Textbook Assignment 5

Building a Community of Readers

Evaluating Nonfiction

Genres and Formats

Evaluating Picture Books

Why we share Literature with Kids

KWLS

(K) What do you already know about the topic?

Building a Community of Readers: From my experience, I believe building a community of readers is extremely important because research shows that the more you read, the more you know. It is significant to encourage students to read and become lifelong readers. Children of all ages should have access to books at home and at school. They should also be allowed to pick books they’re interested in. Evaluating Nonfiction: Nonfiction is writing based on facts, real events, and real people. When you walk into a library, it is definitely the biggest section. All the books that give facts about animals fall into this category. It is also a category that a lot of students especially in the upper grades like fourth and fifth like reading because they learn so much information.

Genres and Formats: Genre is used to group different types of literature according to a range of features and expectations. There are many types of genres like fiction, nonfiction, biographies, and autobiographies.

Evaluating Picture Books: As I grew up, I learned that picture books and picture storybooks are the same thing.  They simply tell stories along the way. It is important to introduce youngsters to appealing picture books to encourage them to enjoy reading at a young age. However, not all picture books seem interesting to children. It is imperative that we know the difference between a book that will interest a child and a book that will never be picked out. The cover of a book is significant. That is what gives children either a good or bad impression. Students often go for the books that look fun, colorful, and entertaining.

As a teacher, I like to use wordless picture books especially with my English language learners. It gives them the opportunity to enjoy a book just like everyone else without a language impediment. Most illustrations support the story and students are able to understand the gist.

Why we share Literature with Kids: Throughout the five years I worked as a library aide, I learned that sharing literature with children is very important. It would amaze me to see the joy in students when the librarian and I would introduce a new book to them.  Sharing is definitely fun! Just like athletes engage in sports, I engage in reading and passing that on makes a difference in a student’s education and language development. It is well known that the more you read, the more you know. If children start listening to stories at a young age, they will develop that natural vocabulary and love for reading. It also develops life-long readers that will enjoy reading for fun and pleasure.

(W) What you learned after you completed reading.

Building a Community of Readers: Building a community of readers takes much effort from teachers, librarians, and parents. Ten things to do to encourage reading:

1.     It is important to have real books in the classroom, library, and home. Having books in the classroom gives teachers the opportunity to model and encourage reading without excuses. Also, the presence of a certified librarian with a sufficient book selection is adequately correlated with higher test scores.

2.     Read aloud should occur regularly. Students of all ages love to hear stories read aloud to them. Fluency is definitely something that improves by doing this.

3.     Share books with kids individually or in large and small groups.

4.     Allow students to have silent reading time daily. The more time they spend reading, the higher the test scores will be. Silent reading time is considered practice.

5.     Students should always be allowed to borrow books from the class, library, and public library. It would be a good idea to have some sort of Have collaboration with the public library.

6.     Reading models should be everywhere. The principal, teachers, librarian, secretaries, counselors, and even custodians should be permitted to read to students.

7.     Students should be able to choose their own books. They definitely have to be interested in what they are reading.

8.     Talking to each other about what they are reading will allow students to comprehend even more.

9.     Students should always have a response from an adult. They should be able to recommend adequate books.

10. Teachers and librarians should build a community and model in order to foster the love of reading to students. They will have the skills and passion to be lifelong readers.

Evaluating Nonfiction: Dr. Small once said that nonfiction tends to be defined by what is not. Nonfiction is an umbrella of terms such as narrative, expository, biography, autobiography, and memoirs. There are different criteria to look for when evaluating nonfiction for children. It is imperative to look for the qualifications of the author. This can be done by checking their website, reading the author’s note, or researching for accuracy. Next, is whether the facts are accurate? We can look at our resources such as The National Science Teacher Association to check for fact validation. We can also compare books and see if they have the same information. Looking for the scope and purpose of the book is another part of the criteria to look for. Do you want broad or narrow information? For criteria number four, we have to ci=consider the organization of the book, like the table of contents, glossary, and index. These categories will certainly help students find the information they are looking for without wasting any time. Finally, it is very important to see what roles do the visuals play. They should elaborate on the information presented and help students not feel overwhelmed with the text.

