EDRG 3321 Wed. Night ch.1-2

Chapter ones main focus was based on the notion of what children's literature is. Something I liked was the quote by Dick King-Smith,"A teacher's most important role is first to teach the art of reading and then to foster in every possible way a child's enjoyment of books." I liked how the textbook referred to literature as the backbone to the reading program. This is something I believe to be true, if we give our students a love of literature and reading, it will not only help them in reading, but other subjects as well. Our textbook stated that teachers from kindergarten through the eighth grade set the stage for students having good reading and writing experiences. They do this by introducing different types and genres of literature to their students. I believe that this is very important because you can't constrain children to only one genre. The transformative experiences was another subject matter that the textbook mentioned. It is good to find books that the children have the opportunity to apply some background knowledge of their own. I think that this is one of the many ways that children can truly enjoy literature.

Chapter two focused on culture and what a teacher must be aware of in order to be effective in their classroom. Two cultures that were mentioned are surface culture and deep culture. Surface culture is what is apparent like what you wear or eat, or that holidays you celebrate, while deep culture refers to characteristics, values or beliefs that are not always apparent. Something I liked was the culturally responsive model that is used to help schools. I also liked how the textbook stated that stories mean different things to different people, and I believe that this is an important thing for teachers to understand.

Author Profile:
The author that I have chosen to write my author profile on is Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I chose her because I found her books to be funny, and entertaining, many having characters of storylines that children could relate to. I also think children would enjoy reading her books, which range from kindergarten to sixth grade level.

This is one of the books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor titled "Roxie and the Hooligans." The book is about Roxie Warbler, a young girl who is constantly teased by a group of hooligans lead by Helvita Hagus. One day Roxie is chased into a dumpster by the hooligans who fall in after her. She finds herself trapped in the dumpster with them as it is tossed into the ocean. They make it to an island that they later find out is housing two theives. The Hooligans are afraid of the theives, so it is up to Roxie to save the day, defeating the theives and helping the hooligans to safety.