LITERATURE BASED CURRICULUM

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UNIT 12

• LITERATURE BASED CURRICULUM

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WHY LITERATURE-BASED CURRICULUM?

• Increase childrens knowledge thru books
• Incorporate literature into entire curriculum
• Children learn
• to read
• about topics/facts/information
• become better writers
• DANGER may not be as good as trade books if
  done poorly

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GOAL OF RESPONSE-CENTERED LITERATURE CURRICULUM

• PRIMARY GOAL Engage readers in act of reading
  responsively
• feel secure in responses to literature
• trust own feelings
• explore why they respond as they do
• make connections tween literature life
• respect responses of others
• develop lasting love of reading
• establish lifelong habit of reading
• see variations of meaning in stories and poems

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Additional Goals

• Recognize different purposes for reading
• aesthetic
• efferent
• Recognize different types of reading material
  information/expository, narrative, poetic
• Learn about language how it is used
• understand how words work
• appreciate beauty of things well said

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FOCUS IN LITERATURE BASED CURRICULUM IS NOT ON
THE WORKS OF LITERATURE, NOR ON THE TOPICS OR
SKILLS, BUT ON THE RESPONSE OF INDIVIDUAL READERS
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GOAL SUMMARY

• Engage readers in the act of reading responsively
• Develop childrens awareness of the family of
  stories and how words work
• Give children opportunity to learn about
  themselves and their world thru books, to learn
  thru language(Books and readers are at the
  center of many types of learning!)

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Ways to Explore Literature

• Read aloud to children
• Retell stories poems
• Create a picture story (sequence of drawings)
• Talk about books
• Recast old tales -- modify to new setting or
  characters
• Dramatize scenes (role play)
• Keep reading logs
• Identify themes
• Organize classroom library
• Plot story structures

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Learning Order

• First -- enjoy experience literature
• Second -- study literature
• (both can occur at same time for older children)
• Instructional Format
• Teacher-lead------------Independent application
• Literature Selection
• Teacher-selected----------Student Selected

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Thematic Unit -- Writing

• Use books as models for writing
• Hearing and reading good stories
• develops vocabulary
• sharpens sensitivity to language
• fine-tunes sense of writing styles
• Look at style
• Look at topic choice
• Use animals as a thematic

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Essentials of Literature Curriculum

• Time to Read
• Books
• Space
• Working with Others
• Media Materials
• Assessment

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Essentials of a Literature Curriculum

• Time to Read
• teach reading
• children reading together independently
• Books
• plenty of books -- all over the room
• Space
• show books valued by providing space for children
  to relax
• Working with others
• sharing and working together

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Essentials

• Media Materials
• Not to be substitutes for books
• Evaluation of media materials
• literary value of work
• treatment is appropriate to the literary work
• decide if work is appropriate to audience
• media should maintain integrity of original work
• flexibility is main value of media
• Assessment
• Journals and observation

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Censorship

• Attempt to deny others right to read something
  the censor thinks is offensive
• Selection is the process of choosing appropriate
  materials for readers according to literary and
  educational values
• NCTE --
• exclusion of specific materials /or parts
• negative and intended to control others reading
• seeks indoctrination and limits access to ideas
  and information

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Selection (NCTE)

• Establish book selection procedures before the
  censors come and make procedures public
• Involve professional librarians, teachers,
  parents, administrators, and lay community
  members
• Have complaints put in writing
• Ask person making complaint to read the entire
  book and put the incident or language in question
  in context
• Meet with person who makes the complaint to
  discuss alternatives

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Reading Books Aloud/Story Time

• Read book ahead of time, be familiar with it
• Review book to see what would be possible
  extender for the rest of the group time
• Introduction -- use concept (real object or
  experience) to interest the child and settle them
  into the group time
• Tell the children the author and illustrator of
  book and show them the cover
• Open book and begin to read
• Stop frequently and have eye contact with children

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Story/Circle Time

• Provide fingerplays, poems or songs which relate
  to the story (at least two)
• Provide experience within the group time -- which
  will further develop concepts
• Transition from group time-- ways to dismiss the
  children one or two at a time
• Hints
• read a story you like
• vary the order if necessary
• Do Not Say Now we have a fingerplay. . . .
• Do Say Our story was about. . . . .and we can
  make a ____ by doing_____or saying_____

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Ways for Children to Enjoy Stories

• Reading a book
• Telling the story with props
• Puppets
• Story boards
• Drama -- acting out the story
• Writing their own
• Flannel board stories
• Draw and tell stories

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Planning Curriculum

• Arts and Crafts
• Music
• Science
• Math
• Social Studies/Social Development

• Games/Physical Development
• Reading/Language
• Other ideas cooking, bulletin boards, trips, etc.