Children also need time on their own to interact with books of their choosing. This way, children get to read what they want and what they are interested in, rather than books that are chosen for them. By having them personally select their own reading material, it also means that they are more invested in what they read and this is really what reading is about—enjoyment. This interaction and investment can be accomplished by having a set period of time dedicated to silent reading. One anecdote about silent reading found in the Children’s Literature textbook caught my attention:
At Hillcrest Elementary School in Elgin, Illinois, the school halted its regular daily operation for silent reading. The whole school! In fact, each of the school’s staff—the lunchroom and playground supervisors, custodians, the nurse, the principal, and secretaries—would go into the classrooms to demonstrate their reading as well. At 12:30, everything halted while 20 minutes was dedicated to the enjoyment of reading. (417)
Although I won’t be able to enforce the whole school in silent reading, I will be able to do it in a classroom setting and that, at least, is helping the students in my class.
The basic rules that the Children’s Literature textbook sets out are also useful. The first rule they lay out is that “the teacher must read” (CL 417). In my own experience, I can see how this is important. When I was in middle school and we did SSR (Silent Sustained Reading), it was more enjoyable when the teacher sat down and read with the class. When they were working on grading or other work during our reading time, it was a distraction to hear the teachers grade papers along with the click of computer keys, and it didn’t seem as important then. I also like the rule about setting a timer. As someone who has, on more than one occasion, found that she has wasted an entire day or has stayed up until three in the morning to finish a book, I know how useful it can be to set an alarm or a timer of some type. Other guidelines that are laid out are also helpful and are simple tips that can be easily be forgotten, such as having a supply of reading material if the students forget their books, anticipating possible distraction from the students, reminding them that they should wait to talk to the teacher after the reading period, and having taking an interest in what the students are reading, as well as the teacher sharing what they have been reading. I think all of these rules and guidelines are particularly helpful and it better prepares me for what kind of rules I will have to establish during silent reading.
Another important aspect in trying to motivate children to read is to provide them with a wide selection of books. “To grab and keep students’ attention, an enormously wide variety of books of different formats and levels of difficulty need to be available... All the grades need fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Every lower grade needs some chapter books. Every upper grade needs some picture books” (CL 419). In my classroom, one thing I will try to do is to establish a classroom library, although this takes a long time to establish. The Children’s Literature states that “the classroom needs its own library… [with] a collection of conspicuously displayed titles… Simply be being there, shelves of real books—not textbooks—in a classroom give evidence of the teacher’s commitment to immediate and lifelong learning” (422). The classroom library should also be “visible, not tucked in a corner or behind locked cabinet doors” (CL 420). For my classroom, I will try to line a wall with short bookshelves in a visible place that will “become part of the classroom’s interior decorating scheme” like the Children’s Literature textbook suggests (420). While the classroom library is being established, the school’s library can also be used as a resource. By learning what subjects and genres the children are interested in, it will make it easier for me and the librarian to help my students find books they will enjoy. “The more titles…children are exposed to, the more excitement is generated for books, and further, the more successful the library visit will be” (CL 420).
Along with reading aloud and having students read materials they want to read, using literature in the classroom is also important. Literature in the classroom can be introduced in “three basic variations in overall book selections” (CL 451). These include core books which are selected by the teacher, individual copies which are selected by the students, or text sets which are a compromise between the two since teachers limit the selection of books the students can choose from. In my classroom, I will try to incorporate all three; however I will try to focus more on core books and text sets. Core books can be used more toward the beginning of the semester and they allow the teacher to evaluate reading level as well as demonstrating what students should be getting out of these books. It also keeps the class on the same track before allowing them a little more freedom with the text sets. Text sets are important since they have “a tremendous amount of flexibility as far as meeting the readability needs of your students is concerned, they are fairly easy to identify, and they allow your students some choice while you [the teacher] have a major amount of input as well” (CL 458). However, in between text sets, I will probably still be using core books since “school districts [often demand] core books in their overall curriculum” (CL 452). Letting the students pick their own books—individual copies—gives students “greater choice both in content and in fit for readability. With wider selection available to them, students can choose a book more to their liking” (CL 453). I also think that by the end of the year, after working with core books and text sets, they will have a greater understanding in what kind of projects they will be able to do with their books to demonstrate that they have read and understood their book.
