Welcome to HoB's Children & early adolescent:
literacy, literature, media, & language arts pages ...
This page links to information for literacy through literature in different media and ways to communicate. Defines literature, and surveys quality literature in different genre through the use of story elements .... across history. Includes tools to faciliatate literacy, language arts and literature, as a subset of literacy through a love of learning, and critical thinking with the use of outstanding literature, mostly as it relates to children's literature.
Media, literature, literacy for all
Information for professional development, curriculum development, definitions and models for literacy, literature, media, children's literature, information related to children's responses and development of literacy with literature, quality literature, benefits of literature, literacy and ELL and ESL, art, music, theater, and learner developmental responses.
- Definitions, models,& characteristics for big pictures of literacy, literature, media, children's literature, & various combinations - an introduction to literacy, literature, lanaguage arts, media, and children's literature. It includes focus questions, definitions, models, and examples how they relate to each other, children's literature, responses to them, and education of children and young adults.
- Curriculum suggestions & documents - Literacy, literature, children's literature, & media belief statements, goals, goals & outcomes by grade level, literacy principled procedures for educators and curriculum decision makers, sample objective concept pairs, instructional guidelines & procedures, learner responses to literature checklist, Library - Media Center: Literacy program Kindergarten - 6th Grade: Rationale, outcomes, & goals, instructional guidelines for reading, viewing, & listening, process & inquiry skills related to literature, learner responses to literature checklist, media educational assessment & Australia Library literacy program - Kindergarten - 6th Grade, Literacy curriculum: Rationale, outcomes, & goals by Samantha Beutler
- Caring, bibliotheraphy, & literature to facilitate caring
- Responses to literature & how to faciliate growth - response model; kinds of responses: immediate and deferred, internal and personal or external and social, physical, cognitive, aesthetic; teaching applications; developmental responses to literature; development of quality responses to literature or characteristics of written journal response levels - use as a resource for critical analysis scoring guides; development of quality responses for scoring guidance; & learners' development of story elements by grade level,
- Activity focuses on story telling as a process of aesthetic & emotional communication in the creation of tone as a story element. Sample - Crow Boy
- Developmental theories to predict & understand children's responses to literature with examples on how to use six different theories to make decisions
- Multimedia planning framework to critically analyze and evaluate literature - Literacy from literature to multimedia - Incudes planning for multimedia experiences: lessons, units, for the book, The Mailbox and painting School House by Winslow Homer
- Multi media literacy - An introduction to multi media literacy and the importantce of moving beyond literacy, which focuses more on reading and writing. Includes goals, outcomes, inquiry process, philosophies, implementation suggestions for young and intermediate learners, questions for deep inquiry, propaganda strategies or techniquess to entice action, fact & opinon, fact & fiction, core principles of literacy, & strategies for action.
- Media, Symbols, Images, and Design what influence? - activities with images
- Propaganda strategies or techniquess to entice action - examples & activities
- Fact, opinon, & fiction - short activities with examples to clarify differences.
- Bias
- Literacy & second language learners - explores positive & negative ideas associated with bilingual education & curricula necessary to achieve literacy in a second & multiple languages. Includes: culture model, related definitions, theories, frameworks, interventions, stages of 2nd language acquisition with coordinated learning prompts, coordinated planning, and study guide for With Literacy and Justice for All - Edelsky
- Visual literacy
- Instructional procedures, methods, & plans to facilitate literacy - suggestions for book talks & book conferences. Includes methods, goals, outcomes, sample questions for: before, during, & after reading or listening to a story. Questions for general discussion, and for specific focused questioning about story elements, author, illustrator, illustrations, fiction, and personal.
- Selection process, challenges, & censorship in literature, media, & books+
Research
- Pedagogy of the Absurd article from Rethinking Schools. on Whole Language by Ken Goodman
- Radically Redefining Literacy Instruction: An Immense Opportunity Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 88, No. 07 (March 2007): 488-493. by Mike Schmoker Kappan
Professional development - reflection- metacognition
- Literature reflection - suggestions for literature reflections, example with lesson overview, reflection, & read aloud for the Last Basselope
- Writing reflection suggestions
- The reader, listener, viewer - who is the audience in different pieces of literature? Is there a specific or inferred audience? How is the style in which the author addresses the audience beneficial? Ideas to reflect on, discussion ideas for learners, and possible research project.
- Survey to reflect on how well a person models reading.
- Undergradute syllabus- electronic
- Graduate syllabus - electronic
Tools for general activities
See - genre and story elements for activities with a focus on genre & story elements.
