Sarah Clark

TE849
Assignment 12.1
Literature Position Paper
First and foremost I want literature to act as a tool to inform and excite my
students about things that they cannot come in contact with otherwise. I want them
to have every experience possible and many of those experiences I cannot provide
except through books. I want them to fly away to a far off place where everything
feels like a dream and life is better and more thrilling than it is in their day to day. I
want them to visit mountains and different cultures and see things that they did not
know they loved until it appeared for them on a page of a book. I want them to meet
new people on those pages. I want it to feel like their favorite part of the day. The
time when they do not realize how much they are learning and their minds race
with new ideas and calculate possibilities. I want books to be a destination, an
escape, a joy, a gift and not a chore or an obligation. I want them to fall in love with a
character or a place or a story. I want them to find hope and inspiration in the pages
of the books that they read and are read to them. I want them to see in their minds
times in which they do not live and places that will never exist, and to walk in
someone elses shoes to the end of the story and at that end gain a better
understanding of the world. I want them to learn how to think critically and
strengthen their minds from reading. I want literature to be what sparks
conversations with their classmates and friends. I want it to be a way for my
students to make friends and learn about the other people reading with them. I want
them to have the experience of all of the classic stories that I have read and loved
and more, so many more. I want literature to feel and do something very special for
my students. I want it to create a love of learning and exploring within them.
That being said, I believe that there is a means to that end in how literature is
approached in my classroom. It requires my own personal preparation and
awareness when framing literature and the books and examples that I choose for
my students. If I am cognizant about my choices I believe I can achieve most, if not
all, of those goals. I need to be painfully aware that these choices speak volumes not
only with what I choose to introduce, but what I choose to leave out as well. My
views will be evident even if I make my best attempt to conceal them. I believe that
students should be exposed to all genres of literature for enjoyment and to use to
think critically. In addition, I want to expose my students to different cultures and
parts of the world that they would otherwise not know about through a
multiculturally aware lens.
Multiculturalism is difficult to define, but to me multiculturalism is the
cognizant inclusion and learning about different kinds of people, cultures, and views
to create awareness and bring about change. In fact, I believe Mingshi Cai describes
it best in the article Multiple Definitions of Multicultural Literature: Is the Debate the
Debate Really Ivory Tower Bickering? when it states, "Multiculturalism is about
diversity and inclusion, but what is more important, it is also about power
structures and struggles. Its goal is not just to understand, accept, and appreciate
cultural differences, but also to ultimately transform the existing social order to
ensure greater voice and authority to the marginalized cultures, and to achieve
social equality and justice among all cultures so that people of different cultural
backgrounds can live happily together in a truly democratic world." Due to this
complex and elaborate definition of multiculturalism I think that my job as an
educator is a difficult and important one.
It is my responsibility to expose my students to a well-rounded body of
literature about a wide range of people, places, and perspectives. In addition, I am
responsible for making sure that these choices are authentic and do not perpetuate
negative stereotypes and that the majority of these works are written by insiders. I
want my students to see themselves in the literature that is chosen for them as well
as seeing others. To do this I will utilize many of the resource that I have gained
throughout the course including some of the pieces we have read this semester and
others outlined in Denise Johnsons The Joy of Childrens Literature. Additionally, I
will need to do a fair amount of research to supplement the curriculum that I will be
required to use.
Another very important aspect of childrens literature that I want to
be sure to include thoroughly is the use of all of the genres included under the
childrens literature umbrella e.g. picture books, traditional literature, modern
fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. I would like to
employ each of these subgenres in the most productive and stimulating ways for the
young minds that I am helping to educate. This is a tall order, because to expose my
students to all of these genres means that I provide them with ample reading time,
independently, guided, and in the form of read aloud (heavy on read aloud in
kindergarten). Some of these genres will be covered adequately by curriculums that
I will be required to use. Others will need to be supplemented and if done
appropriately can aide in my students understanding of topics and ideas in a way
that could not otherwise be attained.
