Chapter 18...... Teaching Through Children's Books
Tunnell, Michael O. and James S. Jacobs. Children's Literature, Briefly. 4e. Upper Sadle River NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008.
The goal of teaching literature is to help children become lifelong readers. When children love to read, they also become self-motivated and eager to continue their eduation. As a teacher, you also want children to realize that reading is worthwile. THe book also mentions how many people today have become educated, simply by reading books, and with no formal education. That is why many teacher's use children's books as a teaching tool, or a tradebook. Many times, we find as students that textbooks are pretty boring and unappealing. Trade books, on the other hand, are designed to engage readers. Book discussions and using creative writing activities can help children get the most out of what they read. I liked the chart in this chapter, called Death to the Traditional Book Report! This can create interest and promote reading by giving children a fun way of providing examples of how they understood what they read. I remember in highschool, when we had to read the Great Gatsby, that our teacher let us do a similar non-traditional book report activity. This one kid in class dressed up and re-wrote the song "Walk This Way" by Aerosmith, and sang the words "Great Gatsby" instead. To this day... I always think of that song when I hear "Walk This Way". I think this is a great way to get kids to be creative, while also being excited about what they read.
At the end of the chapter, the book lists three guidelines for using trade books as teaching tools that I felt were important:
1. Have children read the book as it was mean to be read (for enjoyment!)
2. Let children discover information on their own.... in other words, there is no right or wrong answer to what a child thinks the book means.
3. Let children share their insights with the class... who knows, something that a child has to say might surprise you and open your own eyes!
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1 comment:
How neat! That Aerosmith song idea was pretty cool! Props to your teacher for having you guys choose a fun activity! I particularly loved the chart as well. I am not a fan of those traditional book reports! It just always felt like busy work, and it took away from the fun part of just reading a book.
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