- General activities to promote literacy
- 175 activities for students to choose
- Colors and their possible meanings across cultures
- Eleven Birthdays - by Wendy Mass plot chart for 11 days ...
- First pages of some quality literature books
- Activities - worksheet types: prediction chart, prediction web, retelling worksheet, time travel & flash backs, book rating sheet 10 points, book rating page 50 points, author of the week, KWL chart, KWHL chart, main idea chart, gender bias analysis, how was your journey?, literature log with starters, book's I've read chart, story retelling with analysis. See also more worksheet activities in story elements
- Literature to teach math - Includes - uses of literature to facilitate math literacy, ways to mathematize literature, list of literature books with mathematical themes, literature suggestions by math dimensions, sample lessons using literature books
- How to make your own hardcover cloth bound book - notebook, lab book, field book, journal, story book ...
- Sample data bases - Outline in HTML
Pre Reading Activities - may be continued during and post
While Reading Activities
- Take notes on a map - Hobbit | Bendy's Quest |
- Bridge to Terabithia: Reading guide for comprehension and story elements
Post Reading Activities
- Story focus pages - work book or tool box: worksheets
- Wanted Poster
- Kinds of activities to promote literature transactions
- Activities for story elements
- Community and family involvement activities
- Classic children's lit quiz
- Sample activity to discuss fiction and nonfiction with The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Plans & activities for specific pieces of literature
- Plan for Room on the Broom written by Julia Donaldson and Illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Related illustrations and materials for the activity that includes integrated story elements, genre attributes, and quality literature outcomes
- The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood - Introductory activity to review story elements and wonder about point of view in the picture book
- Crow Boy by Taro Yashima
- Tops & Bottoms (picture book) by Janet Stevens - Plan focuses on story elements. Includes concepts, activity suggestions, outcomes, and suggestions to generalize and apply what is learned. Models the use of a matrix, grid, or chart for comprehensive planning. Also includes a blank story element planning matrix or grid.
- Limerick plan
- Plan for mythology and legend focused study on story elements with genre, quality literature, and possible integration of media, writing, and critical thinking.
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle - Sample activity to discuss fiction and nonfiction with
History - of children's Literature
History includes a
- Timeline of children's literature and noteworthy events related to communication, media, literature, and literacy as can be considered as prerequisites necessary for children’s literature to germinate. And a
- History section with a
- Brief history of the development of communication, media, literature, and literacy, from which children's literature is embedded, to consider how they combine to create what is and isn't considered children's literature yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
- Historical research suggestions & ideas.
- And references for historical pieces : First story? - Gilgamesh, Top 5 checked out library books, Bayeux Tapestry, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Butterfly's Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast, McGuffey Readers, Early Writings in America, & early alphabet comparisons.
Story Elements
Elements of Story include setting, point of view, characters, tone, style, theme, and plot. They have traditionally been associated with fiction. However, they are useful to readers and viewers for any media and genre with a story. The more experience a person has with them, the greater their understanding and enjoyment of literature.
As learners experience stories they begin to conceptualize the elements of a story as they relate to the story. The more experiences they have with stories, the greater their ability to use story elements to perdict, understand, remember, critically analyze, and evaluate them. Which will increase the quality of their transactions with different stories and in turn increase their appreciation of quality literature, necessary to sustain a life long enjoyment of literature.
Resources to help develop understanding story elements, what they are, how they are used in different genre, and how they may contribute to the quality of a piece of literature.
- Story elements as elements of fiction and examples in quality children's literature
- Sample story element analysis for Where Mountain Meets Moon
- Sample discussion questions for story elements
- Children's development of story element ideas K-6
- Story elements within genre
- Blank planning matrix to focus on story elements
- Worksheet ideas to help learn & analyze story elements - tool box includes worksheets for: Characters, character trait, portraits, report card, Venn diagrams - 2 & 3, character's story as a trip, wanted poster, plot chain of events, plot - start ... final, plot & 1 character, plot with 1 character, story maps - plot and more, story map - beginning, middle, & end, story map (characters, setting, conflict, resolution), setting, point of view, theme, style, tone. Others include predictions chart, retelling worksheet, story comparison chart (setting, characters, plot), story comparison chart (7 story elements), tme travel & flash backs
- Style elements to explore and their effects ...
- Colors and their signifiance for tone in literature and art
- Identifying similes and metaphors - tool box with worksheets to identify similes & metaphors, animal metaphors, random creation of metaphors & similies, & poem to identify them.
