Incorporation of Children's Literature in Elementary Education

One of the biggest paradoxes in life is the constant difference between what we are supposed to do and what we would prefer to do; this cuts across all ages and generations from school work, to farm work to professional and vocational obligations. It is common to see children who are able to concentrate for hours at time while watching movies or playing very complicated and mind boggling video games or solving complicated puzzles but are unable to concentrate on simple schoolwork even for a very small fraction of that time. In similar manner, children will also be seen to excel in co-curriculum or extra-curriculum activities that require high IQs, deep concentration and a lot of learning yet flop miserably in academics (Bland, 2013) . This gradient is normally created by the child’s attitude towards the academic and non-academic activities respectively and the specific activities capacity to create and hold interest in the child.

Since school work is fundamental to a child’s future, several studies have been carried out to invent and create ways of making academic work more pleasing to children in pursuit of excellence. Among the most effective ones is juvenile literature also known as children’s literature, which include stories, books, magazines, and poems which are either illustrated or otherwise designed to be specifically interesting to children (Bland, 2013) . 

Children’s literature indeed precedes academic learning and was in existence in oral tradition long before the advent of schools. Incorporation of children’s literature into academic work therefore, entails the capacity of a teacher as well as a guardian to be able to combine these interest creating tools into academic work and use them to enable students understand academic work better from an interesting and more enjoyable perspective. These practiced is also allowed and indeed mandated under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) (Bland, 2013) .

Overview of the problem

Literary work as designed for use by children is created in a fashion that makes it interesting, lovable and easy to remember. Indeed, creators of children’s literary work operate on the understanding that their works will only succeed of the children themselves desire to use them, as they are optional, not compulsory. The opposite of this applies in elementary education: it is almost always compulsory and its primary consumers have no choice but accept it as it is. Indeed, many course books are designed to be admitted under federal and state rules and to be accepted by teachers and guardians as acceptable and useful material without much consideration being given to the interests and preferences of the children themselves. This ended up making education a hated and boring experience for children who develop into young adults to who are looking forward to the age of majority when they do to have to go to school. Indeed, research has proven that majority of those who join elementary school in the US do not proceed to tertiary level education (Bland, 2013) .

Application of Children’s literature in elementary education

To solve this predicament, experts have developed a way to make education more pleasant and enjoyable to children to the extent that children will actually insist on going to school and studying even in their spare time. These recommendations were codified in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), among the most important of them was incorporating children’s literature in all learning be it mathematics, English language and literature, science or social studies. The basic principle behind it was the implementation of the love and positive attitude that children have relating to personalized literature books into their academic works (Bland, 2013) .Once the children come to love their school work, it will be easier for the teachers to teach and for the children to understand their school works. Further, the children will develop into a generation that loves learning thus enable them to pursue learning through to their majority age when learning is no longer compulsory 

Most studies have element of natural life, mathematics is about number and quantities both of which are prevalent in day to day life, science is about mankind and his environment, while social studies is about what man does, his social circles and what surrounds him, all this things exist in children’s books. Since children enjoy this books as much as they abhor their course books, the better solution is to use this books as the basic tools for teaching academics as well as borrowing the ideas and concepts used in the creation of this books to make similar books about the information that has erstwhile been put in the boring course books and make this new child friendly books the actual course books (Bland, 2013) .

Children’s Literature in Mathematics

One of the most common questions among majority of general learners is if they can avoid the mathematics subject. The leading problem in this lies in the fact that mathematics as taught erstwhile involved a batch how to solve problems and what to do in order to solve problems without any answers as to why it should be done so. The new standards set by the CCSS however seeks to make mathematics an all-round subject which includes proper understanding of the complex why questions in mathematics, by all students.

Why incorporate Children’s Literature in Mathematics

This question is answered at length by Mary Swanson and Parrot Martha in their article where they begin by outlining the eight aspects of the requirements by CCSS on what should be covered in a mathematics class. These are (1)The students should be able to make sense out of the subject in order to generate grit in solving mathematical problems (2) The ability to reason abstractly and quantitatively should be instilled (3) Students should have the capacity to viably argue mathematical problems and also critic the mathematical reasoning of others (4) The use of mathematics as a modeling tool should be a prerequisite of a successful mathematics lesson (5) Appropriate tools should be strategically utilized in learning (6) Students should pursue meticulous precision (7) There should be a structure in mathematical learning that should be decipherable an utilizable and (8) A system that encourages regularity in repeated reasoning ought to be applied (Swanson & Martha, 2013). 

