Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Exploring Writing in the Classroom

Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarden by Lilian G. Katz discusses the importance of having a well rounded literacy experience. It especially delves into the topic of read alouds. Children today often read books in their childcare settings, but what they aren't learning is who wrote the book and who drew the pictures. It is important for teachers and caregivers to introduce who the author and illustrator are of a book. It helps children relate to the book and to know that someone wrote the book and maybe they might want to be writers or illustrators too. As teachers it is important for us to talk about all the components of a books for instance the people who make books, what makes a picture book, a picture book, talk about different kinds of books, the purpose for books, and the decisions writers and illustrators make. When children are learning about these components they are learning about new opportunities for themselves.

Another great book that talks about developing literacy with children is Castle in the Classroom: A Story as a Springboard for Early Literacy by Georgia Heard talks about developing certain characteristics of a story for example plot, setting, characters, etc. In the book it talks about a teacher who converted her one classroom into a literacy experiment. The children broke off into groups and chose certain scenes to depict such as a castle, forest, and a beanstalk. Through this real life experience the children explored the setting, developing the characters, and writing the plot for their stories. The children learned about all these aspects through a hands on experience. I think this is very doable in a preschool setting. Children are learning through play and developing literacy and writing skills in a fun and unique way.

6 comments:

  1. I think a main focus in both of these readings is making books and reading more tangible for young children. When they understand how books are made, or how they can relate stories to their own lives, they enjoy it more and get more out of reading.

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  2. It is great that we will be trying to make connections to the readings in the classroom. We can always just read a story but we really want the children to be engaged in active learning.

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  3. As you had read and learned about, read-alouds are an especially important component of an early childhood classroom. Although we have learned the process of how to deliver them to the children, we also need to keep in mind that the “skeleton” of the book should not be overlooked. The “skeleton” is essentially what all book has: A cover, title page, “about the author,” the authors name, and the illustrator’s name.

    From learning this “skeleton,” one can begin to mimic parts from the Castle in the Classroom reading. Converting the classroom into a literacy experiment is such a fun learning experience to engage the children, (as we had discovered while building our own version of a community in last week’s class.)

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  4. Good post. While there should be instruction for students when it comes to the process of writing a story, teachers can make the instruction engaging and interesting. This should happen for the majority of lessons taught by a teacher. One idea is to be excited when explaining the book. Excitement is contagious.

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  5. You touch on a great point that teachers should engage their children in pondering: what types of choices the author and illustrators had to make to create their book. Children often act out of instinct, with little time between thought and action. A discussion like this can plant the seed in a child that creates the idea for children to spend a little more time planning, which best selling authors engage in. Children who master this concept produce beautiful, full work.

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  6. Just to be clear, Already Ready is by Katie Wood Ray and Castle in the Classroom is by Ranu Bhattacharyya.

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