Jacques said: I also like the traditional literature, this chapter was a very interesting chapter. The tales, folktales, myths and legends are very fun to read. The folktales are stories of adventures and also they make objects and animals seem really real. By using these different stories in traditional literature it helps the students improve their understanding of the world. These stories are also read for pleasure. The also use plot which contains conflict and action as well. The setting for these stories provides the time and the place for the story. A certain theme that is demonstrated through the story is universal as well and reflects the good over evil and also love and honor. I was also fun to read about motifs as well. The motifs offer the use of extraordinary animals from all cultures and these characters are fun for the students to learn about. I was also fun to read about the French folktales, German folktales, Norwegian folktales, Jewish folktales, and also Asian and Japanese folktales. The favorite folktales that I have read have been Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast and also Snow White and the seven dwarfs. I also liked reading about the tall tales and how they explained the hardships of the settlers for example how the settlers survived. The myths are considered to be make believe; I have read a great deal of these stories to my students that deal with Greek and Roman mythology. I would like to find out more information on the Norse mythology and also read more about Native American myths. I also agree with the author that these types of stories help to motivate the students to write. Every child should have the chance to read these stories to get a great perspective on life.
There were two parts of this chapter that stood out to me – the part about keeping stories simple and the suggestions of storytelling. I really think it’s important to keep things simple for children. With folktales and fables, added details could provide an interesting aspect but I think for younger listeners it would be too much. The characters, plot and setting are still present in traditional literature and provide needed structure; everything is just streamlined for this media. Because of the simplicity of their structure, children are able to use their imagination and take away the moral of the story.
The second part of the chapter, the suggestions for successful storytelling, I thought was great. I think those tools apply not just to traditional literature, but really to anything you read aloud. I think it’s imperative to know your audience and establish beforehand exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish – a story that is light and humorous, or dark and gloomy. The mood should match the story you are telling.
I did feel a bit overwhelmed with all the information in this chapter – my question would be is there any particular part of traditional literature that would be more relevant than others or recommended for elementary education?
This chapter brought us into some of the genres and themes of today. I found it interesting to find out where some of the folktales came from. Like the three little pigs and stories that we still here so much today. Knowing that they originated so long ago.
I also like the section about the values of traditional lit. to children. Explaining the thoughts of the stories of the past and the tools that were implemented back then. Using real human struggle and aspects of understanding the world around. Are concepts used by authors today.
I was most familiar with the German folktales. Cinderella, Sleeping beauty and such, are readilly regurgetated today. Disney is probably the main reason I am so familiar with them. Also my little girl goes on about a 6 month benge of the two movies.
I agree with the idea of keeping it simple. To a young listener it would be hard for them to capture the details of a story being read to them. As they progress though the folktales of old have stood the test of time.
Chapter 6 was, yet another, interesting chapter to me. Preserving our heritage is certainly something I hold dear and found that traditional literature serves this purpose quite well. Making certain that children of this generation and generations to come hear and enjoy traditional literature is imperative. I had known this prior to reading, but find all of the different versions of a particular story very intriguing (i.e. Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast). Knowing that regardless of our lineage, we all come from some certain truths that we all hold. Truths like good vs. evil and just rewards and punishments. Living and teaching in a world that is very in tune with multiculturalism, my question is that of which to teach? Perhaps as prospective teachers, our best guide would be that of our classroom makeup. Taking into consideration where we are teaching and the history behind that place, plus where students backgrounds are would be the best place to start. Here students would understand and enjoy the literature because of their background knowledge. From here you could leap off in any direction (like the teacher did with the Chinese study in her fifth grade class).
In response to Sarah: I also loved the section of the chapter regarding storytelling! I have filled in at our local library and elementary school library reading to children quite a bit and never thought a lot about all the points that were made. My favorites were just the little things like shifting your feet when you are shifting ideas, leaning forwards or leaning backwards. Really great information-I agree with you fully!
I just love this text book! I am enjoying every chapter I read. Maybe because it is easy to understand and relate to. It always seems to take me back to my childhood, and I loved my childhood! Chapter 6 discusses traditional literature like folktales, legends, myths, and fables. These were some of the best stories because it brought a sense of pleasure to me. These stories try to take you into the story itself and it almost feels magical, especially to children. There is often magic, heroes, and princesses in these stories. Little girls like to think they are princesses and little boys like to think they are heroes. These stories also help children understand other cultures and the world around them. Maybe this is what is so appealing to everyone when it comes to traditional literature. It is the fact that this is not the reader's ordinary life, it's something different, something magical and it takes you to a place where you want to be.
