Literature (Strategies for Teaching and Learning Professional Library)

Why do teachers use literature in their classrooms? What does literature add to children's lives and to the curriculum? Why is literature important at all? Kathy Short answers these and other questions in this introductory book on how to integrate literature into your curriculum.

Reading real books adds to the process of understanding and learning. Of course, teachers have always included real books in their classrooms, but now they are making them integral to the curriculum; however well constructed, basal programs cannot provide the variety and choice of reading materials that meet the equally wide range of students' interests and needs. Stories that are worth reading and that extend children's experiences and enrich their minds also motivate them to making reading part of their lives.

Kathy outlines the four roles literature plays in the curriculum:
Literature is a way to learn language; not just reading, but writing, too.Literature enhances learning in content areas: social studies, sciences, mathematics, and the arts.Literature is one pathway to knowing and understanding the world.Literature opens up an awareness of society and culture.

Because literature should be part of a curriculum that provides a meaningful engagement with language, she shows you how to use real books to give children opportunities to learn. You will enjoy her practical suggestions for implementing a variety of teaching strategies so that children have opportunities to learn about language through:

independent reading;reading aloud;partner reading and sharing;readers' theatre and choral reading;author studies;literature circles.

And you will be able to develop important reading strategies through mini-lessons, conferences, and shared and guided reading.

As an example of a curricular framework, Kathy explains the authoring cycle, which uses inquiry to involve students deeply in a theme or topic. She concludes with a discussion of evaluation as part of the curriculum and offers specific examples of evaluation techniques and samples of the appropriate forms.

As in the other volumes in this series, there are Dialogues that invite you to reflect on your own teaching, Shoptalks that provide brief reviews of relevant professional literature, and Teacher-To-Teacher Field Notes: comments by classroom teachers on their own successful teaching ideas.

Kathy G. Short is Professor of Language, Reading and Culture at the University of Arizona and has worked extensively with teachers to develop curricula that actively involve students as authors and inquirers. Much of her work has centered on inquiry-based curriculum and children's dialogue about literature. She is currently the editor of Language Arts, journal of the National Council of Teachers of English, and was previously editor of The New Advocate, a journal connecting children's literature and education. Her most recent book is Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature (NCTE, 2003).

Kathy teaches courses on children's literature, literature discussion, literature-based curriculum, the art of the picture book, multicultural and international issues in children's literature, influential readings, and teacher research. She organizes an annual Conference on Literature and Literacy for Children and Adolescents that features well-known authors and illustrators. The International Reading Association named her the 2000 Arbuthnot Award winner for Outstanding Educator in Children's and Adolescent Literature. The University of Arizona named her the 2000 Sarlo Family Outstanding Faculty Award winner and the College of Education gave her the 2000 Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award and the 1996 and 1992 Faculty Research Award. She also received the 2003 Extraordinary Faculty Award from the Arizona Alumni Association. Kathy has held a range of leadership positions in the National Council of Teachers of English. She was chair of the Elementary Section Steering Committee and a member of the Executive Council and Curriculum Commission.

A grant from the Spencer Foundation supported a mentoring program on academic writing and publishing for teacher researchers as part of the Language Arts journal editorship, including the development of a web site of resources and groups involved in teacher research (http://www.ed.arizona.edu/teacherresearch). Kathy's research interests primarily focus around dialogue and inquiry, particularly as they connect to curriculum and curricular frameworks. Her studies have included research on children's dialogue about literature, the role of the teacher in literature discussion, responses to literature across sign systems, intertextuality, inquiry-based curriculum, teacher study groups, and teachers' curricular thinking about reading instruction.

She is currently writing a book on her study of exemplary teachers of reading and working with international schools on inquiry-based curriculum. Her books include, Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers, Learning Together through Inquiry, Literature as a Way of Knowing, Talking about Books, Creating Curriculum, and Teacher Study Groups. Most of her research and writing involves collaborations with teachers.