Laura Granger Blog #1

Great Readers Understand How Stories Work by Frey, Fisher, and Berkin really had an impact on me because it talked about the importance of children being exposed to different types of stories. The article was relatable because I too can recall sitting under a pine tree with my mother reading stories about Thumbelina or Clifford the Big Red Dog. A child will come to learn who the characters in the stories are and even possibly go one step further and make up their own stories about those characters. Children can also take the morals of the story and apply them to their own lives. For example, “the article talks about Little Red Riding Hood and how it taught a child to know the difference between good and bad people in the world” (Frey, Fisher, and Berkin 1). As a future teacher it is imperative that I spend time reading books with my students from a very young age. Even though students may not be able to read the stories themselves they can still learn different parts of the book like where the front cover is and that we read from left to right.

Another idea that is brought up is that students would be able to learn about various parts of the world and different cultures. Stories about different cultures will lead to the questions “why and what”. What is this item called? Why did the character behave like that? Discussions can build from these stories in various ways that will be beneficial to the students as well as making it easier for the teacher. The students also will learn about the world and different cultures or maybe even learn more about their own culture. Children will feel special and proud of their culture when they get to share a story with the rest of the class, which is another way that teachers can incorporate culture books into their lesson plans.

Characters, morals, and culture ideas are just some of the points that stuck out to me. There are numerous amounts of ways that teachers can incorporate them into the classroom and this article provides information about how to do that.