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Think Piece 1!

Kindle Young Sherri Winans English 225 9 October 2013

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Cultural Dialogues in Childrens Literature

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I am in a childrens literature class and have recently had the opportunity to read a story from plantation times called Tar Baby. This story was recorded by a white man as he remembered it being told to him. I enjoyed experiencing this story in the many ways it was presented to us as a class. These different ways included the written text of the story, a podcast, as well as a video performance. The original language of the time was hard to read in Harris publication of the story. I stumbled through almost all of it when I read it to myself. I then read Lesters publication of the story and found much easier to read and understand. The two publication are nearly identical, the only difference being the language in which it is written in. One being written in the language of that of plantation times and the other being written in language of modern times. The podcast I listened to the story is read aloud in the original language of the plantation times. This podcast cleared up Harris publication significantly. I began to wonder as I struggled through if other parents struggle to read it as well. If parents struggle with reading the original language wouldnt it be sufficient to say that children would also struggle with reading or listening to an adult struggle through it? This really got me

thinking about how this would affect a child as a reader. I am fortunate to have two daughters to help me get to the source of my questions. I decided to try something, a sort of experiment. I decided to read Harris original language story of the Tar Baby to my six year old daughter. She had a constant question mark on her face. Even though it was my second time reading it and I had listened to the podcast so I was more proficient, I still struggled with it. My struggle showed on her face and in her questions she asked me a lot of question about what a word meant or if that was even a word. Her line of questioning was actually very logical. I had only minor knowledge of how to explain what she was asking. I then switch the gear and read her Lesters publication and it was like a light bulb went off. The only questions she had remaining were why does the fox want to trick the rabbit? and why is the baby tar? Thats not a real baby Mama. I thought it was interesting how much easier the story was to understand for her when I was able to understand the reading as well. I was given the suggestion to see what my daughter would do with the podcast after hearing the tale read in both the original language and the language of present day. So I did just that. I reminded her of the two versions of Tar Baby that we read and the one that we both had a hard time reading. I then asked her to listen to the podcast with me, to hear the story told in language of the time and by a person who wouldn't stumble over the words. Her reaction wasnt much different. This time though instead of having a stream of questions she simply had one why does he talk funny? I couldn't help but laugh. I explained to her a little about the south and plantation times, although to be honest I dont know a lot. We used to live in Texas so when I explained that the language used was similar to having an accent she understood better. My daughter and I went through three of the four different ways to experience the story that we had

in class. I think now that maybe I should have also had her watch the video performance; though I am not sure I would have found out anything more from her. Going over Lesters version, Harris version and the podcast with her I got a pretty clear view of how the differences affected my daughter. When my daughter and I were going through this exercise I wondered how other parents might have felt trying to read the original to their kids. How many parents find stories like the Tar Baby written in its original language too difficult to read? Does it feel like you are depriving children of a cultural experience by not reading the story in its original language? These questions may not have been answered for everyone, they were however answered for me. I really feel that its all a matter of preference. I dont like to struggle in to read in front of my daughter. Also it didnt seem to matter if the story wasnt in its original language to my daughter. I will say that she seemed to enjoy listening to Lesters Tar Baby best. I certainly preferred to read Lesters copy with my daughter. I am pretty convinced that a storys culture is only lost if you let it get lost. I think that you could read Lesters version and still portray the culture of the story to children without having to read it in its original language. The argument can be made in favor of either side, but for my family and I we will likely choose the experience of reading together without the difficulties that can be presented by cultural dialogues. !

Notes:
I included this paper not because it is my best work but because it was a learning experience. I was given feed back on this paper by Sherri Winans and I truly tried to take her ideas and make revisions. I was able to make a few like expanding my experiment to include the podcast and the readings and the performance. This helped expand my thoughts and develop the paper but only a little. After performing the extra pieces of the experiment I tried to write how my thoughts had changed or had been strengthened. I found that I was able to expand a bit but then got stuck. Everything I tried beyond that felt forced and frankly uncomfortable to write. So in mild frustration I decided to stop trying to force it and leave it alone. Make this my learning experience and try different approaches the next time around. !

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Think Piece 2!

Kindle Young Sherri Winans English 225 26 October 2013

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The Benefits of Picture Books: In the Life of My Kids

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Pictures do wonders in a book designed for the childs eye. I have vague memories of the picture books that were read to me or I read myself as a child. As I got older and became a more mature reader I forgot what made pictures in books important. I often felt pictures in the books I enjoyed to read were distracting. As I became a parent reading for a child and studying childrens literature my views on pictures in a book have changed. Those pictures may still be unwelcome for me at times in an adults book, but in a childs book its the foundation of a good reader. In my studies and experience with my own children I have come to realize that picture books help to support the cognitive development of young children and support the narrative. As a mother in a childrens literature class I find that I can spend time with my children while doing the assignments required for the course. Recently we have done a unit of picture books, which has given me the opportunity to share with my children and analyze the benefits it has for them. Having children, ages six and one, I have had the opportunity to watch Kylee my six year old work through reading stages and now Emalynn my one year old as well. Kylee has worked through some big changes using reading as an outlet. Her dad was in the military and

