Chapter 12: The New Literacies: The World of Online Children's Literature

There is no doubt that the internet has become a big part of our everyday lives and has had a huge impact on how we educate our children. According to the text, 'Children today are digital natives'. Additional research shows that ninety-three percent of children ages 8-18 spend an average of 90 minutes a day using the computer at home."  The focus of this chapter is on the emergence of the internet and its impact on children's literature.  The chapter provides a variety of options that can be used to enhance student learning. Some of the suggestions include: online read alouds, interactive storybooks, virtual author visits and webcasts of authors and illustrators. All of these options are designed to keep students engaged and excited about learning. 

In addition the chapter gives several suggestions on how to engage students in online learning.  Some of these suggestions include online book reviews, Wiki’s, blogs, creating online book trailers and digital stories. Teacher designed Webquests are also another way to help student facilitate the acquisition, integration and extension of a vast amount of information.  Internet projects such as this can also help students learn and share information about culture and language diversity.

The book provides several online resources for read alouds, interactive book and virtual author visits. I’ve used a a few of the suggested websites in the classroom and am planning to explore some of those that I am not familiar with.  There is no denying that students become engaged when learning is fun. From teaching students about internet security to online projects as a future teacher I plan on using many of the suggestions offered in this chapter

Chapter 11 Diverse Perspectives in Children’s Literature

This chapter was about the many benefits of introducing diverse literature in today’s classroom. By introducing multicultural literature students are given the opportunity to learn about other cultures and backgrounds. This in turn helps them develop insights and understandings of their own cultures and values.  Diversity is pretty broad term and can include culture, language, religion, social class, exceptionality, and family structure. The book defines multicultural literature as, “a group of works used to break the monopoly of the mainstream culture and make the curriculum pluralistic”. Introducing students to diverse literature helps students to develop and engage in critical  thinking skill which in turn, leads them to reflective decision making.

I believe multicultural literature is an opportunity to expand the knowledge of students about diversity. Multicultural literature can show students that they really are not that different from one another.  This type of literature teaches students about different religions, family lives and languages. It can expose them to new ideas and diverse viewpoints. As a future teacher I feel that it is important for me to expose my students to this type of literature.  I plan on having a rich library for my students and will incorporate a variety of diverse literature into many of my lesson plans.