Member: sammarocco

Before the start of this course, I did not have an extensive knowledge about children’s literature. I have learned to love children’s books and cannot wait to share books that I have read throughout the semester with my future students. Through reading these books, I have learned what criteria make a successful children’s book and how to select children’s books. I have read a one hundred and eight books over this semester. I read a total of eight biography books, ten folklore books, four math books, twenty-two nonfiction books, thirteen novels, nine poetry selections, twelve science related books, six social studies books, and fifty-one easy books. I have read ten award winning books throughout the semester. Also through this semester, I have read a total of ten multicultural books and eight books about people with disabilities. I think overall I succeeded in reading a diverse selection of children’s books. I do believe I could have read more multicultural books to have an even better-rounded selection. The books included a variety for the different age levels that I will be certified to teach. The majority of books I read were for either for grades kindergarten to third grade or from third grade to sixth grade. I also made sure to select books from different genres to have diversity in my reading selection.
At the beginning of the semester, I started off by just choosing random books off the shelves with interesting covers. Although this can be a technique you can use if you are just looking for any type of book, I have come to learn how to pick out books I would like to read. I now look up book by using certain topics and key works. I have come to find authors that I would love to share with the future students I will teach. Some of my favorite authors that I have learned about through this course are Kevin Henkes, Jacqueline Woodson, and Shane Evens. I have come to love Kevin Henkes as an author because I believe he would be an excellent author to share with children for an author study in the classroom. I also have come to love both Jacqueline Woodson and Shane Evens because their books are so powerful and send great messages to children. Their books would be wonderful to read in the classroom and to have in depth discussions about. I have also come to have some new favorite children’s novels, such as, The Skin I am In and Totally Joe. Both of these books are strong novels that teach children diversity in the world. I personally believe all children should some day read these two novels because it can teach them so much with their powerful messages. Some of my favorite easy books I have come to love are Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom and Wilky the White House Cockroach. Although Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom had very few words the pictures told almost the whole story. I love that this book touches on an important topic in history and would be an excellent book to use to integrate literature into social studies. My favorite genre was books about folklore. I have gained knowledge of children literature from completing this assignment. I have also learned how to incorporate literature into different subjects while teaching. I am excited to share with children all that high-quality books I have learned about throughout this semester.

posted by sammarocco at 3:16 pm (EST) on Nov 20, 2012