I think it would be great for teachers to do a section on King Arthur tales. This would teach children some history and how people were in the past. These tales are actually considered fact so it would benefit children to understand it and learn it in a fun way.
JenniferS: Addressing your question of which truths to teach - I agree that lesson should be based on the individual classroom. Take a look at your students and determine what will benefit them most, what they will understand and relate to the most. I think outside ideas should be brought to the table as well, to stimulate students to think about something they have never thought about before.
This was by far my favorite chapter. I've always enjoyed myths and legends although I never really gave much thought to the differences between them. I found it very interesting how the same story exists in so many different countries and origins and they each have a unique twist to them. I like how each culture tried to pass on something that was important to their beliefs to their children. Using folklore and children's literature to preserve heritage is amazing. We want our children to be honest and virtuous so we put these values into the stories we tell the kids. Now that I've read about some of these differences, I'm thinking about going to find some of the stories I grew up with and see how they are told in different cultures and look for the differences and similarities.
I couldn't agree more. At first I wasn't too impressed with this textbook but the more I've read it, the better it has become. This chapter was a chapter of magic and it takes you back to the days of yesteryear. Like you, as I read this chapter I thought about when I first heard some of these stories. The magic of hearing these tales for the first time can be exhilerating. It makes you embrace your heritage and want to pass it along.
I'm learning so much about children's literature. In Chapter 6 I learned about all of the different sub-categories of traditional literature. I really found the table of comparisons of folktales from different cultures fascinating. I also enjoyed the Teaching w/ Traditionjal Literature section. It really gives great ideas about how to translate the information and use traditional literature in our future classrooms.
I totally agree with your comment about disney. I remember when I first read my son the traditional Cinderella story, and he was amazed that the pictures were different than in the movie. After that, it became a game to us to see if we could find the stories that the movies were based off of. This is something that he still does. He won't watch a movie that is based off of a book, unless he's read the book...me too!
This book keeps on getting better and better. It covers a lot of information that I find very interesting. I have not been big into reading, but this class has opened my eyes into literature. I think my main main problem was picking out the wrong books.
As reading Chapter 6, I learned a lot about myths and folktales. I'm really not into these books, but after reading this chapter I could change my mind. I am not a big imaginator. I like stories that are straight to the point and are easy to understand. I'm not for sure if this because I didn't like to read before this class or not, but I can now understand how to relate to the books.
I really enjoyed the comparison charts for the folktales from different cultures. Cultures play a big role in our books today. If it wasn't for culture then we would not be a diverse country and we would look at one point of view. The past has played a big role for our future.
I would agree with you on keeping things simple. Children are very overwhelmed by more information than they need. I think once you overstimulate them you loose them and trying to get them back on track can be a chore. Plain and simple is how I like it.
I find it interesting that the same basic stories can be found in different cultures. Did you know that the basic story of Jack and the Beanstalk can be found in almost all cultures, from native American, to African, to English? Don’t you wonder how old Cinderella is if it is told in all of those different languages?
I have mentioned before in reflections from our chapter’s readings that I really never thought much about the books I was reading to my children. I feel kind of silly now saying that, but really I just focused on reading and making sure I was getting that time incorporated into our daily lives. Chapter 6 has a ton of great information again that made me realize the importance of reading a variety of stories to our children. What really stands out for me from the chapter is how folktales and fables help children relate to other children from different backgrounds. I would have never thought of them as a diversity learning tool. I was surprised by the findings that plots across the world were often similar--goes to show we really aren't that different after all. I also really liked that the text covered how to evaluate the authenticity of the book by using author's notes. Sometimes it will point out things to be cautionary of, but not fully explain how to avoid it.
I agree with Cheryl--I like the idea of using the felt boards as a tool in teaching order. I think it would be a great tool use--children like hands on activities. I know my son often using drawings to reflect the beginning, middle and end on a book--this way would provide a new and exciting way. We'll have to try it out.
Felt story boards have been around for years. I can remember a teacher telling a story with the use of a felt board. With each section of the story, she would move a charecter from the board. I was totally fascinated with this as well as being very much into the story. Felt story boards give the listener the advantage of being able to see the story in motion.