- Personification - worksheet to create & explore personifications
- Idioms - - worksheet to create & explore idioms
- Tone - activity that focuses on how tone causes a conceptual & emotional response to a picture book by critiquing & responding to Crow Boy
- Complete plans for specific books that emphasize story elements
- The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear - Review or introduce story elements & wonder about point of view in a picture book -
- Room on the Broom - Integrates story elements with genre and quality literature outcomes.
- Tops & Bottoms (picture book) by Janet Stevens - Plan focuses on story elements. Includes concepts, activity suggestions, outcomes, and suggestions to generalize and apply what is learned as it includes a blank story element matrix (grid, or chart) and a comprehensive completed one for this book.
- The White Stag by Kate Seredy - Mythology & Legend unit plan focused on story elements with genre, quality lterature, and integration of media, writing, and critical thinking
- Geographical map as a graphic organizer
Genre
Literature can be classified by how the story is communicated.
- Oral - told or spoken by mouth. ballads, myth, joke, folktale, fables, comedy routines, music, poetry, theater, ...
- Prose - written text or spoken word that is not poetic or have rhythm. Within prose, is traditional literature - stories which have historically been defined as stories that were originally told orally - fairy tales, folk tales, fables, myths, amd legends, ...
- Poetry - communicates an intensity of ideas and emotions with the use of imagery, rhyme, rhythm,
- Visual media - fine arts, picture books, graphic novels, dance, ballet, video, theater, movies, music,
- Mixed media includes any combinations of oral, prose, poetry, and visual media. Picture books, graphic novels, video, theater, online materials ... often include a mix of media. One different example is Skeleton Creek series. Philadelphia Chickens
Genre is a category of artistic composition, in literature or other media characterized by similarities in story elements and subject matter decided by socially conventions.
Genre can be classified narrowly or broadly.
Broadly as: nonfiction (true stories) or fiction (made-up stories). And more narrowly: autobiography, biography, graphic novels, ballet.
As well as different combinations: picture books, concept books, anthologies.
Consequently, there are a lot of genres with overlapping or focused characteristics that make classification challenging, to say the least.
Why bother?
The short answer is, like story elements, knowing characteristics of each genre helps readers and viewers better understand and appreciate a literary piece and literature in general.
Therefore, the more a person knows about the differences, the easier it will be for them to understand, learn, create, critically analyze, and appreciate literature along with those who create it.
Let's begin by exploring some common genre. Their definitions and examples of how story elements, within them, help define the genre and can be used to analyze the quality of a particular story within that genre.
The following explore the labeled genre, its definition, an analysis of its story elements, and some ideas on what makes it quality.
Story elements & quality characteristics for some genre
- Fiction - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Fables - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Fairytale - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Folk tale - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Historical fiction - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Modern Fantasy - its story elements & quality characteristics and worksheet with an attribute data sheet to use to attributes of modern fantasy to enhance discussion, creativity, & croductive thought derived from Frank E. Williams three dimensional model for teaching productive divergent thinking.
- Nonfiction - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Legend & Myth - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Realistic fiction - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Picture book - its story elements & quality characteristics & picture book evaluation check sheet
Tools by genre
As reviewed above, classification of literature pieces by genre is complicated.
Therefore, tools are linked by media, which can include multiple genres and genres can be included in different media.
The classification below is by media. Each tool will mainly be associated with the media in which it is classified. However, some different supporting media may be included with it. Additionally some genre may be included under multiple media categories as appropriate.
Printed media tools (books)
Fiction
- Realistic, coming of age, historical fiction, science fiction, romance, sports, adventure, survival, cliff hangers, thrillers ...
- Fantasy - animal stories, modern fantasy, high fantasy, personification of toys
- Classics
- Traditional literature - stories which have historically been defined as stories that were originally told orally - fairy tales, fables, myths, legends, folktales, tall tales, little people, religious stories
Tools
- Illustrated fiction
- picture books can be any kind of genre. Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, have text, or wordless ... Their illustrations can be analyzed as art:
Tools- Fine art tools to analyze pictures & layouts
- Reflection, planning, and pre activity for The Last Basselope
- Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga, Anima, and other Visual Art Media - literature with a combination of pictures and text
Nonfiction text or illustrated
Nonfiction are stories which are true. While it would seem fiction and non fiction might provide unique genre categories there are pieces of literature that mix the two.
- Instructional ideas to Analyze Nonfiction
- Activities for Quality of Nonfiction Elements
- Sample activity to discuss fiction and nonfiction with The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
- Autobiography
- Biography
- Essay
- History: social and culture awareness, war, medieval, ancient, prehistoric, beginnings of civilization, industrialization, peace
- Informational; Puzzle; Reference; Self help, Riddles
- Speech
- Sports
- All subject areas
Poetry as a genre
Poetry is literature with rhythm and verse, which communicates an intensity of ideas and emotions with the use of imagery, rhyme, and rhythm.
