Chapter 4 Response

Chapter 4: Picturebooks: Beyond Words and Illustrations

While reading this chapter, I was thinking of all the picture books I read when I was young, and realized how much I love them and how much they have impacted me. The whole role of pictures books is for the student to enjoy a book, while gaining visual literacy and meaning in pictures. The author does not have to tell the whole story, because the pictures show meaning to what the author leaves out. A student can gain critical thinking skills by analyzing a picture to understand what an author means.

There are many categories of picture books including:
Mother goose stories that teach a lesson or moral
Concept books that are informational picture books
Alphabet books that help students connect letters with objects
Counting book that show numbers, calendars, and seasons
Wordless picture books that use solely pictures
Toy books that use flaps, pop ups, and textured pages
Pop-up books that use constant three dimensional structures
Easy to read books that have simple sentences
Picture story books that integrate words and pictures
Postmodern picture books invite the reader to coauthor the text

Selecting the appropriate picture book is similar to every other type of book. The book should be accurate, intriguing, appropriate, engaging, and the illustrations should expand the text. There are many different physical characteristics that accompany a variety of picture books. The size and shape may vary. Historically, a picture book was small enough to find inside a grandmothers pocket. Also, texture of the pages will vary. But, glossy and shiny pages are distracting and not best suited for younger readers/listeners. More roughly textured pages make the book less distracting.

I think that picture books can be incorporated in all grades. Although they may not like to admit it, many high schoolers still reminisce about the picture books they read when they were young. Incorporating them into a lesson can allow the students to relax and enjoy a picture book that may pertain to what they are learning.

Chapter 5 Response

Chapter 5: Traditional Literature

I think it is so cool how traditional literature can come from oral story tellings from thousands of years ago, and no one knows who told it first. Some of these tales include Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood. While many of these tales vary by region of the world, they usually contain the same theme and values. There ate many benefits in children reading or being read traditional folktales. 1)These stories hold a plethora of valuable lessons and all them to understand values of society. 2) Provides students a framework for literature, drama, and art. This helps prepare them for the future in these areas. There are rich plots and story lines in traditional literature, and allowing children to be exposed to them early will help them in the future. 3) Obviously, these tales are fun to read and entertaining to children, or really anyone. 4) There are repetition and patterns displayed in traditional literature tales and helps students to develop their memory and imaginative skills.

I feel like traditional literature tales can be used at any age, not just in young children. I would still enjoy reading any Cinderella story. But, when there are many considerations to consider when providing traditional literature to young students. There may be violence, sexism, stereotypes, and other topics that may not be appropriate for a certain age. It is best to use proper judgment and be sure you pick the proper version. Because, some traditional literature stories may be fine on one version, but completely inappropriate in another.

There are many categories of traditional literature, including: fables, myths, legends, religious stories, tall tales, and folktales (which has multiple subcategories like fairy tales and beast tales). Personally, my favorite categories are folktales and myths. I think a great way to allow students to be involved in their own learning is to provide a lesson on learning about all of these categories, and having the class choose their favorites for choosing a class book to read. I think traditional literature can easily be used as a great discussion starter, or writing prompt. Student's can build on abstract and critical thinking by trying to evaluate hidden meanings in these tales, and comparing them to life today. Students can also write their own versions based on what they think should happen in the story, or using their own culture and life as a guideline.