Reading and Literature Presentation

Living Literature - Using Children's Literature to Support Reading and Language Arts 

by: Wendy C. Kasten

1.     Please include a detailed description of the text. Take into consideration that your colleagues might not be familiar with the text that you have chosen. A detailed description will include everything necessary for your classmates to gain an understanding of the text without reading it. Your job is to introduce the text in a complete way so that it is possible for others to decide when, where, and how this text might be appropriate.

In general, the main purpose of this book is to show teachers how to instill a strong love for reading within each of their students, while simultaneously improving their language arts and reading skills. There’s various information about different genres of children’s literature, and what teachers need to know in order to pick quality children’s books for their classroom. Additionally, this book provides chapters that are structured towards guided and shared reading in the classroom, independent reading, read-alouds, and literature circles. Furthermore, this book shows you how to create a positive reading environment that supports students and their relationship with literature.

2. Please explain why you chose this text. What was your rationale? How does your understanding of this text influences your thinking about your teaching?

So, to my knowledge, there aren’t explicit lesson plans that teach students to love reading. One of the many methods students develop a love of reading is by letting them read books they’re interested in, while also using literature that intrigues them. I chose this text because it shows you various ways to achieve this goal in a clear and concise way. This text influences my way of teaching because it breaks down how to teach genres and the subgenres (fiction to historical fiction). By having some knowledge about how to teach particular genres, it will be easier for me to not only teach literature associated with these genres but also support my students with their relationship with particular categories of literature.

3.     Please include some teaching ideas. How do you envision employing this text in a secondary English language arts classroom? Provide at least 3 specific ideas for what is possible with this text.

·       Prereading Discussion (p. 206)

o   Before reading a book as a class, leading to a discussion is helpful because you’re able to see what students know/don’t know about a particular book. For instance, some students may really enjoy science fiction and that’s all they read. If the class were to read a historical fiction story, it is important to provide students with background information about the story in order to give them information to fall back on while they read the story.

o   I would provide information about the author, the characters, some major themes, a short synopsis as well as some other information that may pertain to the setting or other key details.

§  Questions the teacher should be asking themselves while leading the discussion:

·       What knowledge do the students already have?

·       What concepts will arise in the book for which students may need additional experience to enhance their understanding?

·       How can I prepare students for enjoyable and effective reading?

o   I would most likely spend two to four days discussing the book before we read together as a class.

·       Independent Reading (pp. 293-299)

o   So, independent reading requires giving students 30-45 minutes, during class, at least once a week to read a book of their choice. However, in order for the teacher to know if students are actively engaging in their reading, there needs to be some organization and structure:

§  Reading response journals help students keep track of what they’re reading while also stimulating their thinking and staying engaged:

·       Example questions to help students get started in their journals, if they need it:

o   What did you read today that got you thinking in a different way?

o   If you could become one of the characters in the book, who would it be, and why?

o   Why do you think the author wrote this book?

·       I would probably collect student journals every few weeks to see their progress

§  If you wanted, you also could use journals for classroom reading and use the responses as a guide for classroom discussions, or if they want to share their reading choices with the class.

§  This method also helps you to get to know your students academically and personally.

·       Literature Circles (pp.303-314)

o   Designate 6-8 quality novels (that you have read and previously introduced to the class) that are appropriate to the age group you are teaching and the size of the class. Ideally, I would like to make the novels have relating themes, or novels by the same author. The groups will have no more than five students (smaller groups = better participation), and the students will read the novel together. The teacher’s role is to just facilitate the groups and tend to groups that may need extra help or have questions.

§  Once students finish the book, they can do a presentation discussing major themes, the author, their insights, reactions to the book, etc.

§  Teacher will provide a self-assessment form for each student to track each group's progress with the book as well as participation:

·       “The people in my group are…”, “I need to do better on…”, “the book our group finished is…”

o   Reader response journals would be another tool a teacher can use to measure student’s participation within the group

4.     Please consider some challenges to using strategies from this text. What are the potential issues that may arise from using these strategies? Predict students’ responses. How will you address these challenges?

It may seem as though everyone in the class is at the same reading level, but this is not always the case. If the text of choice is too advanced for someone’s particular reading level, they may not understand certain words, let alone the plot. This book doesn’t seem to touch on this particular issue when it comes to finding exact solutions, however, solutions vary between every student. Additionally, there may be some hurdles when it comes to students with disabilities, (dyslexia, or maybe a hearing disability). Even though you will have an IEP for the student(s), this is an important factor to consider when implementing reading in the classroom. Furthermore, it is important to have cultural considerations in mind. Teachers may need to know the cultural background of students before introducing certain literature. For example, A Jewish student may react very different than a non-Jewish student, when reading a book about the holocaust (313).

5.     Anything else you think is important for us to know and understand about this text and its use with students.

Most of the citations and books that are used within this text are from the ’90s. The most recent citations are from 1999-1998. While I feel that the sources and books used here are helpful, I would recommend finding updated research as well as popular books during this time period for your students.