and writing papers. When a person reads it is an active mental process and improves your discipline and memory. Reading can improve your vocabulary skills and academic excellence. You can also receive better communication skills and master a language by reading. People who tend to be more creative and have good hand-eye coordination read a lot. I think that if I never stopped loving to read I would never have had a problem taking tests, doing homework, and writing papers. On my papers in high school I always received feedback that said my paper was too wordy, the reason why I make my paper wordy is because I have a small vocabulary and think if I add words it will make the paper better. So all in all I think that reading is extremely important and after reading all my books for my annotated bibliography for this class, I have found my love for reading again 

My Favorite Children's Books

Marissa's bookshelf: favorite-chilren-s-books

Green Eggs and Ham

by Dr. Seuss

tagged: favorite-chilren-s-books

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

by Dr. Seuss

tagged: favorite-chilren-s-books

The Cat in the Hat

by Dr. Seuss

tagged: favorite-chilren-s-books

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

by Dr. Seuss

tagged: favorite-chilren-s-books

Harold and the Purple Crayon

by Crockett Johnson

tagged: favorite-chilren-s-books

Reading Aloud to Childrem

Reading aloud is very important to children. There are many different reasons why it is good to read aloud to your children for example when a parent begins to read aloud to their child in their early life it rapidly develops their speaking skills. I also think that reading aloud to your child prepares them for academic success in the future. When a child is read aloud to it helps them increase their vocabulary skills. For example when I was a child I only like certain books and would only allow my mom to read these books to me over and over again. I personally do not think that I was prepared for academic success until college. I also know that my vocabulary is very small and I think that maybe because I didn't allow my mom to read a variety of books may have had an impact on that. Some good tips to reading aloud to your child is to read everyday around the same time, use expression, allow your child to look at the pictures, and also don't be afraid to stop in the story and relate things in the book to real life experiences. Children tend to be more interested when they connect something they are learning to something that they already know. When you are reading aloud to your child make sure to be excited. Give your child the opportunity to make predictions and talk about the pictures. To find a good book you can visit your local library and if you are unsure of what kind of books you are looking for, ask a librarian they are more than happy to help. Another thing that you could do is ask family and friends about good books that they have heard of and check them out. What I think all parents should do if they want to learn more about reading aloud to their child is to check out Mem Fox's website or read her books. Here is a link to her website to check it out. 

http://www.memfox.net/welcome.html

Diverse Perspectives

It is important for young readers to understand the importance of diversity. I think it is essential for students to learn about diversity in many different ways. Diversity isn't just only about race and cultural differences, there are many other ways to look at diversity such as disabilities and gender inequalities. The benefits for children reading diverse books are that it presents information and knowledge about the historical and contributions of the people of diverse cultures who live in the United States. It also connects children to the world by giving them information and viewpoints of other students. Categories in the predominant groups in the United States are African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and American Indians. I think those are some categories that are important for students to read about. I also think that some other diverse perspectives are really important for young children to learn about. These categories consist of:

• Aging: These are books that teach children about elderly and the stages of life. A lot of children only portray elderly people as senile and close to death. 
• Example: The Hello, Goodbye Window by: Norton Juster
• Gender Equity: These books devoid of stereotypes that have traditionally constrained gender roles in society.
• Example: 100 Things Guys Need to Know by: Bill Zimmerman
• Exceptionalities: These books portray characters with physical, mental, or behavioral challenges and giftedness must avoid stereotypes and focus on what they can do. 
• Example: Out of My Mind by: Sharon Draper
• Language: These books are written in English and other language or books about people who speak more than one language.
• Example: I Hate English by: Ellen Levine
• Social Diversity: These are books that portray poverty, low social class, homelessness, illiteracy, or migrant life.
• Example: The Teddy Bear by: David Mcphail
• Family structures: These are books about a variety of family social structures. This includes adoption, divorced families, single-parent families, and more.
• Example: Celebrating Families by: Rosemarie Hausherr

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction books are probably one of my favorite kind of books. I think that it is beneficial to know what has happened in the past. Author's create historical stories and use factual information, but have with a twist of imagination. Sometimes it isn't fun to read historical facts out of a text book, but when they are in a form of a story the reader ends up learning more about the historical fact rather than reading a text book and writing down the definition. The benefits that historical fiction has are that it conveys a sense of life as it was lived, happens to ordinary people, it broadens perspectives, and it helps children understand that the present and future are linked to actions of the past. There are several categories of historical fiction, they are:

• Ancient times: These are stories which take place in ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt.
• Themes: survival, courage, honor.
• Example: The Bronze Bow by: Elizabeth George Speare
• Medieval times: These are stories that take place during the middle ages. It begins after the fall of the Roman Empire.
• Themes: loyalty, overcoming handicaps.
• Example: Matilda Bone by: Karen Cushman
• Colonial times: These are stories about the settlements of Jamestown, Plymouth, and Boston. This also includes stories about the move westward, American Indians, and the Salem witch trials.
• Themes: courage, survival, and persecution.
• Example: The Courage of Sarah Noble by: Alice Dalgliesh
• Revolutionary Era: These stories are about the events that surround the Revolutionary War.
• Themes: family, freedom, commitment to a cause, injustice.
• Example: Woods Runner by: Gary Paulsen
• Early Frontier Era: Stories about the move westward before the Civil War.
• Themes: friendship, faith, longing for ownership of land.
• Example: Lyddie by Katherine Paterson
• Civil War: These are books that describe the time during the Civil War. They are about slavery, and the war between the states.
• Themes: tragedy of war, and freedom.
• Example: Shades of Grey by: Carolyn Reeder
• Post-Civil War: Stories about the Industrial Revolution, and immigrants.
• Themes: looking for a better life, family bonds, hardship.
• Example: Little House on the Prairie by: Laura Ingalls Wilder
• World War I: Stories about the events of World War I and after.
• Themes: destructive nature of war, survival, prejudice, and discrimination.
• Example: Letters from Rifka by: Karen Hesse
• Great Depression: Stories about the events around the Great Depression and in the 1930's.
• Themes: survival, effects of poverty, and homelessness.
• Example: The Song of the Trees by: Mildred D. Taylor
• World War II: Stories about the events of World War II, Hitler's rise and fall, and Japanese military activity.
• Themes: hatred, prejudice, survival, and suffering caused by war.
• Example: Number the Stars by: Lois Lowry
• Post-World War II: These are stories about the continued problems in Korea, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• Themes: social change, and humanity.
• Example: The Wall by Eve Bunting
• Civil Rights Movement: These stories are ones about the fight for civil rights that took place from the late 1800's-mid 1960's.
• Themes: human suffering, injustice, and tolerance.
• Example: Role of Thunder Hear My Cry by: Mildred Taylor