Chapter 6

Traditional literature is a wonderful way to read to everyone not just a certain group. It involves different types of culture and race. This will show a child a fun way to read another culture, but at the same time learn the values of this culture. It isn't your ordinary reading; it is a fairy tale, fantasy, myth, etc. It opens up your way of thinking and it takes you to a different world. Traditional literature also uses some realistic ideas, but it is put into an animated way in stories. The elements of literature include the plot, the setting, the characterization, the style, the theme, the motifs, and the variants.

Chapter 7

Picture books are a fun way to read books especially to the children. The pictures tell the story, so it gives the children more ways to discuss the story. It also gives a good writing lesson, because there is so much to write about. A picture book usually holds up to 32 pages. It needs both the writing and the art to come together. Sometimes it is an author and illustrator that work together or just the author that does both. For picture books, you and the children look at the front cover, the title, the author, the illustrator (if any), the back cover, and you read the description of the book. You read each page and show them the picture. The colors of the book will give you some insight of what the book is going to be. If you see dark colors then you know it is going to be night or just dark. If they are light colors, it is going to be pleasant and calm. Lines also give an idea of the story, it shows emotion or mood. Picture books are great way to use to keep a child interested in books.

Chapter 5

Poetry has always been difficult for me to engage in. It's not so easy to get into poetry, since some of the poetry is hard to understand. Poetry can be fun to read, but it can also be complicated. Poetry consists of five different elements; sound, rhyme, rhythm, and figurative language. The sound is a powerful tool that makes a poetry come alive, rhyme is a stanza or quadrant, rhythm is cadence, and figurative language is a simile or onomatopoeia. Poetry includes works from various cultures, it considers the interests of the children, and it uses different kinds of formats to make it more interesting. Poetry gets more responses from children, because it does not give children parameters. It makes for a good discussion and good writing. I remember when I was a kid reading poems from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. I think everybody read this book. The book held many poems of many different types of subjects. Some of the poems were very easy, some were hard, some rhymed, and some didn't. Poems come in many ways.