Textbook Reflections 1-5 LSSL 5385-02

1.  Why do we share literature with children?

https://freerangestock.com/search.php?type=all&search=kids+reading&gid_search=&match=all

This video was a review of a previous class, so it was nice to re-familiarize myself once again the importance of children's literature and why we share it.  Here are some highlights from those adorable ladies on screen!  The slide share solidified several strong points in the video presentation.

We share children's literature for...

1. Fun - we want to be comfortable, share, laugh, and just enjoy a good book with another audience.
2. Acquisition of language and language development- A main perk, the more one reads the better they will do on standardized tests!
3. Develop empathy and losing oneself to feel joy, pain, heartache, love, etc. as well as what the characters are feeling are so important in the everyday lives of children.
4. Supports life long reading whether it's with a series of books or serial reading where there are other books by the same author that we can grow with the author.  Plus, 
5. Unconscious delight of being lost in a book fully immersed within the text.
6. Reading Autobiographically - where we see ourselves in a book, "windows as mirrors", and the need to find books that show ourselves in them.
7. Reading vicariously where the reader will experience the consequence of these characters themselves, and don't have to actually go through those experiences themselves.  Another example given was, "looking at how others are and how others live".
8. Read for philosophical speculation whether it's ethically, religiously, or  dealing with issues that help us figure out who we are and how we find out where our place is in the world.
9. We can read for aesthetic experiences for the "joy and pleasure of reading".
10. Literature develops the imagination of "what would happen if???"
11. Transmit culture and not just to share in various months of highlighted importance, but on a regular basis

How it has and will affect how I read and evaluate young adult literature:

It is kind of interesting that this is part of my Spring semester, because I am getting together with our Reading Specialist to create small groups of struggling learners from our 5th grade classes.  I plan to use much of what I can get my hands on this semester to guide these 10-12 year olds to become involved and come back to their love of reading purely for the enjoyment of a good book rather than just to take a test.

In my reflections, I plan to add how the kids are progressing and sharing their reading experiences with me along the way.  Knowing and refreshing my memory of why we share children's literature can be an excellent groundbreaking and bonding experience for me and the small group I will be sharing books with.  I will in turn learn what books these children like and are encouraged to read, how the librarian facilitates their quests for a good book, and what feedback they will share with me when they are successful in finding books that interest them or guide me towards books that this grade levels loves to share with each other.

My favorite slide from the slide share presentation was the 20, 10, and 1 minute reading a day slide.  Boy, does that really hit home!  If only we could just keep these kids reading for 20 minutes throughout middle, and high school.  Can you imagine the possibilities and rewards?

Finally, Facts about books by award author, John Green, was entertaining and made you realize several pieces of information about the books we read so effortlessly have so much meaning behind in the creating and making of the books themselves.

https://freerangestock.com/photos/77386/open-book-of-knowledge--learning-and-education-idea.html

2.  Divisions of Young People's Literature

I never knew there were any divisions.  This was a new eye opener for me.  From what I gathered here are the divisions of young people's literature and the age deemed appropriate for the indicated level.

1.  Children Literature (0-8 years)- wordless, regular, easy readers, illustrated, chapter books, early chapter books, and illustrated novels.

2.  Middle Grade/ Tweens (8-12 years) - middle school grades 6, 7, 8, but these guys are aged 11-13 years!  Which means books that these tweens may be ready for are not necessarily age appropriate or books that others find for them are not necessarily in their age category.  Sound confusing??  I believe that in order to service these individuals I would need to make sure that I am building a relationship with the students to find out what it is they like to read or are wanting to read.  Reading more and more books myself from this division and displaying lots of books openly and freely to entice their interest to all sorts of various topics.  You may find romance, sports, graphic novels, friends, and LGBTQ topics, plus many more.

3.  Young Adult (13-18 years) - yet again another time in a child's life where they are labeled young adult but may or may not be ready for the content in the literature.  Many of these books deal with first time sexual experiences, romances, possibly rape, and excessive harsh language adolescents are experimenting with.  Edgier young adult books may also introduce adolescents to gender and transgender topics embedded within the characters experiences.  Lots of opportunities for young adolescents to vicariously partake in situations safely and they may not necessarily come in to contact with in real life.

4.  New Adult Literature (18-30 year olds) - came about from a St. Martin's Press (McMillan) writing contest.  They wanted "cutting edge fiction with protagonists who are slightly older than young adult and can appeal to an adult audience".  Some interests were high school graduates going off to college and early 20s dealing with fresh adult issues where the parents are less and less in the mix of the lives of the characters.

How divisions have and will affect how I read and evaluate young adult literature:

I do understand the difficulty of having a collection of a wide variety of books on many levels at the middle school level.  I think that would be a challenge in itself.  I remember when I read a magazine that was taken from our local middle school library and it had topics of sex, boys, and I immediately wanted to talk to the librarian to see if they could remove it from the library!  Of course, the librarian never called me back or even asked me to visit with her to discuss any means as to why it was still ok to have it in the library for all to check out.  Now that I am enrolled as a graduate student and becoming more aware of the open information available to our children at large, my thoughts and beliefs are changing.  I am now thinking about how I would defend the freedom of information if I were to be challenged by my former self and who would be my supporters?

https://pixabay.com/en/photos/?q=literature&hp=&image_type=&order=popular&cat=&min_width=&min_height=

3.  Genres and Formats

The above picture is my own creation of visualizing the genre portion of the screen-cast by Dr. Perry.  She also mentions that there are other topics that are not genres but SUBJECTS/CATEGORIES, such as:

chick lit, mystery, guy reads, horror, sports fiction, action adventure, paranormal, war, classics, humor, and dystopia.  