These CCSS did not stop at just enhancing how the subject is taught but went ahead to revolutionize the entire subject itself. It is to achieve this end that Mary and Martha insist that mathematically based children’s literature must be developed and used since they are a fundamental tool in the achievement of this goal. Instead of simply learning mathematics, children’s literature will assist pupils to experience and play with mathematics thus creating the level of understanding outlined by the CCSS (Swanson & Martha, 2013).

How to incorporate Children’s Literature in Mathematics 

This seemingly impossible question is so aptly answered by Cox (2009) where she not only gives directions and instructions to teachers on how to use children’s literature in mathematics lessons but also gives examples of specific treatises that should be utilized to teach specific mathematical areas. She outlined how children’s literature builds the imperceptible elements of the subjects though illustrations which in turn enhance the student’s problem solving skills (Cox, 2009). 

A happy story either in prose or pictures can easily be used to make sense out of numbers, create a models that make mathematical problems seem interesting, explain a mathematical concept, encouraging critical thinking even as it raises and maintains the students interest during the mathematics lesson. Just as in the algebraic concept of moving from the unknown to the known, children’s literature ought to be used to create a connection between mathematics and things that are generally interesting to children like food and toys. 

Among the books suggested in this article include: “Quack and Count,” by Keith Baker, One to One Hundred” by Teri Sloat and “Every Buddy Counts” by Stuart J. Murphy that can assist beginners in learning counting and mundane arithmetic, “Mission Addition,” Leedy, L, “The Twelve Days of Kindergarten” by Deborah Lee Rose, “On Beyond a Million” by David M. Schwartz that helps teach simple arithmetic solving techniques. “Mr. Cookie Baker” by Monica Wellington and “Tracks in the Sand” by Loreen Leedy among several others can help simply the complicated mathematics elements regarding measurements while “The Penny Pot” by Stuart Murphy, “A Quarter for the Tooth Fairy” by Caren Holtzman and “Curious George Saves Pennies” by Margret Rey can bring an interesting twist to the otherwise complex lessons on money on mathematics (Cox, 2009).

Effects of incorporating Children’s Literature in Mathematics 

The outcomes of this process were studied and analyzed inter alia by Dedrian Barnaby who through the article The use of Children’s Literature to Teach Mathematics to improve Confidence and Reduce Math Anxiety explains how the use of Children’s literature in mathematics lessons has been a success in changing the attitude of students towards the mathematics subject, create the impression on students that they are actually capable of solving mathematical areas and problems they erstwhile deemed insurmountable and minimize the anxiety and fear that made many a student not understand the mathematics subject due to the mythology prevalent about the subject. According to Dedrian, mathematics is no longer the mysterious subject that many a student considered as a form of punishment in school but a easy, fun and enjoyable subject that many pupils and students are excelling in (Barnaby, 2015) .

Children’s Literature in English Language Arts

The English language has always been an integral part of learning as most of it is done using the same. However, the concept of integrating children’s literature into all subjects in elementary learning of making English language art and integral part of all the other subjects in school thus making it perhaps the most important subject. ELA is now being studied during the mathematics subject, the science subject, social studies and all other common subjects in school. This by extension means that a student who is not well versed in ELA does not stand a chance in excelling even in other subjects since an understanding if ELA is critical.

Close Reading 

Among the fundamental elements of ELA in this era therefore is close reading whose concept and application is outlined by Serafini (2013). Close reading entails the ability by a student do appreciate the purpose of what is being read and/or shared as well as notice the linguistic features thereof but most importantly be able to empirically decipher the particulars of the text and the actual and hidden application meanings thereof (Serafini, 2013). 

According to Frank, for ELA to be utilized as per the CCSS directives, the students should be allowed a free hand to develop their own empirical understanding on what is being read. Instead of being told what to look for, the teacher should create an environment where the pupils themselves breakdown the literary works to come up with the elements thereof including structure, language, euphemisms among others, then combine this elements to come up with the true meaning of the literary work regarding the topic in question (Serafini, 2013).

