The Importance Of Literature-Based Instruction In Education

As a teacher, it is important that you develop your own personal beliefs about writing and reading instruction because your beliefs will be the foundation for your instruction. Your beliefs about writing and reading will help you to determine the goals that you set, the instructional techniques that you decide to use in your classroom, and the organization of your classroom. Your beliefs about reading and writing will also help you to determine the materials that you decide to use, the writing and reading behaviors that you expect each of your student’s to show, and the standards that you are going to use to evaluate each of your students.

Reading is the beginning of every child’s learning. The basis of education begins with learning to read. Short (2010) explained that literature acts as “an inquiry to life” and a “way of knowing” (p. 50). However, in order to support children’s learning, it is essential to show children that learning is interesting from a young age. When Short first began teaching using worksheets and a basal reading program, she wrote, “I often felt that children were learning to read in spite of me” (p. 49). The students were not learning to think critically. However, when she began introducing literature circles to her students, she saw them “critically exploring their understandings with each other” (p. 49).

As I arrange this reflective analysis paper on topics that relate to a foundational course and specifically searching for the modules that have given me the most information, taught me something new or expanded my knowledge on a specific topic of reading, I have come to realize how far I have come since I began this adventure. I began these courses after graduating from Marshall with my bachelors. I chose this path because of my love for reading and teaching reading. I have come to realize that these courses have enabled me to become a more effective reading teacher and I now have been given the skills, strategies and techniques that I needed to teach a child to read. I know that I will always need to keep up with classes and new techniques, but feel that I am much more capable of teaching reading than before I started these courses. The course 653 Literacy Acquisition helped me to improve and further develop my educational philosophies and beliefs. So, I chose to speak about the first lesson that was expected of me in this class, Module 1 Literacy Theories, Beliefs and Practices.

* Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information in texts that they listen to, view and read by drawing on growing knowledge of context, text structures and language features (ACELY1660), (ACARA, 2012). Learning to read is essentially learning to decode and understand the words/language written in the story and to construct meanings from those words (literacy) (Nicole & Roberts, 1993). The more language the children (and adults) hear and read the more developed their vocabulary will become (Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998, Nicole & Roberts, 1993, Anderson et al, 1985). Reading fluency is enhanced with an enlarged

“The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go” –Dr. Seuss. Dr.Seuss could not be any more right. It is often said that once you find the right book, you could go anywhere. Literacy is one of the most important things that a child could ever learn. In order to succeed in society today, one must be able to read, write, speak and even listen. There has been great debate over the different approaches when it comes to teaching children how to read. This essay will go more in depth on both approaches, how the writer learned how to read, how the writer will teach their students how to read.

Literature is studied throughout most grades, from high school to college. Teachers have different ways of exposing their students to the curriculum. Literature should be used as a way for students to be able to personalize and create connections with the piece of work.

As a student, I remember when I was really little and how much I loved to read. I’d have either myself or my mother read me a book every night before bed. I loved picturing the story within my head, but now as a freshman college student I do not enjoy reading. I only decide to read when its assigned, and even then it's still hard for me to focus, especially if the books not interesting. After reading this article called “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading”, these are the three major points I related to; having children read out loud, making them stop reading to look up a word they don't know, and quizzing them on things they read. I realized that I related to all of them and remember going through that in school.

Two studies were conducted on the effects that nonfiction text have on struggling and non struggling students. According to Liebfreund & Conradi (2016) and Kuhn, Rausch, McCarty, Montgomery, & Rule (2015), the studies concluded that utilizing nonfiction text in primary grades has a positive impact on student engagement, reading comprehension, and vocabulary achievement, and decoding efficiency, vocabulary knowledge, prior knowledge, and intrinsic motivation all influence nonfiction text comprehension. Readability of nonfiction text also has an impact on how well students understand nonfiction text. Teachers must be aware of reading levels of nonfiction text being used in the classroom (Gallagher, Fazio, & Gunning,

