CHAPTER 1
“ENGAGING TEACHERS IN THE TEACHING OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE”
INTRODUCTION:
- An engaging children’s literature or English teacher cannot but be a thoughtful teacher
who understand kids and learning, and is an active intelligent person who loves his/her
work. This chapter is all about that kind of literature teacher who finds literature to be
both important and necessary. This chapter will explore the salient features of the much-
talked-about k to 12 curriculum guide in English. It will tackle pedagogical
considerations that affect the teaching of literature toward providing teachers with
effective research based and strategies based approaches to the teaching of children’s
literature to help build and strengthen literacy skills of school age learners.
IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:
- Relate the elements of the k to 12 language program into the approaches and
strategies in teaching children’s literature.
- Integrate information from a wealth of research in order to gain knowledge, skills,
and attitude of an effective literature teacher, and;
- Generate creative learning outputs exemplifying the teaching strategies to get the
most out of the value of teaching literature to children.
LESSON 1: THE ENGLISH PROGRAM IN THE K TO 12 CURRICULUM
Learning targets:
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to;
- Describe the state of the country’s English proficiency prior to the
implementation of the k to 12 curriculum
- Explain salient features of the k to 12 English program.
- Evaluate oneself as a language and a literature teacher.
INTRODUCTION:
- The main objective of the general education English language Curriculum is to
enable students to formulate and develop their communicative competences,
through practicing, listening, speaking, reading, writing, and linguistic knowledge
( pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar).
- Studies show that improving language skills can have profound academic and
social benefits for children, both in early childhood and later in life. As “ language
emerges as a strong predictor across subject grammar.
WHY K TO 12?
- Scores of studies provide a quick glimpse of the current state of education of the
Philippines. Achievement scores on the NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
TEST(NAT) administer by the department of education In S.Y 2011-2012, the
last year basic education in the Philippines, revealed a passing rate In English of
only 66.27% for grade 6, and an even lower passing rate of 51.80% for high
school. These findings on the deterioration of the country’s educational system
have been perceive as one of the factors contributing to the poor academic
preparation of students in college, prompting the department of education to adopt
a k to 12 curriculum, arguing that the “k to 12 program will be the solution to the
yearly basic education woes and the deteriorating quality of education.” Todays
generation of learners, what we called “generation Z” or “digital natives”, are the
stakeholders of the governments educational program.
LITERATURE PROGRAM IN K TO 12
• WHY DOES LITERATURE COME IN THE NEW CURRICULUM?
On the whole, the program prescribes that “after 12 years of pre-university education, a
student wishing to enter college should be able to (among others):
- Read a poem with proper pronunciation and appropriate emotion.
- Identify the characters, settings, theme, conflict, and type of a work of fiction.
- Memorize at least 10 poem from memory.
- Identify the character, settings, conflict, and type of a work of fiction
COMPETENCIES
- A “competency” is an array of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) required to
successfully perform a specific task( Competencies and learning objectives,
2020). The following are competencies that are expected to be developed in the k
to 12 learners:
GRADE 1 TO 3 ( students from grades 1 to 3 are expected to)
- Deal with simple literary elements of text such as character, plot, setting of a
story.
- Identify the characters, their individual traits and qualities from their thoughts,
words, and behaviors.
- Make out the striking message and provide an explanation about the story.
GRADE 7 TO 10 / JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ( the students are expected to)
- Recognize literary devices and figures of speech that make writing interesting and
appealing.
- Critique or analyze a text or reading selection in a way that is structured,
organized, and objective and that can stand on its own merits
GRADE 11 TO 12/ SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (the following are the expected competencies)
- Identify the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine literary
history from precolonial to the contemporary.
- Value the contributions of local writers to the development of regional literary
traditions.
- Infer literary meaning from literal language based on usage.
- Situate the text in the context of the region and the nation
Reporter:
Bala, Maria Luisa S.
LESSON 2: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING LITERATURE
Learning Objectives:
- At the end of this lesson, you are expected to: discuss pedagogical implications for
teaching literature;
- Explain children’s literature and some pedagogical implications; and
- Innovate ways to teach and learn literature.
Introduction:
Learnings Targets
- In an environment where change is inevitable, teachers need to prepare themselves for
this phenomenon. The key to this is pedagogy, so teachers need to make corresponding
changes in the emphasis and pedagogy in their teaching to achieve the objectives of both
teachers and learners. The pedagogy adopted by teachers shapes their actions, judgments,
and other teaching strategies while taking into consideration theories of learning,
understandings of students and their needs, and the backgrounds and interests of
individual students. This lesson will focus on pedagogical implications and
considerations that will be helpful for teaching literature to improve the learners’ capacity
to understand, learn from, and above all, enjoy literary works.
What is Pedagogical Implications?
- PEDAGOICAL IMPLICATIONS
It is relating to, or befitting a teacher or education
What are the Pedagogical Implications in teaching?