General Practical Application of Children’s Literature in English Language Arts 

It is worthy of notice that this doesn’t just apply to ELA teachers but all teachers since children’s literature and the application thereof falls under this categories. One of the most exhaustive articles on the ways, means and effects of this was penned by University of California’s George Bunch, Santa Cruz from the University of Virginina and Susan Pimentel from the Student Achievement Partners in conjunction with WestEnd’s Aida Walqui titled Realizing Opportunities for English Learners in the Common Core English Language Arts and Disciplinary Literacy Standards which was presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association May 1, 2013 (Bunch, Cruz, Pimentel, & Walqui, 2013) .  

It entails a careful outline of the step usage of literature in the classroom in relation to the CCSS directives that make Children’s literature and integral aspect of all learning I school. The general framework thereof, the possible challenges and the solutions as well as the eventual impact of practical applications of children’s literature in academics generally and specifically ELA learning is explained in detail (Bunch, Cruz, Pimentel, & Walqui, 2013) .

Specific Application 

Acquiring and retaining the interest of children in learning is one of the foundations of the use of children’s literature in ELA learning specifically and all learning generally. Among the most effective attention getting and retaining children’s works are the graphical novels. This comes out candidly in Möller (2015) written by one of the leading experts in the children’s literature and its academic application. The book entails the creation and use of graphical novels and books to teach even the very complex and boring elements of academic thus making them simplified, interesting and lovable by the pupils (Möller, 2015) .  

If for example a graphical book would be made with the main characters being a teacher and her students during a lesson on adjectival clauses. The children would be interested in the seemingly caricatured picture of the teacher and also the students and even try to suggest who among their teachers is illustrated in the books and which impression represents each student. As they enjoy the illustrations, the pupils will find it fun to study the lesson of the day, being adjectival clauses. This fun way of learning will make it both easy for the teacher to teach and for the students to both understand and remember as so aptly placed by Karla in his article (Möller, 2015) .

Children’s Literature in Science

Whereas science regards either us or the things that surround us, some of them on a daily basis; the way the subject is structured and formulated in a general class lesson makes it seem to the students as a complex study of things that come from outer space. The study of science can succeed in making even simple things like using a spoon to eat sound complicated the act is broken down to the load-pivot-fulcrum elements of the spoon on the movement of the wrist in lifting and turning the spoon being made possible by the metacarpals, carpals and phalanges of the arm! This makes science one of the critical subjects that need to be demystified by using children’s literature. 

Science and Children’s Literature 

Even without having children’s literature being tailor made to teach science, there is already science in existence in all of oral, written or visual children’s literature that children can learn from. Most children’s books will have people, animals or machines, all of which have scientific aspects to them. The Michigan State University in their journal Science and Children's Literature explain this relationship even as they outline how these books can be used to teach science and related subjects to beginners. The article suggests the use of Close reading to allow the students themselves to ask questions about scientific issues in a book or story then the teaching would be undertaken in the form of asking the very questions that the pupils had asked therefore making it fun and pleasant to learn (Michigan State University, 2016).  

This approach is guaranteed to make the learning of science interesting and fun as it is supposed to be, the pupils will also be able to remember what they were taught as they remember the stories they had read or the illustrations in the caricatures used the books. The success rate and effects of this form of learning were confirmed in a research by Sackes, Trundle and Flevares (2009) who included their finding and recommendations in their work outline the CCSS requirements for the teaching of science, the means to achieve by among others incorporating children’s literature in the teaching. Kathy and Lucia also outline the misconceptions relating to this concept, the limitation and the difficulties together with the ways and means of overcoming them (Sackes, Trundle & Flevares, 2009). 

Children’s Literature in Social Studies

Social studies involve an integration of the study of social sciences, humanities and history and involve inter alia the study of anthropology, geography, economics, politics, religion and sociology. Some elements of social studies like history and religion relate closely with nonfictional literature, while other like elementary economics and politics regard aspects of day to day life. Anthropology involves people themselves and with proper training can even be learnt simple through observation with geography being about the things that surround us. 

In recommending the use of a literature in social studies, Libresco and Balantic (2013) in their editorial journal give a brief outline of the practical application children’s literature even as they give some example articles that can shed more light on the issue including Fantozzi, Cottino, and Gennarelli article called “Mapping Their Place: Preschoolers Explore Space, Place, and Literacy,” and Monica Zenyuh’s article, “Crisis = Opportunity: Civic Literacy in the Wake of a Hurricane,” . However, this article also cautions that teaching social studies using children’s literature should not be mistaken as teaching social studies and literature together as more often than not the teaching of literature may be lost as social studies is prioritized (Libresco & Balantic, 2013) .