Genres and Formats: The word genre is thrown around easily. Basically, there are two types of genres, fiction and nonfiction. Those genres have subgenres. Fiction has realism and fantasy. Realism includes realistic modern contemporary and historical. Fantasy includes modern and traditional. Modern is the hard science fiction, soft science fiction, high fantasy, and low fantasy. Traditional is folktales, ballads, fables, legends, myths, and fairy tales. Nonfiction has the subgenre informational, which includes biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, narrative nonfiction, and expository nonfiction. Formats are short stories, picture books, graphic novels, poetry, drama, novels, and chapter books.

Evaluating Picture Books: It is impressive to learn about the different criteria in a book.  Children will often pick books that are of interest to them. The theme of the story is imperative. Most of the time children want to read books that are significant. If they are able to connect with the books they will definitely continue reading. Children also want books that don’t talk down to them. Certain authors know that children are very smart and they don’t use little or easy words just because the books are meant for them to read. In contrary, they use big words that will help improve their vocabulary and knowledge. Children definitely like this and will most likely pick these books that are challenging for them. The illustrations of a book are extremely important too. It is imperative that the reader can understand the different characteristics of the characters by simply looking at the pictures. Some books are really good at pointing out details that are vital to the story. This can also help to identify the mood and tone of a book. For example, a book that is black and white will often be scary and will cause suspense. Without a doubt, illustrations give clues about what the story will be about.

The physical part of a book is something to really think about. Sometimes paying a little more for a book can really make a difference. It was impressive to learn that there is books that have stickers that mean they are simply too dumb to win an award. Wow! I didn’t know that was possible. It is critical to understand the cover of a book is what a child first perceives. Some books have covers that are a two-page spread. This means that the illustration they present in the front continues in the back. Some books just have a review in the back and if we really think about it, a child will definitely pick a book that has pictures on both sides and not just words.

What happens when you take off the cover from a book? Does the book have the same reproduction of what the paper cover is? Sometimes the paper cover falls out or is destroyed and the child would not be as interested if there’s not an appealing cover left. End papers are the papers that are in the very first page to cover the ugly fold you have in the front of books. It is worth to see if it’s a simple white or if it has a special design or color that coordinates with the cover of the book. The title page gives you a sense of what is going to happen in the book. It provides some kind of entrée of the text. There is also different kind of binding in books. They all have different purposes. As a librarian, knowing what books to order with library binding is important. For instance, if it is a Caldecott winner, it will definitely be worth to get the library binding which will allow multiple openings and closings. The spine of a book has the most important information, including the title and author. The gutter is what is in the middle of a book when it is opened. It needs to flow well. Pictures should not be cut off or disproportioned.  There is also different kind of quality paper. Glossy paper will often cause a glare, especially if you wear glasses and thin paper will be destroyed very easily.

Why we share Literature with Kids: Without a doubt, I have learned many new things. It is amazing to see that reading twenty minutes a day can certainly make a difference. A student that is exposed to reading will definitely have better acquisition of language and language development compared to a student that is not. Reading also develops empathy. It is unquestionably true that certain stories make you connect with them and have feelings that build a bond. Those books become extra special because you can identify yourself with them. Culture and diversity also play a very important role in literature because they are a strong part of people’s lives. Children need to read about a variety of cultures year round in order to learn about the different influences, views, hopes, values, beliefs, and fears.

(L) What you still need to learn.

All the information I learned was very informative. However, it might be easy for me to learn this but not for children. Is there any specific or easier way to show children about all genres and formats? Should we teach this to pre-k students or do we start at an older age?

(S) How you will share this information with others.

I will share all the information I learned with my colleagues. I know genres are definitely easy to misinterpret. I will also share this with my current students. Every time they check out a book from the library, I usually ask for the genre, but I will now be asking for the format too.