One of my favorite styles are folk tales. My ultimate favorite types to read are the historical non-fiction, especially over one occurance or another culture. The Jungle' is an example. This tells the story of how the food and drug law came into being. But traditional folk tales are a close second. I love the language ("enriched with simple rhymes and verses." pg 218) I never really put two and two together untill reading that it is the folktales that are told with this language.
Oh, is anyone old enough to remember "Fractured Fairytales." Saturday morning cartoons on the 'Rocky and Bulwinkle hour'? The stories were told by a old fashion egyptian father to his modern egyption son. They all had the 'ding, da, ding-ding' music and were told with the simple rhyme. They also had morals. I loved them and even wrote a fairy tale in my school years which went along that style about a beast, a boy, and some chickens with a moral at the end of "Early to bed and early to rise is a beastly way to count your chickens'
This has been my favorite chapter so far. I love traditional literature and it was so interesting to find out the origins of some of these tales. I also enjoyed learning the differences between myths, legends, fairytales, fables, etc.
One of the reasons I like this textbook so much is that it gives hundreds of examples for you to use. In this particular chapter, I now know of tales I've never heard of before and can look into for many uses such as cultural studies or moral lessons. They also give great opportunities for creativity.
One of my favorite books as a child was "The Real Mother Goose". it is, of course, destroyed now from so much abuse by Little Steph, but I got so many great memories from that book. I could even just look at the pictures forever!
I really enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was interesting on how each country used different animals/objects to portray their myths and folktales. I'm not much of a reader of folktales and myths, but I thought the details behind them were true.
There was a lot of information in this chapter, which was a little overwhelming. I think they could have broken down the chapter a little bit to make it more focused on the plots, conflicts and action. Besides that it was a good chapter.
I would have to agree with you on keeping it simple. Kids today have a hard time focusing, so if you have a very long story they will not get all the information that is important. I think you have to break it down into a chapter a day if you reading the book aloud. Also need to make sure that you go back over the information that you read the previous day, so they remember what they read.
25 comments:
Jacque Schawe
Chapter 6 Blog
Jacques said:
I also like the traditional literature, this chapter was a very interesting chapter. The tales, folktales, myths and legends are very fun to read. The folktales are stories of adventures and also they make objects and animals seem really real. By using these different stories in traditional literature it helps the students improve their understanding of the world. These stories are also read for pleasure. The also use plot which contains conflict and action as well. The setting for these stories provides the time and the place for the story. A certain theme that is demonstrated through the story is universal as well and reflects the good over evil and also love and honor. I was also fun to read about motifs as well. The motifs offer the use of extraordinary animals from all cultures and these characters are fun for the students to learn about. I was also fun to read about the French folktales, German folktales, Norwegian folktales, Jewish folktales, and also Asian and Japanese folktales. The favorite folktales that I have read have been Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast and also Snow White and the seven dwarfs. I also liked reading about the tall tales and how they explained the hardships of the settlers for example how the settlers survived. The myths are considered to be make believe; I have read a great deal of these stories to my students that deal with Greek and Roman mythology. I would like to find out more information on the Norse mythology and also read more about Native American myths. I also agree with the author that these types of stories help to motivate the students to write. Every child should have the chance to read these stories to get a great perspective on life.
There were two parts of this chapter that stood out to me – the part about keeping stories simple and the suggestions of storytelling. I really think it’s important to keep things simple for children. With folktales and fables, added details could provide an interesting aspect but I think for younger listeners it would be too much. The characters, plot and setting are still present in traditional literature and provide needed structure; everything is just streamlined for this media. Because of the simplicity of their structure, children are able to use their imagination and take away the moral of the story.
The second part of the chapter, the suggestions for successful storytelling, I thought was great. I think those tools apply not just to traditional literature, but really to anything you read aloud. I think it’s imperative to know your audience and establish beforehand exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish – a story that is light and humorous, or dark and gloomy. The mood should match the story you are telling.
I did feel a bit overwhelmed with all the information in this chapter – my question would be is there any particular part of traditional literature that would be more relevant than others or recommended for elementary education?
This chapter brought us into some of the genres and themes of today. I found it interesting to find out where some of the folktales came from. Like the three little pigs and stories that we still here so much today. Knowing that they originated so long ago.
