TEACHING LITERATURE TO CHILDREN

Reading is taught to children to enable them to learn not only in the content fields but also for them to
enjoy literature.

Gainsberg suggested that the child be taught to read literature critically and that critical reading is creative
reading. The effective reader is alert to shades of meaning and the interrelationships of details; he
employs an active rather than a passive approach; he evaluates and questions as he reads; and his focus
is less on what the author says than on what the author means by what he says.

Parayno she indicated that literature provides emotional release and in reading the writings of other,
many children are able to project themselves so that they receive help for their own problems.

-The mental processes of thinking, perceiving, remembering, forming concepts, generalizing and
abstracting are made possible as they acquire their vocabulary.

-Teaching literature to children contributes to the development of their creative talents.

-As a whole, the teaching of literature to children can increase their knowledge, change their outlook,
broaden their interests, develop desirable attitudes and values, refine their tastes, modify their behavior
and stimulate intellectual and emotional growth and in various ways help to prepare them for more
effective participation in social processes and for living life fully.

LITERARY APPRECIATION SKILLS

Salazar made a distinction between comprehension skills and literary appreciation skills.

COMPREHENSION SKILLS

-used to understand the selection.

APPRECIATION SKILLS

-used to enjoy and recognize the value of selection.

Comprehension skills are requisite to the appreciation of literature. The literary appreciation skills include:

1. Verbalizing emotional response

2. Identifying characters

3. Identifying sensory impressions

4. Understanding figurative language

5. Identifying tone and mood

6. Enjoying humor

7. Appreciation poetry/prose works.

Some teaching strategies to gain literary appreciation skills and develop creativity in pupils were identified
by Salazar.
 1. Listening/Speaking-oral reading by the teacher/oral reading by the pupil etc.

2. Oral interpretation- storytelling, declamation, oration etc.

3. Dramatization- role play, skit etc.

4. Reading/Writing- free reading, writing original poems, stories, essays etc.

5. Art- drawing/sketching, coloring/painting etc.

VERSES FOR CHILDREN

According to Parayno, a verse is a line of poetry, having, usually, a determined material or rhythmical
pattern.

Teaching literature to children through verses gives them early training on:

-How to listen

-Conscious of rhyming words

-Developing them for the love for reading and literature

There are types of verse:

1. Humorous verse- deals with the amusing things that befall real people.

2. Nonsense verse- deals with absurd or meaningless words as jumbles.

Example: A was an ant

Who stood still

And who made a nice house,

On the side of a hill,

Nice little ant!

POETRY FOR CHILDREN

According to Parayno, poetry is an aesthetic expression of thought and emotion in rhythmical language.

The qualities of poetry are:

1. Poetry has musical and rhythmical qualities that children enjoy.

2. Poetry appeals to the imagination.

3. The emotional content of poetry must be sincere, worth expressing, and must be
universal in appeal.

4. Subjects of poetry for children must be varied.

The values of poetry are:

1. Enriches children’s experiences.

2. Develops correct enunciation.

3. Develops the imagination.

4. Enlarges the vocabulary

5. Improves their outlook in life.

Parayno gives suggestion in teaching poetry to children.

1. Do not assign a poem for study at home.

2. Do not impose memorization of poems.

3. Do not ask question “Do you like the poem?”

4. Teach the meaning of the difficult word before reading the poem.

5. Allow children to react to poetry.

Steps in teaching poetry to children are:

1. Motivational

2. Unlocking of difficulties.

3. Presentation of the poem.

4. Reading of the poem by the children.

5. Second reading of the poem by the teacher.

6. Culminating activities.

FABLES FOR CHILDREN

-A fable is a short tale in which the chief characters are animals and sometimes inanimate objects.

-The fable must always point a moral.

The values of fables are:

1. They give delight and enjoyment.

2. They teach ethical truths in attractive manner.

3. Some of the fables serve as a guide to good conduct on the child’s level of experience.

4. They cultivate thinking and imagination.

5. They touch on moral and spiritual sense of values.

 STORYTELLING
A simple account of the events that took place during the day. Telling stories was a form
of sharing experiences, real or imaginary.

Parayno explains the values of storytelling to children:

1. Storytelling introduces children to the world of written language structures from which they can model
their own language.

2. It gives children an opportunity to become acquainted with the best of children's literature.

3. It increases the children's knowledge and experience.

4. It creates in children a desire to know about the lives of other people and their own culture.

5. It develops the ability to be good listeners and it stirs their imagination and become creative.

6. It gives pleasure and enjoyment to children.

7. When telling a story himself, the child learns to organize and express himself clearly, at the same time,
building confidence in his ability to face an audience.

THE STEPS IN STORYTELLING ARE:

1. Selection of a story to tell.

2. Preparation of the story.

3. Practice telling the story aloud to yourself.

4. Announce the story informally.

5. Show pictures of certain characters in the story you are going to tell.

6. At the end of the story, do not give a check-up test nor ask the question ‘‘Did you like the story?’’

7. Aesthetic Activities.

CHORAL READING/SPEAKING
Choral Reading or Speaking Is the Interpretation of poetry by several voices speaking as one. It involves
the use of a book or a script. What kinds of poems are suitable for choral reading? Parayno suggests the
following:

1. Poems which are universal in tone.

2. Poems which vary in mood, content, and type

3. Poems that are lyrical and narrative.

4. Poems that are rich in auditory image.

5. Poems with marked rhythm.

6. Poems that can be used with three voices.

Three types of voices used in choral reading or speaking:

1. Light or high voices- for reading lines that suggest fun, happiness, or brightness. For asking questions,
unless a male asks the question.

2. Dark or low voices- for saying lines that suggest mystery, terror, sadness, solemnity. For answering
questions, unless a female answers the question.

3. Medium voices- for blending all voices. For relating the narrative, for introducing the characters and for
giving explanation.

Steps in Teaching Choral Reading/Speaking

1. Read the poem selected for its content. The teacher or conductor reads the poem the group or class.

2. Determine the type of the poem. The mood of the poem will determine the kind of voices to be used.

3. Understand the meaning of the poem, the meaning of every new word or phrase especially the words
which are unfamiliar.

4. Know the rhythmical nature of the poem, the tempo and the movement in the poem.

5. Read the poem with the children. Spot pronunciation faults. After pointing out the pronunciation faults,
show how diction can be improved.

6. Read selection together again. Try several interpretations in order to decide on the best interpretation
and arrangement.

7. Apportion the parts and lines to the children. Let them say the poem without the help of the teacher.

8. Make sure that the voices blend properly. See to it that no one voice can be heard above the others or
trailing behind the others.

9. Avoid sing-song recitation