When addressing the subject of reading and the most effective method to teach reading is? Additionally, when we teach our children how to read, do they truly understand what they are reading and can they communicate to us what they have read? As educator we have to be instrumental in creating students to become independent effective readers who comprehend well. In order to do this, students have to be provided with basic reading and comprehension skills that continue into adulthood. Whether teaching with a basal reader or using whole language which one is the best one has been a debated topic for decades. According to J. Reyhner,”Proponents of phonics point to a purported decline in reading test scores in the 1990s that they saw as a result of whole language instruction and "scientific" studies that indicated phonics instruction produced better reading scores than other methods.” (Reyhner, 2008) Additionally, whole language advocates point to other reasons to explain those instances of declining reading scores such as students living in poverty and to ethnographic studies of students in classrooms to support their position.” (Reyhner, 2008) Still the query is, which methodology is the most effective for teaching children not only how to read but also comprehend? As teachers should be effective and efficient in our skills and abilities to develop students into literate adults and provide an instructional

Literature teaches cultural awareness that can foster an understanding and tolerance for others. It provides education for the whole person motivating people to use their imagination and be creative. Literature engages emotions and helps develop empathy for others. In addition to building a rich vocabulary it also fosters language awareness. Teacher pedagogy plays an important factor in making the decision on which titles to use. There are many advantages of using classic literature in the classroom. It aligns with the educational standards outlined in the Common Core standards to encourage rigorous English and Language arts skill development. It is a excellent match for the text complexity that students needs to attain these goals however, if students are not interested in the subject of these books or if they are not academically prepared to find success in the reading then the assignment can turn into a negative experience which can result in aliteracy. Modern young adult literature also has a plethora of advantage for students. More modernized characters and themes are easier for students to connect with and make it easier to build literacy skills and use literacy

As with any area in curriculum and instruction, teachers should not be fully dependent on one source, but rather use a variety of resources to help students understand content. The same can be said with the use of textbooks. Teachers should supplement core curriculum with quality trade books (GCU, 2012). Trade books can offer a wealth of information such as a means to expand vocabulary, clarify concepts, explore real-world situations, and entertain (GCU, 2012). Furthermore, Johnson & Small, (2008) stated, “In contrast to textbooks, nonfiction trade books can support instruction in nearly every subject…which

Specifically, handling and reading different text helps students to recognize how different writings are organized, understand the purposes of writings, make connections between written information and real-world situations, and overall, understand different meanings and complexities of texts. Both websites also stress that teachers who work with students to teach literacy need a variety of appropriate reading materials that can be made available to cover the diverse interests of students as well as range in difficulty to cover the different material needs students may have. Teachers must use explicit and close instruction to work with students in an effort to be more effective. In addition, teachers need administrative support and professional development training to bridge the gap between cultural backgrounds and school literacy, make their content an essential way of learning, detect when young people are not connecting with text and step in and provide strategies that help students learn more effectively, start discussions with students that are real and can be related to real life experiences, and provide learning environments that encourage students to engage in critical explorations of texts as they thoroughly examine texts in an effort to discover meaning and

Today’s society is always rushing to and from work, so when people actually get to sit down and relax, their first instinct is most likely not to pick up a book and read it. Most people would rather turn on the television or catch up on their social media. Books and newspapers seem to be a dying art since the birth of electronic books and the internet. It is clear that reading is significantly declining in the United States; this can be solved by making reading a positive practice and by student self-selected literature.

My philosophy of literacy is centered on providing a learning environment rich in authentic literature, instruction that is engaging, fun, and balanced, collaborative, and also involving families in the child’s education. My ultimate goal of literacy instruction is to help children become lifelong readers and writers by providing the skills necessary to comprehend, construct, and make meaning of text, speak, and write. (Torgesen, 2002). According to the National Reading Panel, there are five essential components that must be taught in effective reading programs: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. (Reading Horizons). According to Konza (2014), reading instruction should be changed to six foundational reading elements, adding oral language and early literacy. I also believe that early literacy should be

However, the second method being discussed in this paper, the whole language approach, focuses much of its attention on making sure the student understands and enjoys what he or she is reading. Whole language instruction occurs when a student acquires language rather than learning it through direct instruction (Brooks 35-36). This method is more child centered than teacher dominated, because the objective is for the student to learn how to read through talking and doing rather than through passive listening. Unlike phonics, whole language uses a variety of ways to give students the opportunity to interact with the text they are reading. Questioning, discussing, problem-solving, listening, writing, drawing, and dramatizing are among the ways students interact with text. Students are also encouraged to implement simple strategies while reading such as: reading the sentence and guessing what word will come next, looking at the picture on the page to help figure out the sentence, and also rereading the sentence for clarification. This method also does a good job in allowing the students to engage in text at their own speed and often in their own ways (36).