230:044 Children's Literature

Alignment with INTASC Professional Standards

Principle #1: CONTENT KNOWLEDGE--The candidate understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.
  1. Demonstrate knowledge of childrens literature.
  2. Understand the personal and educational values of children’s literature
  3. Know important authors and illustrators and their major works
  4. Understand the definitions and attributes of different genres of children's literature.
  5. Understand reading theories that guide the study of children’s literature.
  6. Understand various ways in which children’s literature can be used as curriculum materials.
Principle #2: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT--The candidate understands how children learn and develop, and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development.
  1. Use reader response based approach to teach children's literature.
  2. Create own children’s books for classroom use.
  3.  Select reading materials that match children’s intellectual, social, and personal development needs.
Principle #3: DIVERSE LEARNERS--The candidate understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.
  1. Understand and appreciate culturally/ethnically diverse literature.
  2. Evaluate and examine culturally appropriate reading materials. 
  3. Design and implement multicultural thematic units
  4. Design and implement multicultural author studies.
  5. Create multicultural learning centers.
Principle #4: INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES--The candidate understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
  1. Understand how to critically evaluate children's books.
  2. Use appropriate criteria for selecting quality literature for classroom use.
  3. Conduct learning activities that foster critical literacy.
  4. Conduct learning activities that encourage inquiries into various topic, concepts, and themes presented in children’s books.
  5. Make self-to-text, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections.
Principle #5: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT--The candidate uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.
  1. Understand how to apply reader response theory to the reading and discussion of children’s literature.
  2. Create a literature rich classroom that fosters children’s independent learning
  3. Use graphs, charts, webs, and pictures as teaching tools in constructing literature lessons.
  4. Use literature circle strategies to conduct student-led discussion of children’s books.
  5. Gather a variety of books to create a classroom library for children to use.
  6. Conduct activities that encourage self-motivated learning (e.g. read aloud, book talk, dramatization, etc.)
Principle #6: COMMUNICATION--The candidate uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
  1. Share responses to children’s literature orally and in writing. 
  2. Use media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and interaction in the learning process.
  3. Present learning outcomes in various forms of communication.
Principle #7: PLANNING INSTRUCTION--The candidate plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, and curriculum goals.
  1. Understands various ways to teach children’s literature
  2. Develop instructional units to incorporate children’s across the curriculum. 
  3. Select appropriate children’s books for various instructional units.
  4. Select appropriate children’s books for students at different developmental levels.
  5. Select appropriate children’s books for reading and writing lessons.
  6. Design extension activities for children’s books.
Principle #8: ASSESSMENT--The candidate understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the learner.
  1. Recognize the relationship between teaching and assessment. 
  2. Design appropriate formative and summative evaluation instruments to assess literacy and literacy development of the learner.
  3. Utilize authentic assessment strategies in evaluating learning experiences in literary studies.
Principle #9: REFLECTION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT--The candidate is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.
  1. Identify personal needs, interests, prior experience, and background knowledge and relate them to the study of children’s literature. 
  2. Ask meaningful questions and use prompts and probes to guide personal learning in the area of literary studies and relate those questions to teaching in a classroom. 
  3. Do research to find solutions to moral, social, cultural issues represented in children's literature and organize, summarize, and write about what has been found.
  4. Learn by listening to others’ responses to literature in book club or literature circles.
  5. Share children’s books with others including students, parents, and teachers.
  6. Participate in literacy events that promote personal professional growth.
Principle #10: SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS--The candidate fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students' learning and well-being.
  1. Be aware of and begin to participate in parent/teacher groups, local and state professional social studies organizations, and local community organizations that promote  literacy development in school and community. 
  2. Recognize the contribution of the National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, and other professional organizations to the teaching profession.
  3. Be knowledgeable of standards written by various professional groups in the area of literacy studies and use these guidelines in preparing to teach.
Principle #11: USE OF TECHNOLOGY--The candidate integrates the computer and other high and low technology into classroom teaching activities, assessment and/or documentation.
  1. Identify ways of appropriately integrating technology in literacy and literary study. 
  2. Develop literary learning experiences supported by technology.
  3. Operate a multimedia system and use word processing, and presentation programs to teach literacy lessons.
  4. Select and use children’s literature software.
  5. Use technology and databases to search for resources and assist in the study of  children's literature
  6. Use an array of available technological tools to teach literacy lessons.
  7. Use the Internet for developing literary studies lessons.