Children's Literature Basics
Course
Children's Literature [6:47]
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About
In this lesson, we will discuss children's literature.Transcript
One is as primary content. We can use good books produced for children as the content of reading, social studies or science lesson. We can supplement our pre-existing curriculum with children's literature, with picture books, novels, non-fiction, in addition to the textbooks that we may be using. Or we may recommend children's literature as the recreational reading for children and students to provide enjoyment, to enhance their reading skills and to supplement what they're learning in school. I'd like to talk about what children's literature is, does, and how it works for kids and families and then, break that down and talk about all of the genres and how they fit in teaching the school curriculum.
One of the things we know is that children come to reading, by and large, through the influences around them, their families, their environment, their community, church, school, library. That can happen in a number of different ways. Family's a model, of course. If they're readers, more than likely, their kids will be readers, but families also provide resources, take children to the library, buy books or not, and that's an important attribute in terms of raising readers. I'm glad to report there are many resources available for families to support literacy development. Websites, like The Barbara Bush Foundation, and great books, like the Read Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease that is a handy workbook for families to choose good books for kids of all ages and get kids on the path of reading.
Why is reading so important? Because literacy is an important part of being a productive citizen. That's sort of obvious. We want our kids to grow up so that they can learn and contribute as adults, but I would go even further and say that children's literature is an important part of childhood, that kids who grow up with books have sort of an extra set of friends that they can lean on through tough times throughout their lives.
If you have a favorite book from childhood, you probably still remember it and it shaped who you are today. I'd love for all kids to grow up with that role of a book or a story that helped them through childhood and was something fun and special they remember and shaped the kind of character that they have as adults. I think that's an important part of raising readers, raising kids who are literate and can read, but also raising adults who enjoy reading, are not afraid of it, and who seek out opportunities to engage with books of all kinds, whether it's in print or digital form.
When it comes to reading in the school environment, there are several different ways that we can encourage a reading community in our schools and libraries. The old fashioned way is still a good one and that's reading aloud to children, whether it's in the family setting, in the library setting or in a classroom setting. Kids typically really enjoy being read aloud to because it's relaxing, perceived as easy. Yet what we know from research, it's also developing their listening skills. Their listening vocabulary is an essential part of becoming a good reader. It's associated with a lovely, intimate time with family like, "Mom reads to me at bedtime," with a relaxed time in the school environment, where the teacher or librarian is reading a novel one chapter a day, for example. That kind of positive psychological benefit to reading is also an important part of encouraging the reading community.
Once children have indeed mastered their own reading skills, or are on the way to mastery, we also want to encourage silent reading. That's an important part of becoming a really fluent reader, where you read on your own quietly, in your mind, so to speak, and the more you do it, the better you get at it. That is always the challenge for young children. That's why children's literature is so important, that we surround them with books they enjoy, so that practice, if you will, becomes a pleasurable experience.
Just like if you want to become an athlete, you have to do a lot of drills and practice and warm-ups and running and whatnot. Reading is the same kind of thing. It requires a lot of practice and in school, that practice often looks like skill development, but when it comes to children's literature, good books can provide practice in a way that's very fun and appealing.
We also want to keep up with our own reading of children's books so that we can recommend books that will appeal to kids that we work with. Reader's advisory is an important part of our role and we can encourage kids to provide that kind of advisory to each other, too. Children love to hear what other children are reading and enjoying and we can foster that also in our reading communities. That involves reading books ourselves, keeping up with children's literature, reading reviews of new children's books from School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus, etc., keeping up with all the awards as they're given so that we know what is the best of the best, and then looking around to see what the kids in our setting, our school setting, our library setting, or our community are looking for, or asking for, and reading.
We can use literature celebrations to do that, like Read Across America, or El Dias de los Niños, Dias de los Libros, or National Children's Book Week, or the Book in Common experience where we all read the same book. Whatever approach we take, we make reading a fun, shared experience that we enjoy and we try and share that joy with the kids we serve to.
Activities
Sylvia Vardell suggests three roles for children's literature in the school curriculum. First is primary content, wherein the book itself is the focus of the lesson or unit. As supplement, the children's literature supports textbook materials or other curricular resources. Finally, through recreational reading, children read for enjoyment and at the same time, build knowledge and reading skills. This lesson introduces the constellation of childhood reading experiences, from family sharing and modeling to library celebrations. The lessons to follow each examine a specific genre or format of children's literature.
Professional reviews are an important collection development tool for learning about new and classic children's books. In the Resources for this course, Vardell offers links and summaries of major sources for professional reviews in "A Guide for Choosing Good Books." Most of these are accessible via database subscription, with some reviews and additional materials available on the websites listed.
Review "A Guide for Choosing Good Books" and identify your access to database-restricted content, possibly with the help of your public library, state databases, or university library system.
Note free resources and publications, and subscribe to or follow a few of interest. Here are a few suggestions:
The Horn Book Blogs http://www.hbook.com/category/blogs/
School Library Journal Librarian Previews http://www.slj.com/category/books-media/librarian-previews/
The Center for Children's Books Bibliographies http://ccb.ischool.illinois.edu/bibliographies/
Cooperative Children's Book Center Book of the Week http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/bowarchive.asp
Entry ID: 2122868
About the Author
Select Citation Style:
MLA Citation
Vardell, Sylvia M. "Children's Literature Basics. Children's Literature [6:47]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, September 2015, schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/1960206?learningModuleId=1960216&topicCenterId=2247902.
Chicago Citation
Vardell, Sylvia M. "Children's Literature Basics. Children's Literature [6:47]." School Library Connection video. September 2015. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/1960206?learningModuleId=1960216&topicCenterId=2247902.
APA Citation
Vardell, S. M. (2015, September). Children's literature basics. Children's literature [6:47] [Video]. School Library Connection. https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/1960206?learningModuleId=1960216&topicCenterId=2247902
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/content/course/1960206?learningModuleId=1960216&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 1960206