I also like the section about the values of traditional lit. to children. Explaining the thoughts of the stories of the past and the tools that were implemented back then. Using real human struggle and aspects of understanding the world around. Are concepts used by authors today.
I was most familiar with the German folktales. Cinderella, Sleeping beauty and such, are readilly regurgetated today. Disney is probably the main reason I am so familiar with them. Also my little girl goes on about a 6 month benge of the two movies.
Sarah,
I agree with the idea of keeping it simple. To a young listener it would be hard for them to capture the details of a story being read to them. As they progress though the folktales of old have stood the test of time.
Chapter 6 was, yet another, interesting chapter to me. Preserving our heritage is certainly something I hold dear and found that traditional literature serves this purpose quite well. Making certain that children of this generation and generations to come hear and enjoy traditional literature is imperative. I had known this prior to reading, but find all of the different versions of a particular story very intriguing (i.e. Cinderella or Beauty and the Beast). Knowing that regardless of our lineage, we all come from some certain truths that we all hold. Truths like good vs. evil and just rewards and punishments. Living and teaching in a world that is very in tune with multiculturalism, my question is that of which to teach?
Perhaps as prospective teachers, our best guide would be that of our classroom makeup. Taking into consideration where we are teaching and the history behind that place, plus where students backgrounds are would be the best place to start. Here students would understand and enjoy the literature because of their background knowledge. From here you could leap off in any direction (like the teacher did with the Chinese study in her fifth grade class).
In response to Sarah:
I also loved the section of the chapter regarding storytelling! I have filled in at our local library and elementary school library reading to children quite a bit and never thought a lot about all the points that were made. My favorites were just the little things like shifting your feet when you are shifting ideas, leaning forwards or leaning backwards. Really great information-I agree with you fully!
Laura Tawater
Chapter 6 Blog
I just love this text book! I am enjoying every chapter I read. Maybe because it is easy to understand and relate to. It always seems to take me back to my childhood, and I loved my childhood!
Chapter 6 discusses traditional literature like folktales, legends, myths, and fables. These were some of the best stories because it brought a sense of pleasure to me. These stories try to take you into the story itself and it almost feels magical, especially to children. There is often magic, heroes, and princesses in these stories. Little girls like to think they are princesses and little boys like to think they are heroes. These stories also help children understand other cultures and the world around them. Maybe this is what is so appealing to everyone when it comes to traditional literature. It is the fact that this is not the reader's ordinary life, it's something different, something magical and it takes you to a place where you want to be.
Response to sarahs:
I think it would be great for teachers to do a section on King Arthur tales. This would teach children some history and how people were in the past. These tales are actually considered fact so it would benefit children to understand it and learn it in a fun way.
JenniferS:
Addressing your question of which truths to teach - I agree that lesson should be based on the individual classroom. Take a look at your students and determine what will benefit them most, what they will understand and relate to the most. I think outside ideas should be brought to the table as well, to stimulate students to think about something they have never thought about before.
This was by far my favorite chapter. I've always enjoyed myths and legends although I never really gave much thought to the differences between them. I found it very interesting how the same story exists in so many different countries and origins and they each have a unique twist to them. I like how each culture tried to pass on something that was important to their beliefs to their children. Using folklore and children's literature to preserve heritage is amazing. We want our children to be honest and virtuous so we put these values into the stories we tell the kids.
Now that I've read about some of these differences, I'm thinking about going to find some of the stories I grew up with and see how they are told in different cultures and look for the differences and similarities.
In response to Laura.
I couldn't agree more. At first I wasn't too impressed with this textbook but the more I've read it, the better it has become. This chapter was a chapter of magic and it takes you back to the days of yesteryear. Like you, as I read this chapter I thought about when I first heard some of these stories. The magic of hearing these tales for the first time can be exhilerating. It makes you embrace your heritage and want to pass it along.
I'm learning so much about children's literature. In Chapter 6 I learned about all of the different sub-categories of traditional literature. I really found the table of comparisons of folktales from different cultures fascinating. I also enjoyed the Teaching w/ Traditionjal Literature section. It really gives great ideas about how to translate the information and use traditional literature in our future classrooms.
In response to Benjamin W:
I totally agree with your comment about disney. I remember when I first read my son the traditional Cinderella story, and he was amazed that the pictures were different than in the movie. After that, it became a game to us to see if we could find the stories that the movies were based off of. This is something that he still does. He won't watch a movie that is based off of a book, unless he's read the book...me too!
