ERM journal question 11 and 12.

11. What role does literature play in the daily curriculum?

12. Respond to the presence or absence of the opportunities to develop all aspects of the language arts-- reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing-- within the meaningful context of the daily curriculum.

            Literature is embedded into the daily curriculum. There are all kinds of opportunities for the children to read, write, listen, speak, view and visually represent within the daily curriculum. I feel like these elements are the main substance of the curriculum. Since I am only in this classroom from 8:30-11:10 I only see the reading and language arts portion. They read to gain understanding, to listen and speak, they view the illustrations and draw pictures in their heads. They write in their journals, or off a topic given by the teacher. They have time for independent reading where they choose which books they want to read. They perform reader’s theaters/ mini plays. I was reading with a small group of children and we read a book about a boy losing his tooth at the fair and after we had read it together the children came up with the idea of turning it into a reader’s theater. They divided the characters and gave each member a part. It was really neat to see the children thinking in this way and really getting excited about the story. They understand that reading, writing, listening, viewing and speaking are not separated into individual subjects, rather they are being taught to unify these areas and that when used together each different area strengthens and enhances the other areas. They read a book, listen for information and pleasure, they discuss the meaning with the teacher and their peers, and they make connections by writing down how it relates to their own lives. They integrate all areas, which supports thinking and learning. A variety of literature is integrated in the classroom, which provides diverse thinking and new perspectives. They perform units on science but they incorporate writing and drawing as well as scientific facts. They use methods such as predicting, making connections, background knowledge, and pictures in their heads to help them with metacognition. This class is rich in literature and the teacher incorporates it into the daily classroom curriculum extremely well. She provides literature-based experiences in almost every aspect of learning.