- TO KNOW CHILDREN''S LITERATURE
What is Children’s Literature?
- “ Children’s Literature is the product of the figment of imagination in the writer’s mind
borne out of how one interacts with children and how the writer makes a construct of
childhood.”
Otten(2003)
- “ Children’s Literature comprises a wide variety of writing for readers whose ages range
from very young kids to adolescents approaching maturity and adulthood.”
Laffrado(1995)
Children’s Literature?
Main Genre:
Picture books
- Appeal to the sense of sight to provide a delightful visual experience to the reader
through pictures to tell a story.
Examples:
- “ The Lion and the Mouse” illustrations by Jerry Pinkney
- “’A Day, A Dog” by Gabrielle Vincent
- “Harold and the Purple Crayon” written and illustrates by Crocket Johnson
- “The Little House” and
- “Goodnight Moon”
Storybooks
- Tell a story accompanied by pictures and illustrations where there is more text than
pictures.
Examples:
- "Goodnight, Good Dog"
- “The Gruffalo"
- "The Ugly Duckling"
- "The Jungle Book"
Traditional literature
- Refers to literature or books that are passed from one generation to another like folklore,
fables, legends, folktales, and myths
Examples:
- “Alamat ng Saging”
- ‘’Ang Pusa at Daga”
- “The White Elephant”
- “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”
- “King Arthur”
Historical fiction
- Pertains to literary text where some facts in the story can be traced to real historical
events involving some real historical individuals, allowing children to take a trip back in
time.
Examples:
- “The adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
- “Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden
- “The Accursed” by Joyce Carol Oates
Modern fantasy
- Refers to tales born out of the writer’s imagination where fantastic elements such as
talking animals, and magical beings like witches and strange creatures are woven in the
story.
Examples:
- “The Wind in the Willows”
- “Pinocchio”
- “The Barrowers”
- “Mary Poppins”
- “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”
- “The Chocolate Touch”
- “Harry Potter”
- “King of Shadows”
Realistic fiction
- Refers to made-up stories but which can be true in real-life. Children play as the main
characters thereby allowing children to feel or go through an experience as if it were true.
Examples:
- “The Fault in Our Story” by John Green
- “Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher
- “The Last Cherry Blossom” by Kathleen Burkinshaw
Non fiction/ Informational Book
- Present young readers information to help them develop more knowledge about the world
around them. They can dwell on any topic or information (science, travel, life skills, new
outlook) about life that would interest young minds.
Examples:
- History
- Autobiographies
- Travel Guides
- Academic Text
- Philosophy and Insight
- Biographies
- Memoirs
- Travelogues Journal
Biography
- Pertains to the true life story about another person like heroes or ordinary people whose
lives may serve as an inspiration for children to emulate and follow.
Examples:
- “The Story of President Obama’s Life”
- “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow
- “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson
Children’s poetry
- Pertains to artistic literature that seeks to bring out the creativity in children by enabling
them to express their emotions and stir their imagination through verses and the interplay
of rhyme, rhythm, and other literary expressions.
Includes:
- Folk poetry
- Poetry written originally for adults but appropriate for young people
- Poetry written intentionally for young people poems taken from the prose
Examples:
- “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
- “The Owl and the Pussycat” by Edward Lear
- “Chocolate Cake” by Michael Rosen
- “Little Red Riding Hood” by Roald Dahl
Children’s drama
- Is a genre of literature where the elements of a story are presented through dialogue and
action and makes use of costumes, props, lighting, music, and sound. This literary
presentation develops in children acting abilities, public speaking skills, creative
thinking, and social skills among others.
Pedagogical Methods for Teaching Literature
- Norton & Norton (2010)
“Literature opens a lot of opportunities and benefits for young peoples”
- It cultivates their own thoughts and ideas about literature and respond accordingly and
appropriately to literature.
- Literature makes it possible for students to develop appreciation of their own culture and
others.
- Literature develops students emotional strength, stability, steadfastness as well as
resourcefulness and ingenuity.
- Literature promotes social maturity and develops social development.
- Literature and its books promote and preserve a people’s cultural and literary heritage
from generation to generation.
Children Literature VS. Adult Literature
Children Literature
- Own brand of writing style
- Natural and Simple
- Composed with illustrations, picture, charts, graphics and designs
- Repetition of words and ideas
- Composed of fantasy, fancy and dreams
- Push out boredom
- Increase thinking, creativity and use of imagination
- Have moral lessons
- Making it instructional and educational
- Have happy endings
Pedagogy
- Peel “all about the methods teacher uses to achieve one’s objectives to ensure that
students engage in age appropriate learning activities vis-à-vis the teachers expertise in
using different methods.”
- Larcher “What are literature based”, Points out several literature-based teaching
strategies using the author’s works to serve as heart of experiences to help children
develop literacy.
