In my classroom, I have seen literature included in a couple of different ways. This fall, the class was learning about different Native American tribes. My teacher had gotten a ton of books from the library on Native Americans and the students were encouraged to look through the books to research different tribes and different aspects of Native American life. In this instance, the students were responsible for picking and reading the books on their own. In my classroom, there are 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students. I have seen instances when one of the 3rd graders would choose a book from the classroom library to read aloud to the class. The only other type of literature that I have seen included is the standard leveled reading books. I often read with the students from these books.
I think that the articles brought up some good and new ideas about how literature can be incorporated into elementary curriculums. In the piece by Hasset, the article mentioned using multimodal aspects of texts. I found this to be a very interesting idea. We did similar work in TE 350, and I had never thought that the same work would be done in an elementary classroom. However, through the examples in the article, I was able to see that elementary students are capable of taking a critical look at how the different aspects of a book work together to create meaning. I think that this approach is a great way to get students thinking about more than just what the text says. Modern children’s literature is multi-faceted and we should be teaching students to understand and appreciate this.
I also really liked the piece by Leland. I could really relate to the teacher in the article. Just like her, I think it is important to incorporate controversial literature into the classroom; but I often struggle with what this looks like. Sometimes it seems easier to just skip it all together and skip the “hassle” of using controversial literature. However, this article proved how easy and influential it is to incorporate this type of literature into an elementary classroom. I loved how the article said that this method was a great way to introduce students to controversial topics without causing a “ruckus”, which is something that I think most pre-service teachers are striving for! This article really inspired me to use controversial literature in my classroom and reap the rewards that it will bring about.
I would like to begin by saying that I also loved the Leland article. Because I participated in the Urban Educators Cohort Program my freshman and sophomore years here at Michigan State, I was able to take a course called Critical Literacy (TE 291A). The class basically was an expansion of this article and it placed emphasis on teaching our students how to have a critical eye when reading literature. I believe personally that the incorporation of critical literature into the classroom is incredibly important because it helps to engage students further in a text by relaying topics that are relevant to children growing up in present day America. These texts are especially good and getting children to think about social issues that are often not discussed in classrooms because of their (for lack of a better word) "taboo-ness". In my placement, i have not seen a lot of books being read that would be considered critical literature. The students in my classroom have difficulty respecting one another and I believe that an incorporation of this kind of literature would help to develop some of this respect (as mentioned on the 5th page of the Leland article). The one question that I have in regards to incorporating critical literature is how can i do this with out making Caucasian students feel uncomfortable? I have had a lot of practice dealing with "white guilt" myself but I am worried about my younger students who likely haven't had much experience with this. The importance and benefits of including such literature exponentially out-ways this concern, but I don't want to ignore it all together. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteAs for the Hassett/Curwood article, I thought the information about the multi-modal aspects of texts (especially picture books) was incredibly interesting. While learning how to study childrens' literature in TE 348, we learned about how the author and illustrators can use text and pictures creatively to generate specific emotions and understandings from the audiences and were given practice identifying them. Their was one book that I think would be an excellent addition into any classroom library for studying these multimodal characteristics: Voices in the Park. For example, the way that the author used different fonts to depict the changes in the voices speaking is a great way for children to learn to identify multiple perspectives. If i am given the opportunity, i would love to incorporate this book into my lesson plan for this semester.
I am scared to teach about controversial issues as well, but I have never considered not including them into my lesson plans. The things that are unknown or unfamiliar to us in life will always scare us or make us anxious. We can discuss the issue of teaching about controversial issues as much as we possibly can or we can plan out a lesson plan on a specific controversial issue to the smallest detail, but we all know that in a classroom of children, things tend to happen that force us to have to ditch the lesson plan. We learn with experience. I think it's important for the teacher to prepare herself/himself by learning all they can about a topic. It's hard to say what to do because it depends on the situation and how a teacher should respond when put on the spot. As pre-service teachers, we simply don't have the experience under our belts. We've only taught a couple of lessons and only observe a classroom for at least 4 hours a week. We are all observing different grade levels. For instance, I am in a kindergarten classroom and everything is pretty basic. They listen to a few stories a day and the teacher asks them comprehension questions throughout her reading; the students also make predictions, re-tell the story, etc. I haven't seen much else. However, going back to what we talked about in class, "When did you realize you were your race?", this class of kindergarten students is well aware already. Through activities, not directly pertaining to literacy,I've witnessed the students talk about this and being so young, many of them don't seem to have a strong grasp on general stereotypes. They're extremely open and accepting and it's refreshing to be able to hear them talk so freely about it with no judgment. Therefore, I'd like to see my CT to leave the "happy" books aside, as the Leland article referred to them. Within mainstream American culture, it is very evident that we all expect to see a happy ending in the books we read, movies we watch, etc. We need to break away from that in the classroom because that is not the reality we live in. I am not saying that the teacher has to overload the students with these issues and throw away the "happy" books completely. It's just important to get the student to think on a deeper level - to question, criticize, and analyze.
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