Popular culture is part of children’s everyday life experiences, embedded in film and news media, cartoons and television programs, in comics, music and advertising (Seiter, 1999; March, 2000 as cited in Ashton, 2005). Yet recognition of popular culture as a valid literacy medium within early childhood contexts continues to be problematic (Ashton, 2005; Shegar & Weninger, 2010; Arthur, 2001). The development of literacy learning begins well before children start school as they engage in literate practices in their homes and communities, allowing them to engage in meaning-making (Arthur, 2001; Ashton, 2005). Children engage with multi-modal texts that often consume forms of reading such as the internet, where children are required to have literacy skills to navigate (Shegar & Weninger, 2010). Inclusion of popular culture allows educators to develop intertextuality through linking home and community literacies with new experiences, helping them to feel connected to familiar people, places, events and understandings (Shegar & Weninger, 2010; Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, 2009).
Children can enter early childhood settings to be confronted by texts which are an established part of the ‘canon’ of children’s literature, a canon, which has historically being created by white, middle-class educationalists (Shegar & Weninger, 2010; Marsh, 2000; Arthur, 2001). Many early childhood educators regard literacy as being largely book-based alone, thus focusing on conventions of reading and writing thought to be fundamental to ‘good’ literature (Shegar & Weninger, 2010). Research has shown that inclusion of media outside the dominant preferred literacies of education allows children to build literacy capital and is...
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...ctive argument. I also believe I have been able to reflect on my beliefs and values throughout being part of a study group and within the papers. I believe I have been able to synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources in order to develop key arguments. The MQ Graduate capability of Problem Solving and Research Capability has been important to my learning as I have been able to develop my ability to look for different articles through library database searches and evaluate their effectiveness for my topic (Djonov, 2013).. Through reviewing the articles in the annotated bibliography, I was able to learn about what to look for in articles and how to critique articles. I believe this is an essential skill to have in teaching, as I will be continuously learning and it is important to be able to discuss findings on relevant topics with staff and parents.
Critique of Nell K. Duke and Victoria Purcell-Gates' Genres at Home and at School: Bridging the Known to the New Nell K. Duke and Victoria Purcell-Gates insightful article, "Genres at home and at school: Bridging the known to the new" reports on genres found at home and at school for two groups of young children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Duke and Gates identify genres commonly found in both settings, as well as those commonly found only in one setting or the other. Children encounter many different kinds of text in their daily life. There are many different kinds of written language used for many different reasons, especially at home and at school. This article suggests ways that being aware of genres young children encounter at home and at school offer opportunities to bridge home and school literacies and enhance children's literacy development.
“What counts as literacy, how literacy changes in response to the new media landscape, and what value we should ascribe to the new forms of communication that continue to emerge and evolve online? (Jenkins, 2009)"
As we see in books like Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury the government seem to take control and censor what people know and believe. Many lessons are not only taught in fictional literature, but can also be found in real life situations. Without prime uses of imagination, the youth of today might grow up lacking an essential elements in their development. Researchers have found that the use of imagination by a child is essential to their development. These scientists say that children 's cognitive development is largely factored upon the child 's imagination and creative abilities. With district censorship, one is only left to ponder the ignorance of the school system. The district believes that some books are not “school friendly” because they teach children about animals who talk, mythical beings, and far off places that are simply figments of the imagination. To the ill-informed, the stories give children an unrealistic sense of r...
My grandmother introduced me to reading before I’d even entered school. She babysat me while my parents were at work, and spent hours reading to me from picture books as my wide eyes drank in the colorful illustrations. As a result, I entered my first year of school with an early passion for reading. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was captivated by tales of fire-breathing dragons, mystical wizards, and spirited foreign gods. A book accompanied me nearly everywhere I went, smuggled into my backpack or tucked safely under my arm. I was often the child who sat alone at lunch, not because she didn’t have friends, but because she was more interested in a wizards’ duel than the petty dramas of middle school girls. I was the child who passed every history test because she was the only kid who didn’t mind reading the textbook in her spare time, and the child who the school librarian knew by name. Reading provided a
The importance of characters within stories is also discussed by Needham (2010) when referring to the ‘Story Sack’ initiative by Griffith (1998) acknowledging the importance of creativity when promoting an interest in books. Furthermore Whitebread and Jameson (2005) concur this referring also to the impact of ‘Story Sacks’ to enhance literacy, by allowing the child to engage with the story through a multi sensory experience, which also promotes parent partnership in literacy.
It has always been amazing to realize how well the literature I read as a child has stayed with me through the years. It takes an exceptional writer to compose a narrative that maintains a storyline on the same level of a child's understanding; it takes everything short of a miracle to keep a child's interest. However, that undertaking has been accomplished by many skilled authors, and continues to be an area of growth in the literary world. Only this year the New York Times has given the genre of children's literature the credit it deserves by creating a separate best-sellers list just for outstanding children's books. Yet, on another level, children's literature is not only for the young. I believe that the mark of a brilliant children's author is the age range of those who get pleasure from the stories; the wider the range, the better.
Writing has been an important part of every culture from the beginning of time. The illustrations of cavemen have evolved immensely. Today, there are millions of published books. In fact, there are over four hundred books published every month. What happens when these books turn into something more? Is there racism in our children's literature? Ironically, the renowned great works of our past is full of racism. The question that remains, how do we teach our children the great lesson that these brave authors intended?
In recent years the meaning of literacy has become much more than that. Now literacy includes things such as, numbers, images, and technology. Literacy can be something that developed through things like Books, the internet, television, family, and many other resources. In this literacy narrative I will discuss the origins of my current attitudes about writing, and reading.
Jones Diaz, C. (2007). Literacy as social practice. In L. Makin, C. Jones Diaz & L. McLachlan (Eds.), Literacies in childhood: Changing views, challenging practice. (pp. 203-216).Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier.
Rosin, Hanna. “Mother Inferior?” Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. By Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. 12th ed. Pearson, 2012. 265-268. Print.
Winch, G., Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature (4th ed.). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
... (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Text and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University
Literature has been part of society since pen met paper. It has recorded history, retold fables, and entertained adults for centuries. Literature intended for children, however, is a recent development. Though children’s literature is young, the texts can be separated into two categories by age. The exact splitting point is debatable, but as technology revolutionized in the mid-twentieth century is the dividing point between classic and contemporary. Today’s children’s literature is extraordinarily different from the classics that it evolved from, but yet as classic was transformed into modern, the literature kept many common features.
Children’s literature is, as Peter Hunt argued, a ‘remarkable area of writing: it is one of the roots of western culture, it is enjoyed passionately by adults as well as children, and it has exercised huge talents over hundreds of years’. Children’s literature is good quality books for children from birth to adolescence, coating topics about importance and interests to children of those ages, through prose and poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Children’s literature is probably the most exciting and vibrant of all literary studies, and its wide range of texts, from novels to picture books, and from oral forms to multimedia and the internet, presents a huge challenge. The important theme in children’s literature is the tension between the popular and the prestigious, or in other
Literature has an enormous impact on a child’s development during the early years of his or her life. It is important for parents and teachers to instill a love of reading in children while they are still young and impressionable. They are very naive and trusting because they are just beginning to develop their own thoughts, so they will believe anything they read (Lesnik, 1998). This is why it is so important to give them literature that will have a positive impact. Literature can make children more loving, intelligent and open minded because reading books gives them a much wider perspective on the world. Through reading, children’s behavior can be changed, modified or extended, which is why books are so influential in children’s lives while they are young (Hunt, 1998). Literature has the power to affect many aspects of a child’s life and shapes their future adult life.