TYPES OF

LITERATURE FOR
CHILDREN
ROVELYN L. LEJANO
INSTRUCTOR
• According to Lydia Olsen (2017),
there are many reasons why poetry
is significant for young readers.
• Research has shown that poetry
motivates children to read, builds
phonemic awareness and builds
essential skills like vocabulary,
fluency, expression, and writing.
• Each of these is crucial for children
to develop in order to become strong
readers.
• Olsen further cites Reading Rockets
stating that good readers are
“phonemically aware, understand the
alphabetic principle, apply these skills
in a rapid and fluent manner, possess
strong vocabularies and syntactical
and grammatical skills, and relate
reading to their own experiences.”
• That joy in learning – and specifically
in poetry – can begin when children
are very young.
• Many children’s books, including picture
and board books, are written in meter.
Some of the most well-beloved children’s
authors, including Dr. Seuss, use poetry to
strengthen young children’s literacy skills
while creating entertaining stories and
messages.
• Poetry is also a healthy way for children to
express their feelings, especially during
emotionally challenging situations. It helps
children understand themselves and
others, allowing them to cultivate valuable
qualities like compassion and empathy.
• One of the reasons why poetry can
help children develop empathy and
express creativity is that there’s room
for personal interpretation. Reading
poetry out loud can help you
experience it more fully, and unveil the
deeper meaning of the poem.
• Selecting poetry books for young kids
that are funny, interesting, or relates
to the experiences they’re having, can
help improve their literacy and
improve motivation to read.
• Writing and reading poetry is a
rewarding endeavor for any age,
that has a myriad of benefits. Using
poetry as a tool in children’s
education is helpful, and is a fun
literacy strengthening activity that
can help children learn in a different
way.
• Stories are also used in teaching young
children. Storytelling is one of the oldest
and most effective forms of teaching.
• A well-told story enables the speaker and
the listeners to optimize the learning
process by integrating cognition, emotion
and imagination in the didactic process.
Good storytelling is an art and a skill.
• The teacher, the storyteller, and the
performer share a similar purpose: to
inform, engage, and entertain their
audience.
• Telling a story engages the audience in
a unique way. Storytelling, then, is yet
another device in the repertoire of the
good teacher.
• Stories promote lively imagination on
the part of the students. When students
listen to a story, they create mind
pictures, make inferences and
predictions, and fill in the gaps.
• Using storytelling as a method of
instruction and assessment supports
educational objectives.
• This helps improving verbal skills,
gaining self-confidence, discovering the
meaning of events, developing a love
for language and stories, encouraging
higher levels of cognitive thinking,
gaining a more in-depth understanding
of narration, improve imaginative skills,
internalizing the traditional structure
and conventions of stories, improving
writing skills, and encouraging active
participation in the creation of stories.
• Here are some ways that storytelling
can be applied to the classroom setting:
Create a story to illustrate new concepts
or ideas.
Express a topic or theme by narrating a
story about it.
Explain historical events by narrating
them as stories.
Invent and tell the story of historical
figures meeting one another or about
characters from different stories
meeting.
• Here are some ways that storytelling can
be applied to the classroom setting:
Create a story to illustrate new concepts or
ideas.
Express a topic or theme by narrating a
story about it.
Explain historical events by narrating them
as stories.
Invent and tell the story of historical
figures meeting one another or about
characters from different stories meeting
one another or about characters from
different stories meeting.
Put knowledge that needs to be
assessed in a narrative form and;
Tell the story to the teacher and
class.
Take a familiar story and retell it with
characters and situations based on
curricular material.
Place yourself in a familiar story and
narrate the events from your first-
person point of view.
• According to a study by Tessa Apriandari
entitled Improving Students’ English
Vocabulary Through the Use of Riddles
Technique:
The riddles technique improved the
students’ vocabulary. The students’ ability
in vocabulary improved after they were
taught by using riddles technique.
By using the riddles, the students’
vocabulary can improve, because by using
riddles in teaching vocabulary, the
students can easily remember the
vocabulary that has been taught.
The majority of the students had
positive responses toward the use of
riddles technique in improving
students’ vocabulary.
The study further suggested that to
provide interesting material in
teaching English, especially in
teaching vocabulary class; using
riddles technique could help the
students improving their vocabulary
without them feeling bored.
• Using drama to teach English to children
• The link between imaginative, or pretend
play, and language is particularly strong.
• Communicational and conversational
skills develop as children develop
scenarios.
• The imaginary play gives the child an
understanding of the power of language
and, by including others in his games, he
learns that words make it possible for him
to tell a story or organize a game.
• Pretend play has an important part in helping
the child “make the connection between
spoken and written language”.
• Because of this, most preschool and
kindergarten classrooms include a dramatic
play area where can act out their fantasies.
• For older children drama provides practical
experience in communicating, both written
and oral gives them the opportunity to learn
to work together, to develop tolerance and
empathy as they begin to see the world from
different perspectives, and promotes active
learning, enriching and reinforcing their more
traditional experiences.
• By repeating the words and phrases
they become familiar with them and
are able to say them with increasing
fluency.
• In addition, drama also teaches them
enunciate their words properly and to
project their voices when speak,
helping them to become clear and
confident speakers.
• Using drama to teach English also
helps to improve the understanding
and retention of a word.
• The active participation required in a
drama lesson involves not only the
intellect but also children’s
imagination and emotions.
• By encouraging self-expression,
drama motivates children to use
language confidently and creatively.
• Finally, drama is the appropriate
method for teaching children with
different learning styles and at
different levels of understanding.
• No one learns in exactly the same
way, we all have different methods of
processing information.
• By actively involving him in his own
learning process, dramatisation allows
each child to absorb the language in
his own way.
• Similarly, children whose language
skills are still very limited are given
the opportunity to communicate using
non-verbal cues body movements and
facial expressions.
• ACTIVITY!!
• Read one of the children’s literature to be sent
by the instructor.
• List the elements of the story that might have
attracted children in the nineteenth century.
Most of the classics have been made into
movies (some several times).
• View a video of the story and compare it to the
book.
• Make a Venn diagram showing the similarities
and differences.
• Determine whether the book or the movie
would be most appealing to children today,
and explain why.