was gone for most of her life on deployments. By the time she was three her dad and I separated, a year later we moved and her dad remarried and learned they were excepting a baby. Her stepdad and Emalynns dad had a change of heart about what he truly wanted and kicked us out six months after our move; we moved again. There have been some very big changes for her in a small space of time. I have chosen picture books to read to my own two children that help ease the anxiety from the major changes that have happened in our lives over the last year and a half. For example I read a book about being a big sister to my older daughter for several months before her little sister was born in May and her little brother was born a month latter in June. Going from being an only child for five years to being a big sister of two on top of a move across country was going to be a big adjustment. I also read the book Llama Llama Misses Mama to help her cope with her first ever daycare/pre-school experience. I watched her mimic the behaviors she saw in the books in both situations. She handled both situations very well, from being brave when I dropped her off at pre-school and making new friends to being gentle with her brand new baby sister. I didnt think the pictures were so important when Kylee was really little. Since then I have watched her grow as a listener, a reader, and watched her find therapy in books. I have also noticed more cues from Emalynn that I am certain I missed the first time with Kylee. Cues like how children can develop the story based off the illustrations. Another cue I missed from Kylees early reading was how the illustrations were what kept her engaged in the story. Seeing the kind of reader

Kylee has become has made me look closer at the beginning stages of reading. My older daughter has an amazing imagination she can hear the story and draw her interpretations of the scene at hand. I believe that the imagination she has and the way she interprets a story without pictures is in large thanks to the illustrations of her favorite books as a young child. A truly amazing experience has been to watch my two children read together. This experience has further enforced my beliefs that pictures in books for children really are the foundation of a reader. Before Kylee was able to read enough words to get through a whole book she made up the story based on the pictures she saw and that was how she told the story to her little sister. Emalynn is a listener although she wont allow you to turn the page until she has finished looking at the pictures even if you are finished reading the words. The pictures in the book are how the story springs to life for her. She has not yet developed the skills to understand the words or imagine how they scenes should look. Its not until about six to nine months old that a child begins to create a memory. Even with a memory they lack the ability to really use imagination until roughly around the age of two; of course the ages are different for every child. A child can not use an imagination that they do not have yet to create the scenes of a book, pictures are necessary. The colorful images are what make a child an engaged reader. The skills to imagine, understand and engage in the written word are still developing and evolving.

I have moved through the reading stages only remembering what is important to successfully achieve the next level. The parts of my early childhood development in regards to reading are parts that my adult mind has let be pushed into the back of my brain. I recall being trained through the years to create a scene and characters using my imaginations. It was not possible developmentally for me to have always been able to create such scenes; I lacked the skills to be able to do what I did not yet understand. Its when I became a parent and Im going through those early stages of development with my children, that I see how the skills I now use while reading develop in them. Watching my kids grow up and develop using picture books I am even more receptive to the importance of such books. My psyche cant recall those early days and how picture books may or may not have helped me develop. As a parent we can see these years in our children that we cant recall from our own experiences. With my children I can visibly see the growth and development in them as readers. I began my journey in my childrens literature class feeling that pictures were a distraction. I am finding in my own reading and personal discovery along with my experiences with my children that I feel almost the complete opposite. I am seeing and appreciating just how important picture books are. I am seeing ways to learn and develop both personally and for my children through supportive illustrations in books. While I still enjoy using my own imagination to create the characters and the scenes of a book; I am finding that I also enjoy a picture or two in the books I read for my own pleasure. I really think that the creative process starts much earlier

than school age, and pictures in childrens books are the early tools used to start the creative process; making for a more imaginative and creative adult reader. ! "

Notes:
This was one of my favorite revisions. This paper started out as just a plain text paper. After placing it in the reading room and receiving feedback I went back to see what I thought I could change. Both Carleigh and Amanda said they really liked how I talked about my kids. I find that when its about my kids or something I can do with my kids its fun and easy to write. I noticed that Carleigh felt more of a focus on the words so I re-read it and saw how she might feel a focus more on the words and less on the pictures. However the paper was written about how the pictures help a child develop and supports the narrative of the story. I didn't make any changes on that part. After turning it in and getting my jing back from Sherri I set to work again. I made a few suggested changes like adding the pictures as a visual to show off the colors inside picture books; as well as some photos of my daughters reading: one of my younger daughter looking at pictures in a book and the other of my older daughter reading to my younger daughter. After I made those changes I struggled with some of the content changes that were suggested. I sought out another opinion with the few wording changes I had made and the photo additions by sending my paper to the writing center. Taylor sent me a jing with feed back that gave me a clear new look at my paper. Her main comments were to own the paper (use those Is), maybe change the ordering of information or paragraphs to make the information make better sense, and decide on what I really wanted to say in the paper in the first paragraph. I found that reorganizing the paragraphs first made a big difference. Then I changed the structure of my sentences to use Is and that also made it feel like it was MINE. Then I reread my paper

and realized my ending thoughts were my true thoughts. Those thoughts were where I really was meant to begin. I reworded my beginning paragraph to reflect how I really feel about pictures in books. This was my out of the box paper. My ah-ha moment of movement thinking. !