Categories and subcategories resources to facilitate literacy and love of quality literature:
Mixed genre
- Multicultural tool box
- Anthologies - samples
- Puzzle books, how to,
- Cardboard
- Concept books as a genre
Art, drama, & creative movement
Mostly non textual media
Art includes various creative activities in a variety of media: painting, sculpture, music, literature, dance, theater, reader's theater, photography, video, pantomime, role plays, improvisation, story dramatization, puppetry, theater attendance, play reading, analysis, rehearsal/performance, puppetry, ...
Information here includes all of these and can apply to some books.
It's interesting to wonder the beginnings of different kinds of art. When does gestures and movement become dance and drama; when does speaking, crying, tapping, become song and dance; when does scratches on tools, cave walls, pottery, and other natural objects become art; when does thread and other natural objects sewed into materials used for clothing become art? Should we only consider sculptures, drawings on parchments, paper, and other surfaces art? Review the literacy timeline and technology, science, and math timelines to explore the little we know.
Whatever artifacts we consider as the beginnings of art, today we use multiple media to tell a story or create art to express our selves.
While not all forms of art include books, some books include artistic pictures, photographs, and assorted media. Others may reference or include music, dance, theater, or screenplays. Therefore, it is essential to understand, analyze, and evaluate art to be literate.
Visual art
- Visual art includes - elements of visual art, five visual arts approaches to critically evaluate visual images, picture book critique ideas, suggested books to critique, links to tools for: Comic books, graphic novels, & manga
Music - Vocal, instrumental, popular, rock, classical, country western, rap, jazz, blues, bluegrass, folk songs
- Music - tool box includes list of elements of music, resources, activities, assessment checklist for music elements, rubric for music elements, genre related ideas, children verses: The Bear Went over the Mountain, Itsy Bitsy Spider.
Drama, Theater, Film, Video, Pictures
- Film - Disney notes
- Theater - Opera, Comedy, Tragedy, Realistic, Documentary
- Theater - its story elements & quality characteristics
- Five Visual Arts Approaches to Critically Evaluate Art and Literature Visual Images
- Skills to integrate with art, literature, multimedia
- Theater review rubric
- Reader's theater
- Reader's theater production notes
- Reader's theater evaluation outline - selection, staging, performance, script use, narration, vocalization and nonverbals, introduction: includes attributes for each
- Samples
- Finger plays
Dance - creative movement
- Dance - Elements of dance, glossary of dance terms, activities: Native drum dance, videos with dance to critique, ballet, elements of dance introduction across grade levels, & resources
Outstanding literature & media
Lists of books, annotations, and recommendations -
- Award lists include winner & runner up for Newbery, Caldecott, C. S. King, & audio books.
- Organizations that support quality media and literature for young and early adolescent learners.
- Organizations that publish children's magazines.
- Literature references books
- Electronic research sites
- Research articles.
- Recommended book lists:
- Books I enjoyed reading, annotated & listed by date published
- Reading lists by genre to recommend to readers
- HoB's Five star list of notable quality books by publication date
- Illustrators list
- First Page of 13 Quality Literature Books
Language arts
Integrated language arts -
Literature book study for The Mitten by Jan Brett - Uses a language arts integrated planning template that integrates the six subject areas of language arts: listening, speaking, viewing, visually representing, reading, and writing.
Writing
Includes:
- Process - prewriting, drafting, editing, revising
- Conventions - grammar, spelling...
- Fluency - Always a lot of ways to write a sentence, but one or two ways will sound better.
- Ideas - the heart of the paper expresses ideas clearly, holds the paper together, has meaning focus and detailed exploration of the topic.
- Organization - Road map of the paper. Details should help lead and develop the conclusion. Use good transitions and give the paper purpose and structure.
- Voice - personality of the writer, gives the paper a sense of special flavor and uniqueness.
- Word choice - Use verbs that are active powerful and energetic that paint a memorable picture in the reader’s mind.
Plus one + - presentation - Genre - six genres descriptive, expository, journals & letters, narrative, persuasive, poetry.
