Children often enjoy hearing their favourite stories over and over again. While this natural tendency is beneficial for language development, it also resonates with something deep within children that reveals a unique way of looking at the world.
Children's literature is a powerful tool to teach children about the world, themselves, and others (Hancock, 2000). Children's literature motivates readers to think, enhances language, and promotes cognitive development. Quality literature takes children beyond their own lives, broadening their backgrounds, developing their imaginations, and enabling them to grow in understanding and respect for others. Children can connect with the characters, events, places, and problems in literature on a personal level. Such affective responses to literature provide opportunities for students to become personally involved in reading and learning.
Children's literature is diverse and varied. For example, children's literature includes the following genres: picture books, contemporary realism, historical realism, fantasy, traditional literature, poetry, biography and autobiography, and informational books (Hillman, 1999). Children's literature can be read and enjoyed for personal purposes, but it can also be used to enhance the school curriculum. Because of the wide variety of excellent children's books, teachers can use children's literature in reading instruction, but also in science, social studies, health, and even math lessons. Using children's literature across the curriculum provides many advantages over traditional textbooks. In comparison to textbooks, children's literature offers greater depth of content, multiple perspectives, current information, engaging writing style, personal voice, options for varied reading levels, rich language, and interesting formats and structures (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2000).
With so much talk in the media and with our government it is critical that our schools and communities address the ongoing issues relating to refugees, alienation and racism. One place to start is with education, where better a place than in our classrooms. This can be achieved by educating our children on the many different cultures and varied diversities that make up our classrooms, families and communities.
Children's literature is a powerful tool to teach children about the world, themselves, and others (Hancock, 2000). Children's literature motivates readers to think, enhances language, and promotes cognitive development. Quality literature takes children beyond their own lives, broadening their backgrounds, developing their imaginations, and enabling them to grow in understanding and respect for others. Children can connect with the characters, events, places, and problems in literature on a personal level. Such affective responses to literature provide opportunities for students to become personally involved in reading and learning.
Children's literature is diverse and varied. For example, children's literature includes the following genres: picture books, contemporary realism, historical realism, fantasy, traditional literature, poetry, biography and autobiography, and informational books (Hillman, 1999). Children's literature can be read and enjoyed for personal purposes, but it can also be used to enhance the school curriculum. Because of the wide variety of excellent children's books, teachers can use children's literature in reading instruction, but also in science, social studies, health, and even math lessons. Using children's literature across the curriculum provides many advantages over traditional textbooks. In comparison to textbooks, children's literature offers greater depth of content, multiple perspectives, current information, engaging writing style, personal voice, options for varied reading levels, rich language, and interesting formats and structures (Tunnell & Jacobs, 2000).
With so much talk in the media and with our government it is critical that our schools and communities address the ongoing issues relating to refugees, alienation and racism. One place to start is with education, where better a place than in our classrooms. This can be achieved by educating our children on the many different cultures and varied diversities that make up our classrooms, families and communities.
Theory
Theory that supports children social justice and the importance of critical literacy - This includes educators involving children in decisions that directly affect them (United Nations, 1989). The issue of equal participation involves educators collaborating with children about all matters affecting their lives and respecting children’s family, culture, language and other identities by representing these diversities in everyday activities and learning experiences.
Including children’s cultural and social backgrounds into the programming and planning enables children to successfully participate equally in the early childhood environment. In today’s early childhood environments, a vast array of spaces will be available and they may change depending on the children’s interests. This can include spaces that allow children to express their knowledge and understanding of the world, by providing a range of activities within different spaces.
Clay (2001), states that when children read and write, they pick up and use information from a variety of sources, work on it, make a decision, and evaluate the response in a continuous cycle of learning.
When thinking about moral development Woolfolk and Margetts (2013), states that moral development is the knowledge of the differences between right and wrong; of fairness, justice and human rights; and of decision making in response to that knowledge. Kohlberg discussed the rights of individuals ie: the rights of authority and the needs of some deserving individuals who are being treated unfairly.. Kohlberg states there are stages to a persons moral development our age group of year 6 students (10) falls into: Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality:
He argues that at this level that we don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules.
Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.
Theory that supports children social justice and the importance of critical literacy - This includes educators involving children in decisions that directly affect them (United Nations, 1989). The issue of equal participation involves educators collaborating with children about all matters affecting their lives and respecting children’s family, culture, language and other identities by representing these diversities in everyday activities and learning experiences.
Including children’s cultural and social backgrounds into the programming and planning enables children to successfully participate equally in the early childhood environment. In today’s early childhood environments, a vast array of spaces will be available and they may change depending on the children’s interests. This can include spaces that allow children to express their knowledge and understanding of the world, by providing a range of activities within different spaces.
Clay (2001), states that when children read and write, they pick up and use information from a variety of sources, work on it, make a decision, and evaluate the response in a continuous cycle of learning.
When thinking about moral development Woolfolk and Margetts (2013), states that moral development is the knowledge of the differences between right and wrong; of fairness, justice and human rights; and of decision making in response to that knowledge. Kohlberg discussed the rights of individuals ie: the rights of authority and the needs of some deserving individuals who are being treated unfairly.. Kohlberg states there are stages to a persons moral development our age group of year 6 students (10) falls into: Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality:
He argues that at this level that we don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules.
Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.