In order for my students to become better readers and critical thinkers, I will be using a wide variety of literature. I think that having them read material on a wide variety of subject matter, as well as genre, helps them to become better readers since they are being exposed to different types of writing. It is also important to have a large selection of subject matter so that every student will be able to find a book with a subject that they enjoy—and this leads them to read more. “Reading skills improve with practice… The more we read, the better we get at reading. The better we get at reading, the more pleasure we find in it. And the more pleasure it gives us, the more we practice—with the result that we get better” (CL 478). A suggestion in the Children’s Literature textbook is to “measure the time their students spend reading in books of their own choosing. Of all outside school activities, the best predictor of reading growth…is the average number of minutes per day [students] spend reading books” (478). Critical thinking can also be nurtured in the classroom by using literature. This can begin with the read aloud books, as the Children’s Literature textbook suggests. During the time when books are read aloud, I can periodically stop and ask the children for their opinion about what the book is about or what they think will happen next in the story along with proof from the book to support their answers. Having the students use “references in the text as well as connections they have made to other books that are similar and to events in their lives,” it makes them think more critically about the text they are reading (CL 461). Demonstrating this process as a class gives the students a guideline on how they can think critically while reading their own books and making predictions about what will happen next. One way to do this is to have them write their predictions and their reasoning before they read the book (basing predictions on the cover, title, and blurb), and then after each chapter.
In my classroom, I will try to use a variety of fiction, picture books, and poetry. Books and poetry can be used to introduce a new subject in a fun and interesting way, and this important for not only motivating children to read, but also for learning. “What…researchers called the ‘interestingness’ of text is 30 times more powerful than the readability of text when it comes to comprehending and remembering information from print” (CL 454). If students become interested from the beginning, it allows them to learn more effectively and also prompts them to see what other kinds of information they can find in books. For longer works of fiction, since there is more information presented, they can be used to lead into several different types of lessons, similar to how we created lesson plans for each children’s book in my children’s literature class. However, there needs to be a balance of how many lessons are planned around one book:
We need to avoid using Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar as the core of 32 separate language arts activities, or devising 19 mathematical procedures from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad Are Friends. The strength of trade books is their ability to create interest. Recognizing that they also can be used for instruction, we need to choose ways to preserve their ability to stimulate readers and not turn the books into reading assignments with lists of questions to be answered. (CL 502)
If one book is overused and every lesson and subject in it is covered, it loses the entertainment appeal it had before all of the lessons. By learning how to use the book in the classroom, students will be able to get the benefits of enjoying a book as well as learning the material planned around it.
Poetry is also an important piece of literature that is usually disliked by students who carry that dislike into adulthood. This dislike seems to be fostered in school when students are asked to memorize and recite poetry, write poetry, and do a “heavy-duty analysis of a poem’s structure and meaning” (CL 129). The Children’s Literature textbook states that if poetry is not present everyday and teachers “relegating it to that special unit we have to teach each year, we send a clear message about how we feel about the genre… Further, if we ask children to write poems only in certain forms and about specific topics, or if we force them to memorize and recite poems… we set them and ourselves up for failure” (CL 129). Instead, poetry should be fun and interesting, just as fiction is. In my classroom, I will try to write a poem on the board every day, like one of the teachers found in the Children’s Literature textbook. I also think that it would be fun to introduce new subjects using poetry and not use fiction or picture books all the time. Starting the class off with a poem can be “the perfect way to set the tone for learning and literacy” (CL 133). Poetry is also a genre that covers many subjects that can be found in the classroom, something particularly helpful since it makes it much easier to use it every day in the classroom.
I also think that students need to try doing their own creative writing. It not only becomes a creative outlet for them, but it can also generate interest in the different types of books and genres so they can see how “professional” authors, poets, and illustrators put together their stories and poems. Letting students write and create their own stories, picture books, and poetry also provides them a chance to really enjoy themselves in the process.
[However,] if you are going to have students write poetry, start off immediately by having them write real poetry. That means having them write poems that address their feelings, their senses, their critical observations about life and the world around them—then and only then will you see some incredible work. (CL 145)
This means that if I become a teacher, I will try to give students some extra time—similar to silent reading—where they can write poems about whatever they want to. I also plan on teaching them about different forms and elements of poetry, but not requiring that they follow a certain form or a certain pattern about a certain topic. Not only does this create a dislike for poetry, but I also think it hinders their creativity.
As a teacher, I think that there is nothing more important than sharing a love of books and reading to the students since it is something that can be utilized in every subject. In order to increase the odds that my students will also like reading, I will be trying some of the strategies found in the Children’s Literature textbook, such as reading aloud, silent reading, and making a wide selection of books available. I will also try to interest students by allowing them to pick some of the books they read for class assignments as well as using a variety of books and poetry in the class to introduce different subjects. I also think that letting the students create their own stories and poetry will be able to generate interest in reading since they will be able to draw inspiration from published works. I think this children’s literature class has given me new perspectives on how to teach and what kinds of lessons I will be able to do with students. This class has also helped expand my own reading interests through the books that were read for class as well as the books found in the textbook and I think that I will be able to take these interests and pass it on to my students.
Works Cited
Darigan, Daniel L., Michael O. Tunnell, and James S. Jacobs. Children’s Literature: Engaging Teachers and Children in Good Books. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2002.
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