Strategies:
- Scaffolding Instructions
- Modelling
- Cooperative Learning
- Independent Reading
- Literary Response
Strategies:
- Scaffold Instruction – Students are given a lot of structures at the beginning, and these
structures are removed little by little until the students are capable of doing it themselves.
- Modeling – While reading or discussing a literary work, the teacher thinks out loud his
thoughts related to the text.
- Cooperative Learning – Students work together in small groups and engage in tasks that
involve risks and higher level thinking skills instead of the conventional question.
Answer teaching strategy.
- Independent Reading – This is done to promote reading, writing, and thinking skills
which are the goals of education.
- Literary Response – Students act in response to what they read.
Section 1.13
- Teacher may use strategies:
- Monitoring
- Comprehension
- Metacognition
- Graphic and Semantic
- Organizers
- Answering and generating questions
- Recognizing story structure
- Summarizing
Engage competitive Games:
- Writing activities
- Journal Entries
- Group Activities
- Book clubs
- Choral readings
- Readers Theatre
Section 1.14
- “First, do not make literature difficult, do not torture students with too much mind
bending test. Make literature interesting and enjoyable”
F. Sionil José
Section 1.15
- Hence, if literature, is to be experienced as a transactional process, the interaction
between the teacher and the learners should be a meaningful collaboration toward
eliciting response to the text and guiding the learners to a personal discovery nurturing in
them the continuous love, enjoyment, and appreciation of literary texts.
Rosenblatt (1978)
Reporter:
Lorzano, Krezel T.
LESSON 3: APPROCHES IN TEACHING LITERATURE
Learning Objectives:
- At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
- Differentiate the three approaches for teaching literature,
- Develop understanding and appreciation of the approches and,
- Design activities contextualized to a particular approach
Introduction
- Approach, according to the MacMillan dictionary, is the “particular way of thinking
about or dealing with something”Thus,in the context of teaching literature,approach
would mean the best way or the best practice a teacher uses to teach literature to learners
in the classroom in order to achieve his/her goal of imparting relevant and meaningful
knowledge to the learner. Moody (1983) refers to this as an operational framework
applicable to realities on the ground in the classroom.
- Aim and approach go hand-in hand in teaching. If one has clear-cut aims in terms of the
lesson perse and expectations from the learner, the decision on what approach to tackle
that will suit the needs of the learners and make learning of great value and interest will
come easy. This lesson will focus on the approaches employed and challenges
encountered in the teaching of literature toward succesfully accomplishing its objectives
and not a mere futile exercise.
TRADITIONAL APPROACH
- The teaching of literature in our school has become mainly lecture-based with the
conventionally used traditional teacher-centered approach .Many of us must be familiar
with this approach where the teacher spells out important terms and concepts a necessary
part of the discussion (Pugh,1988),and the student has no choice but to listen and
regurgitate what the teacher says(Rashid et al.,2010).In this classroom setting ,the teacher
provides background information like the social, political and historical background to a
text. He/She also explain some thematic and stylistic features of the text (or other literary
language genres)The learners, on the other hand ,have only a few oppurtunities to the task
by themselves and formulate their feelings and responses about the reading text, which
tends to make this approach quite teacher-centered. As a consequence, the students
becomes parrot-like, merely repeating what has been presented in class.Millani (2003:2)
states “thus, the course (of literature)becomes a simple transposition of the teacher’s
impressions and feelings to the learner toward a literary work,and not an intellectual
exercise for the Latter who should seek and discover meaning by himself with the means
and strategies provided by the teacher”.
LANGUAGE-BASED APPROACH
- Language Based Approach -is one of the method of teaching literature in English that
used literary text for the specific drills design to build the languages skills rather than
focusing on the literary skills. The usage of Language Based Approach in classroom, had
focused on the learner mainly on their reading processes and how they created language
awareness among themselves. Furthermore, students’ process of reading the text and of
creating their own meanings was given prominence. Through this method, the students
were expected to have more sensitive understanding and appreciation towards literary
text. There are two main objectives from the usage of this approach, firstly, students are
expected to be able to make meaningful interpretations of the text itself and also to
expand students ’knowledge and awareness towards the language.
READER -RESPONSE APPROACH
- The RRA focuses on the reader’s response to the texts, In this approach the teacher is
looking for a transactional relationship between the reader’s personal
experiences ,opinion and feelings on the one hand and the text ,on the other. In this
circumstance, reading is seen as a dialog with the text and, through it, with the other or
with oneself . Plural interpretations are encouraged and the text can be approached from a
variety of perspective. It provides for a learner-centered and process -oriented classroom.
The purposes of literacy education are similar, although a certain stress on a language
learning is to be expected. Literature is considered as an authentic medium for
introducing students to the specific language and culture. The potential of literacy reading
across the languages is to compare traditions and gain insights into various cultural forms
and developments.
Reporter:
Gazmen, Nicolyne S.