University of Tampa’s Gina M. Almerico also weighs in with her article Linking children’s literature with social studies in the elementary curriculum who, after spending a decade carefully researching on the teaching of social studies in the US, finding out the strengths and weaknesses of the system used and how the same shall be affected by the CCSS guidelines. Gina outlines the CCSS requirements for the teaching of social studies and indicates that the only way this threshold can be reached is if children’s literature is entrenched into its teaching, more so at the elementary level and includes 14 books that she has perused and approved as good material for this (Almerico, 2013) .  

The pros and cons of using children’s books in general formal education

Advantages

There is a popular school related adage that all work and no play makes Jack dull boy: however, if Jack and Jane desires to join an Ivy League school, they will have no time for play at all since even his leisure items such as sports or music will be transformed into world that they have to excel in order to gain admission which transforms them into little robots. The use of children’s books to teach changes both the concept of education to a less severe state and also makes it loveable and enjoyable for the children. Further, when a child has a collection of personalized mathematics, social studies and science comic books that he treasures and enjoys to read, learning becomes a better experiences and it also helps the child to excel (Bland, 2013).

Disadvantages

Whereas making learning informal is one of the targets of this concept, it can easily be misconstrued by children to mean that learning is a game which would be as detrimental as the severe learning that this it seeks to avoid. A child who believes that learning is just a game or a big joke may not be able to snap out of it after he grown up and may therefore end up as a failure in adulthood. Further, this concept makes all subjects seem like the study of ELA which makes the mathematics teacher, the science and even social studies teacher become in a way an ELA teacher too. This may easily create confusion or water down the level of ELA education. A balance therefore needs to be struck in the implementation of this noble concept with continuous evaluation and supervision to avoid the negative impacts it may have (Bland, 2013).

It is however, clear from the foregoing that the circumstances prevalent prior to improvement of education systems through the concept of using children’s literature in teaching was untenable and further that its advantages greatly outweigh the disadvantages which indeed are also not beyond remedy. The upshot of the foregoing is therefore that this is a great concept that ought to be fine-tuned, developed and universally adopted.

References

Almerico, G. M. (2013). Linking children’s literature with social studies in the elementary curriculum. Journal of Instructional Pedagogies, 11 , 1-13

Barnaby, D. (2015). The use of Children’s Literature to Teach Mathematics to improve Confidence and Reduce Math Anxiety . Retrieved from <https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/68738/1/Barnaby_%20Dedrian_%20L_201506_MT_%20MTRP.pdf/>

Bland, C. M. (2013). A Case study of general education teacher use of picture books to support inclusive practice in the primary grades of an inclusive elementary school. ProQuest LLC ,

Bunch, G., Cruz, S., Pimentel, S., & Walqui, A. (2013). Realizing Opportunities for English Learners in the Common Core English Language Arts and Disciplinary Literacy Standards . Retrieved from <http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/events/Bunch-Kibler-Pimentel_AERA_2013-04-08/>

Cox, J. (2009). Using children’s literature to motivate math lessons . Retrieved from <http://www.teachhub.com/using-children%E2%80%99s-literature-motivate-math-lessons/> 

Libresco, A. S., & Balantic, J. (2013). Our conversation with you about “Effectively Integrating Literature and Social Studies….” Retrieved from <http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/yl/2601/260101/> 

Michigan State University. (2016). Science and children’s literature . Retrieved from <https://msu.edu/~stanawa8/Science%20and%20Children’s%20Literature.htm/> 

Möller, K. J. (2015). Integrating graphic nonfiction into classroom reading and content area instruction: A critical literacy focus on selection issues. Journal of Children’s Literature , 41 (2), 52. 

Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Flevares, L. M. (2009). Using children’s literature to teach standard-based science concepts in early years. Early Childhood Education Journal , 36 (5), 415–422. doi:10.1007/s10643-009-0304-5 

Serafini, F. (2013). Close readings and children’s literature. The Reading Teacher , 67 (4), 299–301. doi:10.1002/trtr.1213 

Swanson , M. & Martha, P. (2013). Linking literacy and mathematics: The support for common core standards for mathematical practice . Retrieved from < http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED539526.pdf/>