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Think Piece 3
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Kindle Young Sherri Winans English 225 14 November 2013

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Chapter Book Titles I have been reading with my daughter since she was itty bitty. We have recently started reading chapter books together and I wondered how the titles affect the reading experience for young readers. Not just for the individual chapters but also for the entire book. I know that I enjoy having a small peek into what the chapter will be about by the title, I also enjoy the personal feel of a journal style chapter book. I was able to experience both sides through my daughters chapter book and a classmates exploration project and her experience with her son. A few of the books we have read in my childrens literature class have been in the journal style chapters. While reading Skeleton Creek I decided to see if the way a chapter was titled makes a difference to the reader and at what age it does; if it does. My six year old daughter Kylee is often helping me with these experiments. Kylee and I are currently reading the Beezus and Ramona series and I have found that she pays very close attention to the title of the chapter. The next day we read together she can tell me on what chapter we left off on. The chapter titles seem to really help her tie the chapter together. We have only done a small experiment using the journal style chapter titles of Skeleton Creek because they seemed to lose

her; the story line itself may have been slightly over her head as well. I have found the plots of childrens book are simple so the story line wasnt completely swallowing her. She just wasnt following the progression of the dates and times in the journal style. When I originally read Skeleton Creek on my own, I immediately thought that my daughter would really enjoy it. I didnt think of the possibility that it would be over her head or that she would have trouble following. After I discovered that she wasnt following I decided to do a little research. I personally believe she should read what ever she feels interested in; while still understanding the story. When I researched I discovered that the books target readers were age ten to eighteen. This explained to me why it felt a bit over her head. I was given the suggestion of trying Dear America: The Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson, my daughter and I havent yet but it is on our reading list. This book however is considered a third grade reading level by Scholastic; and may also be beyond my daughters cognitive capabilities; we are going to try it. I have decided to do a little more research to see if I can find a more age appropriate story written in the journal style. For now though this style of writing seems to be out of her reach. While listening to exploration projects for week eight in my childrens literature class I came across a classmates project that talked briefly about my current thoughts on chapter books. I was excited to hear what she discovered about Skeleton Creek and her son. She found that she was having difficulty getting her son interested in reading and spending his spare time reading instead of playing with electronics. She offered him Skeleton Creek and he enjoyed it, he said it

reminded him of Diaries of a Whimpy Kid. He really liked the journal style of the book. I found that given his age of nine years old that this supported my thoughts on this style of book being to hard to follow for my daughters age. Since Skeleton Creek was written for the target ages of ten to eighteen my classmates nine year old son is really in the correct target zone to read and enjoy the book, whereas my six year old daughter is a little young. I am finding the style of the books chapters do in fact impact the two readers I have been comparing, based on their ages. Where one child genuinely enjoyed the style of the book and found it personal and drawn in, the other seemed lost; it was over her head. The impact isnt one that changes the full experience of the book but rather the understanding of how it is written. As my daughter gets older day and time will become more tangible; more meaningful. I noticed that right now she knows what day it is and has become very good at reading a clock but its all still kind of irrelevant to her. Which makes the journal style chapter titles hard to cognitively understand and follow for her. At her age I think that the way a chapter is titled makes a difference to her understanding of whats to come and of what we are reading. As we get a bit older like my classmates nine year old and beyond I think it becomes more personal preference and reading interests. I was happy and a little disappointed with my conclusions of my findings. I was a little disappointed because I was actually looking forward to sharing Skeleton Creek with my daughter

but I hadnt thought the book would be over her head. I was really happy though to find out that age does affect how children respond to chapter titles and how the titles affect the overall experience of the book. This knowledge will help me to develop my daughters reading library by choosing books that are age appropriate not just in content but also in the style of writing. !

Notes:
The thought of chapter titles had been on my mind a lot as we have been reading chapter books for class, but also because my daughter has discovered chapter books just this last year. She isn't skilled enough to read them entirely on her own but she follows along really well. I had been toying with this idea and of how to write it for a little while and was going to chuck the idea because nothing was coming to me. Then in week eight of this course Erin Traynor presented her exploration report. While she was talking about struggling to get her son to read she talked about how he liked skeleton creek because it reminded him of diaries of a whimsy kid both written in the journal style of book. This information I was able to pull from what she discussed was exactly what I needed to test my thoughts out. Using his age and like for the journal style book and my daughters age and not fully understanding the chapter titles I was able to draw some conclusions. The feed back I received in the reading room was agreeing how the title of a chapter could make a difference to the reader and how age might affect the comprehension of the books written style. No suggestions for changes were made and I had grammatically had it proof read so I turned it in. This paper was the least critiqued of my papers. I inspired thoughts in Sherri while she read. Some of her thoughts that werent required to make changes I took and fooled around with in my paper. One was to add some visuals which I have done. One of a regularly titled chapter from Beezus and Ramona, another of the journal style chapters found in Skeleton Creek, and the third of the cover of Dear America a book suggested by Sherri that Kylee and I should try. I added that I felt age played a role in the observing of chapter titles and

how they are used. It was a good feeling to see the improvement from one paper to the next. I am happy to end this class with this paper.