Picturebooks are a staple in a lower elementary classroom and should be
utilized at all levels. There are many selections that are appropriate and can be used
in a variety of ways at any level. They are also a great teaching tool for older
students who can evaluate them within the genre and discuss the intentions of the
author and illustrator. Uniquely, as Denise Johnson states, The content in
picturebooks crosses all genres, which means that they can be utilized in many
different ways and for the gamut of disciplines. I will use them to teach as many
content areas and subjects as possible and in as many activities as possible.
I will teach my students the classics of childrens literature by exposing
them to the various forms of traditional literature. They need to have experiences
with a variety of versions of the same story. I want them to know what it means
when someone references a Cinderella story. I want them to think about how life
is different from the stories, whether that difference is the time period, the use of
magic, or any other reason. I want them to learn lessons from the stories. Johnson
explains that, Traditional literature transmits values to children. Teaching values
and morals to students is an important part of my job as an educator and these
stories help me do that in an interesting, fun, and effective way.
Modern fantasy has always been one of my personal favorite genres and I
hope to pass the love on to my students. Johnson predicts that children love fantasy
because, fantasy unites the childs view of the world with her inherent fascination
for magic. This genre allows children to fly to a far off land while never leaving
home. At the same time it teaches us about the world in which we live. Johnson
clarifies that, at the heart of all fantasy lies the truth about ourselves and the world
around us. In the space between the paradox of real life and make believe lies the
opportunity to teach children how to cope with the difficult circumstances life
throws at all of us.
Life is full of ups and downs; it can be funny, painful, tumultuous, joyful, and
distressing. We share the ups and downs of life with each other through stories,
which connect us and help us see that we are not alone in our thoughts, experiences,
and emotions. This explanation by Denise Johnson is reason enough for me to
include ample examples of realistic fiction in my classroom. The feeling of not being
alone in life is vital and builds a sense of community. I hope that these types of
stories will help my students relate to each other and will bring them happiness and
solace.
I want to help students learn about the past as well. Historical fiction helps
students learn about how the world used to be, before their time. Johnson explains,
Good historical fiction provides us with an opportunity to connect with people and
events in the past, and in doing so, it helps us consider both the present and the
future. I think that historical fiction can speak more loudly than merely learning
about the past through other avenues because it uses the feelings and emotions of
real people or characters to tell the story. The importance of this genre grows as
children progress through school and in the lower grades it is important that I help
create a solid foundation for my students to build upon as they read more historical
fiction over time.
Poetry is at the forefront of my classroom (Kindergarten), although I must
admit it is not always in written form. We sing songs, recite nursery rhymes, and do
tongue twisters as well as read poems. I hope to inspire a love of poetry in my
students by showing them how fun words and language can be. Some of the best
read alouds are poems because the rhythm and rhyme are so fun and engaging to
say and listen to. Johnson sums it up when she states that, When teachers and
children explore together the features of poetrywords, sound, imagesand
especially the relationship between these features and the aesthetic and meaning-
making responses that poems inspire, wonderful things happen. For those reasons
I will continue to inspire my students to love and remember literature through
poetry.
A genre that I think is too often ignored when teaching lower elementary
school is nonfiction. I hope to illuminate this genre to my students through many
different mediums. I want my students to be interested in the world around them,
their heritage, and history and there are many ways in which students can
experience this through literature. While it may be more difficult to find engaging
texts, the subject matter itself is attention getting, if framed appropriately. Not only
do I want my students to love nonfiction books, but I want to provide them the
opportunity to enjoy magazines as well. I remember reading Ranger Rick as a kid
and it helped foster a love of the natural world in me and I want to pass that on to
my students.
Overall, I see literature in the classroom as the most important feature of the
curriculum and the best supplement to it, at the same time. Reading is hard. It is my
job as a teacher to show students what a love of this challenging task can do for
them and how much fun it holds. I need to instill in them a love for literature of all
kinds and while doing that ignite a desire for them to be able to experience it on
their own. If I do my job well, literature will be memorable, expand their minds,
make them better thinkers, teach them good morals and values, and bring them joy.