Writing pedagogy information
Writing Samples
- Preschool learner sample of story - Walking a dog with grandfather
- Conventions - student sample
- Fluency - student sample
- Ideas - student sample
- Organization - student sample
- Voice - student sample
- Word Choice - student sample
Writing rubrics or scoring guides
Reading
Big picture of reading
- Development of reading - Introduction to reading, development of reading, four stage model, reading philosophies, top-down model, bottom-up model, role of context & transfer in reading, instructional suggestions, & reading research
- Role play - opportunity to communicate a philosophy and pedagogical approaches believed to be successful. Setting as a recently hired teacher and principal at the start of a school year who may have conflicting philosophies on teaching literacy - media centered or phonics centered.
- Adolescent literacy suggestions Chall's levels
- DIBELS information
- Dyslexia - article Dyslexia in the Classroom: What Every Teacher Needs to Know
- In the largest genome-wide association study on dyslexia, scientists have pinpointed 42 genetic variants correlated with the disability. They published their findings in Nature Genetics.
- Emergent Literacy research NAEP and others
- Read Across America NEA’s site
Dimensions of reading
Print (early elementary)
Phonics - phonological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic
- Phonics - Introduction, research findings, phonemic awareness skills & examples of instruction, example of synthetic or explicit phonics, example of analytic or word analogy phonics, content of phonics, instructional ideas, four cueing systems, & a phonics test for teachers
- Phoney phonics sample with letters and sample with numbers
- Reprint from the Lincoln Journal Star on Phonics. Public Mind: Reading, Learning to Read
Fluency
Fluency includes - three dimensions are (accuracy in identifying sounds), automaticity (automatic processing), and conversation tone, rhythm, metaphors, analogies, (prosody).
- Fluency - how to assess fluency: method 1 & method 2, how to assess prosody, prosody scoring guide, prosody checklist, stages of fluency development, instructional ideas
Vocabulary
Vocabulary & word analysis includes semantic relationships, context clues, word etymology, using and relating new vocabulary to prior knowledge…, Skill - determine meaning using print and digital reference, spelling, abbreviations, prefix, & suffix
- Vocabulary - research, focus questions, context skills related to vocabulary, learning vocabulary, ways to introduce vocabulary, word study, create friendly explanations, word associations, word walls, journals, & notebooks, word sorts, Five day or weekly lesson plan, procedure, instructional model, or strategy for teaching vocabulary, & ideas to maintain vocabulary
- Study guide for prefixes, suffixes, and word roots for medical & anatomical terms of Greek, Latin and other origins
Comprehension
Comprehension - Literal, inferred, emotional / aesthetic
- Comprehension overview and instructional strategies - descriptions of comprehnsion, text, reader, context, the activity, comprehension strategies, effective fix up strategies, suggestions to guide students through books, reciprocal teaching, comprehsion skills or reading skills, ineffective strategies, suggestions base on research
Instructional samples
- Sample Reading attitude survey
- Retelling a story - teacher checklist
- Basal text evaluation form
- Fiddlers one page comprehension historic worksheet sixth grade
- Literature circles roles and responsibilities
- Myths and Legends Sample Unit using The White Stag by Kate Seredy
- Sample Limerick Unit plan for poetry genre
- First pages of Newbery Award winning books as samples of quality children's literature
- Eleven Birthdays - by Wendy Mass plot chart for 11 days ...
- Walk Two Moons Journal suggestions
- Computer based reading assistant - research based programs for improvement in: Learning difficulties, Listening & auditory processing, Memory, Attention and ADD, Reading comprehension, Sound discrimination, Dyslexia, and Language skills
Grammar and spelling
- Pronoun samples
- Spelling rules
- Hypenated and non hypenated words
- Affect or Effect, which do I use?
- Most common misspelled words
- College misspelled words
Speaking skills and Listening Skills
- Analyze information
- Communicate information
- Develop information given or spoken
- Apply information
- Find information when necessary
- Reciprocal communication
- Develop apply and adapt communication skills
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Overview
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Everyone is a source.
How do you determine:
What is credible?
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Literacy?
- 52% believed a video - that claimed to show ballot stuffing in 2016 Democratic primaries, was strong evidence of voter fraud in the U.S. It was actually shot in Russia.
- 66% of students couldn't tell the difference between news stories and ads labeled sponsered events on a news site's homepage.
- 96% of students did not consider why - ties between a climate change website and the fossil fuel industry might lessen the websites credibility.
Source: Stanford University 2019 evaluation of 3,446 high school students in urban & suburban schools in 14 states.
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Albert Einstein said,
"It is a grave error to suppose that the joy of seeing and seeking can be furthered by compulsion or sense of duty."
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Reading comprehension tests attempt to give a score for the taker that rates their ability to read a particular passage and determine the accuracy of what the author meant to communicate within a predetermined period of time.
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