reflection 6

Introduction

This week concludes the Children’s Literature course. Throughout this course, you have been immersed in the various genres of children’s and adolescent literature and learned about the guidelines for determining quality and excellence in these kinds of books. Hopefully, you have expanded your understanding of literature and the role it can play in children’s lives and have gained both excitement and respect for the world of children’s books. Use this week to think about everything that you have read and learned throughout the course, and to complete your course Reflection assignment.

Learning Objectives

A student will:

• Reflection

  At the beginning of this course, you were asked to think about and consider the role and significance of literature in your life. Now, consider how your thoughts and insights have grown and changed over the last five weeks. Based on what you have learned and experienced in the course, write a 1- to 2-page paper reflecting on your opinions and thoughts in response to at least two of the following quotes. Substantiate your thoughts with information from the Learning Resources from the course and/or your experiences with children’s and adolescent literature over the past five weeks.

  • “Teachers can foster transforming experiences with literature…” (Galda & Cullinan, 2006, p. 325)

  • “[Books are] our means of thinking about what kind of people we are and what we value.” (Galda & Cullinan, 2006, p. xiv)

  • “Reading literature contributes to language growth and development.” (Galda, Sipe, Lian & Cullinan, 2014, p. 6)

  • “Literature keeps people’s dreams alive.” (Galda, Sipe, Lian & Cullinan, 2014, p. 7)

  • “The power of books to open new worlds, to cause readers to think in new ways—in short, to transform their ways of knowing—makes books the greatest single resource for educating our children to become contributing members of our society.” (Galda, Sipe, Lian & Cullinan, 2014, p. 7)

  • “Books can play a significant role in the life of our youth, but the extent to which they will do so depends on the adults surrounding them.” (Galda, Sipe, Lian & Cullinan, 2014, p. 28)

  • “Books are the secret ingredient that keeps children doing the hard work of learning to read, learning to read fluently, and learning to read with comprehension.” (Galda, Sipe, Lian & Cullinan, 2014, p. 32)

  • “If children never see themselves in books, they receive the subtle message that they are not important enough to appear in books that books are not for them. Conversely, if children see only themselves in the books they read, the message is that those who are different from them are not worthy of appearing in books.” (Galda & Cullinan, 2006, p. 289)

  • “Picture books are a powerful force in children’s language and literacy development.” (Galda & Cullinan, 2006, p. 57)

  • “Books mirror primary experiences that shape children’s actions, reactions, and feelings; books can bring subtle issues to a conscious level, making it possible to discuss them. Books can play an important role for the child who is experiencing the conflicts of growing up.” (Galda & Cullinan, 2006, p. 68)
    

  Assignment length: Approximately 1–2 pages

  Submit this assignment by Day 7.Reflect on and synthesize learning with regard to quality children’s and adolescent literature within the different literary genres