This book keeps on getting better and better. It covers a lot of information that I find very interesting. I have not been big into reading, but this class has opened my eyes into literature. I think my main main problem was picking out the wrong books.
As reading Chapter 6, I learned a lot about myths and folktales. I'm really not into these books, but after reading this chapter I could change my mind. I am not a big imaginator. I like stories that are straight to the point and are easy to understand. I'm not for sure if this because I didn't like to read before this class or not, but I can now understand how to relate to the books.
I really enjoyed the comparison charts for the folktales from different cultures. Cultures play a big role in our books today. If it wasn't for culture then we would not be a diverse country and we would look at one point of view. The past has played a big role for our future.
In response to Sarah~
I would agree with you on keeping things simple. Children are very overwhelmed by more information than they need. I think once you overstimulate them you loose them and trying to get them back on track can be a chore. Plain and simple is how I like it.
I find it interesting that the same basic stories can be found in different cultures. Did you know that the basic story of Jack and the Beanstalk can be found in almost all cultures, from native American, to African, to English? Don’t you wonder how old Cinderella is if it is told in all of those different languages?
I have mentioned before in reflections from our chapter’s readings that I really never thought much about the books I was reading to my children. I feel kind of silly now saying that, but really I just focused on reading and making sure I was getting that time incorporated into our daily lives. Chapter 6 has a ton of great information again that made me realize the importance of reading a variety of stories to our children. What really stands out for me from the chapter is how folktales and fables help children relate to other children from different backgrounds. I would have never thought of them as a diversity learning tool. I was surprised by the findings that plots across the world were often similar--goes to show we really aren't that different after all. I also really liked that the text covered how to evaluate the authenticity of the book by using author's notes. Sometimes it will point out things to be cautionary of, but not fully explain how to avoid it.
I agree with Cheryl--I like the idea of using the felt boards as a tool in teaching order. I think it would be a great tool use--children like hands on activities. I know my son often using drawings to reflect the beginning, middle and end on a book--this way would provide a new and exciting way. We'll have to try it out.
Felt story boards have been around for years. I can remember a teacher telling a story with the use of a felt board. With each section of the story, she would move a charecter from the board. I was totally fascinated with this as well as being very much into the story.
Felt story boards give the listener the advantage of being able to see the story in motion.
One of my favorite styles are folk tales. My ultimate favorite types to read are the historical non-fiction, especially over one occurance or another culture. The Jungle' is an example. This tells the story of how the food and drug law came into being.
But traditional folk tales are a close second. I love the language ("enriched with simple rhymes and verses." pg 218) I never really put two and two together untill reading that it is the folktales that are told with this language.
Oh, is anyone old enough to remember "Fractured Fairytales." Saturday morning cartoons on the 'Rocky and Bulwinkle hour'? The stories were told by a old fashion egyptian father to his modern egyption son. They all had the 'ding, da, ding-ding' music and were told with the simple rhyme. They also had morals. I loved them and even wrote a fairy tale in my school years which went along that style about a beast, a boy, and some chickens with a moral at the end of "Early to bed and early to rise is a beastly way to count your chickens'
This has been my favorite chapter so far. I love traditional literature and it was so interesting to find out the origins of some of these tales. I also enjoyed learning the differences between myths, legends, fairytales, fables, etc.
One of the reasons I like this textbook so much is that it gives hundreds of examples for you to use. In this particular chapter, I now know of tales I've never heard of before and can look into for many uses such as cultural studies or moral lessons. They also give great opportunities for creativity.
One of my favorite books as a child was "The Real Mother Goose". it is, of course, destroyed now from so much abuse by Little Steph, but I got so many great memories from that book. I could even just look at the pictures forever!
I really enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was interesting on how each country used different animals/objects to portray their myths and folktales. I'm not much of a reader of folktales and myths, but I thought the details behind them were true.
There was a lot of information in this chapter, which was a little overwhelming. I think they could have broken down the chapter a little bit to make it more focused on the plots, conflicts and action. Besides that it was a good chapter.
Sarah~
I would have to agree with you on keeping it simple. Kids today have a hard time focusing, so if you have a very long story they will not get all the information that is important. I think you have to break it down into a chapter a day if you reading the book aloud. Also need to make sure that you go back over the information that you read the previous day, so they remember what they read.
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