Part of being a teacher is "selling the content" to your students. Merely assigning them something to read is not enough to capture their hearts and minds. Having a strong foundation in young adult literature enables a teacher to select texts that will not only meet standards, but will engage and enthrall kids in the process. For example, knowing which text to use to teach character development, conflict, theme, etc. will make lesson planning so much easier and keep kids on task and focused, thus reducing classroom management issues. Additionally, students can tell when you believe in your "product." When you take them to the media center for book check out and know just which book will hook a kid, and they trust you and read it and can't wait to tell you two days later that they finished it and want to read another, that feeling can't be beat. So many students go home to poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, divorce, etc., when they are recommended a novel to read by their teacher that matches their exact situation, they don't feel so alone anymore. They feel validated and understood, something every child deserves.
As teachers, we need to be aware of high quality literature. This knowledge makes our lessons more real world and directed to our class' needs. Pulling real world texts into a lesson will create a truer scenario for students. The old standards books such as "Blueberries for Sal" can help teach a topic but it is also helpful to stay current. Our classes are filled with many nationalities and belief systems; tapping in to those through current, good children's literature makes our lesson more meaningful.
Taking the time to research and plan to use a book that aligns with the current standards being taught accomplishes two things. First, a lesson is always better with real world literature. Second, by aligning it with the standard that must be taught, you can go outside the curriculum and bring in a different perspective. Students always react well to real world texts. Engaged students means learning is taking place!
As a matter of necessity, all teachers should be knowledgeable about high-quality children’s literature.
Literacy is a foundational skill that aids in the development of critical thinking and analysis, two cognitive processes that are required in all fields of study and facets of life. Therefore, it is important for teachers as the education-purveyors of society to promote literacy in their classrooms.
One of the key foundations for encouraging literacy is engaging students’ interests. A student who is engaged will be more focused on a learning task. To engage students in reading, then, requires providing access to texts that students will like based on their interests. However, the abundance of media available is not equal in terms of quality. Students might enjoy lower-quality, lower-skill-level texts if they deal with an “interesting” subject. To truly improve students’ literacy, teachers need to find literature that fits at the intersection between engaging and challenging.
This can also help with standards based instruction. A teacher who is relatively limited in his or her knowledge of available literature will be less likely to select the most appropriate resources to use in the classroom. For example, one of the high school English-Language Arts standards asks students to trace the development of theme across the course of a text. While this standard can be used with any number of accompanying texts, the best fit would be a lengthy work that has multiple themes from which students could choose.
Besides this, teachers should always be equipped to recommend books to students. With so few students continuing to read for entertainment beyond elementary or middle school, it is crucial for teachers to be resources for their students.
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