Formats:  poetry, drama, novels, chapter books, short stories, picture books, and graphicnovels were mentioned to let students know these are a particular format that  a genre will fit into.

How genres and formats will affect how I read and evaluate young adult literature:

I had fun with this one because I truly needed help understanding the differences between words that I heard long ago in a early childhood class while in my undergraduate days.  Clarification and charts really helped me understand the variety of works and the way literature can be described.  My goal will be to try to read a book that can be selected by each of these genres and formats.  I want to really understand why a book can be labeled as such or how its content lends itself to one or more of these genres or formats.  I will probably side with Dr. Karin Perry on refraining from gentrifying my library, however, I would need to really understand which books are in the collection plus learn how to share the books with the students and families I will eventually service.  

https://pixabay.com/en/read-education-well-read-book-doll-3048651/

4.  What is Young Adult Literature?

Taken from the insert of a list of 10 descriptive ways to identify young adult literature by Mertz and England 1983.

• youthful protagonist
• point of view of adolescent interpretation of events
• directness of exposition & direct confrontation
• significant change in the life of the character
• highly independent protagonist
• gradual & incremental change as well as incomplete growth in main characters
• mirrors concern over contemporary issues
• main character who reaps the consequences of decisions & action
• brief time period, limited setting, few fully developed characters-part of a structural conventions
• sense of how adolescents develop

How young adult literature will affect how I read and evaluate these books?

I thought I had a good idea of what young adult literature was, but I think I have a deeper understanding of what truly is young adult literature.  Even though this was a list provided, as I read more of the required readings, I understand the significance of what each of the items listed below.  I now think about the characters in the books and try to picture myself as an adolescent reading the books and what questions would I have, how would I approach my librarian for more books, or would I be able to start conversations with my librarian about books that I am reading.  I'm glad I have the chance to read these because I still have children of my own in school and they are in high school and middle school.  Being able to read young adult literature and knowing what is available our local schools helps me feel a little bit more informed about what my children and others in the community have the opportunity to read in our public school systems.

https://www.reasonablefaith.org/images/rf_podcasts/rf_detail_227_0.jpg

5.  How do adolescents develop?

 I happen to have Dr. Lesesne's book Making the Match:  The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time Grades 4-12 (2003).  I am using it for my small group of academically challenged 5th graders on my campus.  On pages 19-28, you will find the information shared in the screen cast we listened to for this section in more detail and suggested book selections for young adults.

Physical Development - bodies change, voice, hair, puberty takes over and adolescents may be judged by their physical appearance 

Mental Development - concrete to formal thinking (Piaget and Inhelder 1969) abstract thinking and we need to guide the students as they are faced with questions that need answers with deeper meaning

Emotional Development - mood swings, hormones, peer emotions, plays a role in abstract thinking which in turn plays a role in the appropriate level of maturity in book selections

Social Development - Kolberg's Theory of Moral Development (1987) suggest three levels of development:

 a. Pre conventional- decisions are based on reward and punishment

b. Conventional- code of what is right and wrong

c. Post conventional - laws and social rules may conflict with what is "right".

Havighurst's Theory of Developmental Tasks (1972)

Adolescents...

1. undergo changing relationships with parents
2. need to develop an easy relationship with the opposite sex
3. must develop moral and values
4. have to adapt to their physical bodies
5. must define their appropriate sex roles
6. need to work for pay
7. should find a vocation

Development of Lifetime Readers - simply put, readers "develop" based on experiences whether its read alouds, or how others influenced our reading selections as role models, as suggested in Donelson and Nilsen (1999) and the analogy of a birthday cake.

stages in the development of lifetime readers are and in no particular order of level:

Reading

• for unconscious delight
• autobiography
• vicarious experiences
• philosophical specualtion
• aesthetic experence

Final thoughts...

After raising 4 girls and teaching for 22 years, so much of this information comes full circle.  We may pull our hair out trying to help certain students find themselves, but in the long spectrum of life, they do find their way and still hope you remember their names when you see them at the local grocery store and want that hug!  They will remember the times you made the effort to connect with them and build wonderful, meaningful relationships that incorporate their likes and interests, even in books.  They remember the hands on approach to lessons and activities you did when they were younger.  Their faces will light up when you may even remember a book you read together when they were in elementary school.  Adolescents are just little kids in big bodies.  The challenge will be will they remember the young adult novels you helped them find or did the book have an impact on their life long love of reading after they graduate from high school?  When I tried to write my reading autobiography, I couldn't remember a single moment when I was fascinated with reading and read for the above reasons.  I couldn't remember a middle school moment either.  Elementary, I could remember many situations, moments, books, teachers, librarian, smells, activities, and book covers.  I think this will be my new challenge, to reach this age of readers.  At least it's a start...

Textbook references are from:

Lesesne, T.S. & Karin Perry (2016). YA literature textbook. Retrieved from

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zKJ3mRS3RHcrsyGAT_606buFycZ1Ap_4YwpAwBobnUY/edit

Lesesne, T. (2003). Making the Match:  The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time Grades 4-12.  Portland, MN:  Stenhouse Publishers.