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The Powerful Nature of Children’s Literature

Yang. Esther (S00278864)

Australian Catholic University

EDLA518: Master of Teaching (Primary)

April 30, 2020

The Powerful Nature of Children’s Literature

Children become more proficient learners in the early years of school when they find

a spark connection between literature and their experiences. Inevitably, it is the teacher’s

role in supporting the children to find that sense of connection. We will explore the notion of

effective teaching practices, catering diverse readers and writers, so the curriculum meets

the needs of all students (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority

[ACARA] 2015; Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, 2005). Learning now

becomes a more pleasurable experience, providing children opportunities to connect the

powerful nature of literacy to enrich students’ lives, expand their range of experiences and

nurture an appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of literature (ACARA, 2015).

Finding a connection between literature and the child is by bringing in their real-world

experiences. As such, read-aloud sessions guided by the four-resource model (Luke &

Freebody, 1997) is one of the most important activity to help build the knowledge required

for eventual success in reading (Trelease, 2001). Teale and Sulzby (1986) also add on that

the benefits of read-aloud are seamless, as they view literacy learning as a developmental

continuum that begins early in life. It consists of making predictions, labelling, orally

recounting pictures and decoding a text, prompting children to make real world connections

to literature. Through these engaging connections, children become ‘text participants’ as

they are actively using their prior knowledge to critically analyse and question the text (Luke

& Freebody, 1997; ACARA, 2015).  

Exploring literature

We will explore a quality children’s literature ‘Diary of a wombat’ by Australian author

French (2002/2013). Guided by the critical theory and the four-resource model, the aim of

this lesson is to expose to the children the format of a diary and a new territory of descriptive

languages to adapt into their independent skills for diary writing.  The dialogic teaching

strategies will facilitate all children to engage with the text by bringing in their real-world

experiences and develop their predicting and inferential skills to make meaning of a text

(ACARA, 2015, ACELT1582, ACELY1670).

The Educator reads ‘Diary of a Wombat’ and using picture walk, unravels a preview

of the story hinting key points. For example;

“Do you know what animal this is? (Pointing to wombat). Wombats are Australian

Native Animals and this story is about a wombat named ‘Mothball’. Do you know

what wombats do every day? Do you think they might go to school like you? What’s

the wombat doing in this picture? Sleeping! What makes you think Mothball is

sleeping? I wonder what else he does. Well, let’s find out!” 

Children are now aware the protagonist of the story is a wombat named Mothball, but

for them to connect on a personal level, children need background knowledge of Australian

native animals (Callow et al., 2016). This can only relate with the minority, such as those

born in or who migrated to Australia with the knowledge of Australian native animals. To

overcome this exclusion of bilingual and trilingual groups we can implement ‘preparing for

reading’ strategy (Rose. D., 2016) to engage all children. Therefore, I have designed the

questions such that all students can always answer successfully such as, What’s the

wombat doing in this picture?  This is a crucial skill to embed in teaching practices, to

engage less confident students and less experienced readers (Rose. D., 2016). Thus,

providing a preview and citing key meanings of the story “makes it easier for all students to

follow a complex story” (Rose. D., 2016, p.55) and all children can enjoy the reading and

learning experience. 

Through previewing, children are aware that the story is about Mothball’s daily

routine. Through the inquiry approach “Do you know what wombats are up to every day? Do

you think they might go to school like you?”, children are questioned about the wombat’s

activities. They are challenged to predict and make connections, using their schema

knowledge to examine, articulate their own ideas about the story and build on their

knowledge (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; ACARA, 2015). 

The Educator continues to read about the wombat’s day by day account explored

through the chronological sequence where the activities are specified like a list. Children can

begin to make connections to their structure of the week, through the prompts “What do you
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do on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday?” (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; ACARA, 2015,

ACELT1575)

A range of words are distinguished in the book, and some children may come across

for the first-time level 2 and 3 tier words such as; wombat, humans, itchy, delicious, territory,

scratching post, paws, source, resistant and request. It is necessary for educators to clarify

the words by linking them with the illustrations for comprehension (Rose. D., 2016). For

example; 

Educator reads the text: “Tried yesterday’s hole. Curiously resistant to my paws.”

Educator: “What happened to the hole in the door that Mothball chewed? The hole is

blocked. That’s why the wombat can’t go through the door and is curious as to who and why

it has been blocked.”

By clarifying sentences and linking to the image, all children are able to comprehend

and make meaning (ACARA, 2015, ACELA1469). Such practice considers each learner is

destined for academic and social achievement, as students who are disengaged from

learning and school is due to the lack of flexibility and unsympathetic nature of the traditional

curriculum (Rumberger & Rotermund, 2012).

Throughout the story colloquial expressions are evident, such as “For Pete’s sake…”

a culturally specific term. Children will struggle to understand if they haven’t had the

upbringing in that sociocultural context (Hertzberg, 2012). This is also seen in another quality

literature ‘Amy & Louis’ by Gleeson (2006), “Coo-ee…” a shout used in Australia.

Regardless, educators need to address this by elaborating on the meanings and use code

breaking skills so children can follow on (Luke & Freebody, 1997). For example;

“For Pete’s sake… this also means frustrated or annoyed” 

“Coo-ee… is used to attract attention and find missing people”

By expanding on the meaning of ‘new’ words, we are still engaging less confident

readers to the text and at the same time building on their knowledge.
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Connecting Literature to practice

Following modelled reading, educator introduces different ways to create a diary by

showing examples; digital diary and a written diary. Educator demonstrates her recount of

day using as many words from the story to familiarise the words to the children.

(Writing on the whiteboard)

Morning: Awake. Washed. Ready.

Lunch:  Ate with friends.

Dinner: Ate. Washed. Slept.

