The following is my philosophy of children's literature. Providing children with quality literature and teaching them the true value of reading is so incredibly important, and using the knowledge and methods I have learned in Children's Literature will make this task that much easier and enjoyable for students.

The cave of the Grinch, the mall where a lonely bear sleeps, the tree in the forest where snakes talk about their youth, the attic of Anne Frank; there are so many places books can take us that reality cannot. We can experience being in the room with someone who is gone and passed, we can face danger without worrying about getting hurt, and we can imagine and experience things we never would have if it had not been for the books we read. “When we read a story, we inhabit it. The covers of the book are like a roof and four walls.” (John Berger) Every time we read a book, we enter a new room with four walls, and every time we finish a book and move on to the next, we move from world to world. We learn numerous things about our world and other worlds, imagined by creative minds. It is crucial to give children this opportunity to travel to new worlds and enter rooms that surround them with new walls. The way to do this is by introducing them to quality, rich literature with activities that enhance the curriculum and reinforce their learning experience.

Having quality literature in the classroom is the most important component; it is the factor gluing all the other aspects of instilling literature in the classroom, together. If one does not have quality literature, the students will not experience as much or travel to as many worlds as they could, and their love of reading will not be as deep. Quality literature needs to address issues students could currently be dealing with, be honest, expand their minds, explore values (rather than preach), and have writing and art that is captivating and flows well together. The way to incorporate quality literature into the classroom is to be mindful of the characteristics of it, research books that are well liked and valued, and include books with diverse characters that have various lifestyles. Having multicultural literature in the classroom is vital. Students need to not only relate to characters, lifestyles and situations in a book, but they also need to learn about other people and students in their classroom. Multicultural literature includes not only stories about other races and ethnicities, but different views, homes, values, and more. If children learn differences are respected and valued enough to be learned in the classroom, they will carry that knowledge and respect outside the classroom, and will grow up to be better adults for it.

Having a literature-rich classroom is something I strive to have. The more “rich” and complete a classroom library and reading curriculum there is, the more students will see my value for it and in turn, it will make them more likely to respect and enjoy literature. In order to succeed in having a literature-rich classroom, it is important to not only have an interesting selection of books, but to make the classroom library section welcoming, comfortable, pleasing to the eye, and easily accessible. My classroom library will be decorated with colorful seats, posters, and artwork from activities. Different genres of literature are another crucial aspect to having a literature-rich classroom. My classroom will have literature ranging from fantasy to biography, comic books to traditional literature, poetry to picture books and much more. Students should be introduced to all types of reading and stories, different genres are one way to do this. Different genres of literature will be marked and placed in different sections of the classroom library so students can easily find what they are looking for. Instilling a passion for reading will be my greatest mission for literature. I strive to complete all of my goals above in order to introduce students to the wonderful world of reading, and persuade them to consider all they could learn and experience by opening a book. I intend to be enthusiastic and show my personal love for reading in hopes that it is contagious. Literature is not the type of thing that has to be taught simply on its own. It should be embedded into all subjects, and all subjects should be embedded into it. One way to do a challenging task such as this, is to obtain books that incorporate other subjects. Math Curse by John Scieszka is one great example. With this book, math lovers could enjoy the story, and a reader-response activity could be created from it, directly incorporating math and literature. As all people have numerous interests and different intelligences, they should all be valued and addressed in literature as well as reader response activities.

It is important to have read-alouds in the classroom, as well as allowing students to have private reading time, so I will make sure they get a chance to do both. I will be active and engaging in my read-alouds by being enthusiastic, changing my voice, tone, and facial expressions. I will also make sure students can see the art in the books I am reading aloud to them, so they can fully absorb and follow the story. I will check for understanding of the literary elements such as characters, plot, and theme, by asking questions before, during and after reading. This will serve as a checkpoint for student comprehension throughout the whole reading process. My reader-response activities will be engaging and encourage comprehension and understanding. They will have activities such as word maps, drawing, ordering or sequencing, writing, creating, and more. For reader-response activities involving writing, I will have many ideas, but one that is important and therefore will be reoccurring is journal responses. It is very important for students to reflect on what they’ve read so they obtain a greater understanding for the plot and story itself, as well as their thoughts and connections with what was read. Bloom’s Taxonomy will also be an important component in my reader-response activities. Students will have opportunities to learn in every way Bloom’s Taxonomy describes. They will have to remember and understand what we’ve read, apply, analyze and evaluate important elements of the book, and create something new as a result of what we’ve read. Of course, every lesson may not include all of these types of learning, but they will all be addressed, and I will incorporate these types of learning into reader-response activities. Since I believe strongly in incorporating learning for multiple intelligences, I will have reader-response activities that correlate with multiple intelligences. For example, students who are naturalistic learners will have chances to read outside, kinesthetic learners will have opportunities to create something tactile as a result of what’s been read, interpersonal learners will have the chance to work in groups, intrapersonal and/or linguistic learners will be able to work alone and/or write, visual learners will have opportunities to draw, musical learners will have the chance to create poems and rhymes, and logical learners will be able to do something more mathematical or sequenced.

By incorporating quality, rich literature, and incorporating engaging activities that enhance the curriculum, my hope is for students to become passionate and about reading and desire to repeatedly travel to new worlds, and enter rooms that surround them with new walls.

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