The task is to write their own diary, using recount format to recite events in days for a

week (ACARA, 2015, Ene-11D, EN1-2A). Using differentiation strategy to engage and

support diverse learners, class will be divided into three group activities. This strategy allows

for the educator to assess and respond to each child’s learning needs (Tomlinson, C., 2006).

To enhance children’s confidence and engagement, both educators and parents should be

actively involved, as children can ‘experience academic and social benefits’ (Hill et al.,2004).

First group to use photo documentation of their highlights at school and/or home and

arrange them in chronological order and match text to the days of the week (word bank

provided).

Second group to have the same instruction as the first group but are encouraged to use

descriptive language from story (word bank provided e.g. slept) to inform their activities.

Third group to have the same instruction as second group but with no word bank. Children

are encouraged to write a detailed description of their day using sentences.

If the classroom has access to computers, educators should consider D-LEA

approach using writing software’s as an interactive method of composing digital diaries. This

will extend their way of communicating through multiple modalities and promote a love for

writing (Flint et al., 2020; ACARA,2015, ACELY1664).

Through this session, it “provides students with a repertoire of language resources to

use in … their independent writing tasks” (Flint et al., 2020. p.61). Children learn to become

‘text-users’ as they activate and apply their prior knowledge from the story into creating their
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own recount list (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; ACARA, 2015, ACELT1586, ACELY1661).

Children will make a variety of writing forms from random marks to letter-like forms invented

and conventional, but regardless, they are learning to make meaning in their own way, and

all should be acknowledged for their attempts as it is a developmental continuum (Bissex,

1980). Having photographs to “serve as memory links to a child’s experience, as well as

catalysts for descriptive language” (Flint et al., 2020. p.196), this strategy provides

confidence to less confident readers and writers and instead communicate orally during

class presentations gaining ownership of their work (ACARA, 2015; ACELY1647).

By sharing their diaries to peers, they develop their literacy knowledge and educators

should closely monitor each child and assess areas that need support for future lessons. By

responding to all children’s learning needs, all children are engaged, motivated and become

more proficient learners.

Conclusion

Evidently, it is through the expansion of these pedagogies and perspective that

empowers children to engage with literature on a personal level, by bringing in their real-

world experiences to become more proficient learners.

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, R. C., & Pearson, P.D. (1984). A schema-theoretic view of basic reading

processes. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research. New York, NYL:

Longman.

This article supports my thesis as children are required to bring in their prior

knowledge to engage with text. By building on their schema knowledge children gain

benefits of developing their literacy and language skills.

Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2015). Foundation

to year 10 curriculum: Language, Literature, Literacy. Retrieved from

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english

Bissex, G. L. (1980). Gnys at wrk: A child learns to write and read. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press.

This source provides evidence that learning literacy is about the developmental

continuum.

Callow, J., Ewing, R., & Rushton, K. (2016). Language & literacy development in early

childhood. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

The author’s standpoint view guided me in selecting children’s quality literature.

Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department. (2005). Disability standards for

education 2005 (plus Guidance Notes). Retrieved from

https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/disability_standards_for_educati

on_2005_plus_guidance_notes.pdf

Flint, A.S., Kitson, L., Lowe, K., Shaw, K., Vicars, M., Feez, S. & Humphrey, S.  (2020). S

Literacy in Australia: Pedagogies for engagement (3rd ed.) Milton, Qld: Wiley & Sons

Examples of classroom pedagogies driven by critical theory guided my teaching

strategies to engage children.

French, J. (2013). Diary of a Wombat (Whatley. B, Illus.). HarperCollins Publishers. (Original

work published 2002)

Gleeson, L. (2006). Amy & Louis (Blackwood. F, Illus.). Scholastic Australia

Hertzberg, M. (2012). Teaching English language learners in mainstream classes. Newtown:

PETAA

I have gained excellent solutions to help ‘engage’ EAL/D in teaching.

Hill, N., Castellino, D.R., Lansford, J. E., Nowlin, P., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettite,

G.S. (2004). Parent academic involvement as related to school behaviour,

achievement, and aspirations; Demographic variations across adolescence. Child

Development (Vols.75). Retrieved from

https://www.academia.edu/16431514/Parent_Academic_Involvement_as_Related_to

_School_Behavior_Achievement_and_Aspirations_Demographic_Variations_Across

_Adolescence

Argues the importance of both school and families being involved to enhance

children’s performance at school.

Luke, A., & Freebody, P. (1997). Shaping the social practices of reading. In S. Muspratt, A.

Luke, & P. Freebody (Eds.), Constructing critical literacies (pp.185-223). Catskill, NJ:

Hampton Press.

My pedagogy revolves around the four-resource model by these authors.

Rose. D, (2016). Engaging children in the pleasures of literature and verbal art. English in

Australia (Vols. 51, pp.52-62). Retrieved from

https://assets.cdn.thewebconsole.com/S3WEB4306/images/2016-EinA-51-no-2.pdf

This article focuses on less confident learners and how to engage them.

Rumberger, R.W., & Rotermund, S. (2012) The relationship between engagement and high

school dropout. In S. L. Christenson, A.L. Reschly & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of a

research on student engagement (pp. 491-514). New York, NY: Springer. 

Addressing student’s misbehaviour and exclusion from school.

Sulzby, E., & Teale, W. (1991). Emergent literacy. In R. Barr, M. Kamil, P. Mosenthal &

P.D. Pearson (Eds.), Handbook of reading research 2 (pp. 727-757). New York, NY:

Longman. 
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Tomlinson, C. (2006). An Educator's Guide to Differentiating instruction. USA: Cengage

Learning

More on ‘differentiating’ strategy.

Trelease, J. (2001). The read-aloud handbook (5th ed.). New York, NY: Viking- Penguin. 

Importance of read aloud strategy.

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