http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2012/05/03/considering-common-core-why-fiction-matters/ If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. ~ Charlie Parker Sat, 25 May 2013 12:11:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://edublogs.org/?v=3.5.1 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2012/05/03/considering-common-core-why-fiction-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-8046 dogtrax Thu, 03 May 2012 22:58:17 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=5583#comment-8046 Thanks, Jeremy.
I know you have written your fair share, too, and I always appreciate your voice in the mix
Kevin

]]> http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2012/05/03/considering-common-core-why-fiction-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-8045 dogtrax Thu, 03 May 2012 22:57:42 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=5583#comment-8045 I wonder if early childhood grades will have an easier shift than upper grades? Is there more flexibility in the kinds of texts that you do, Gail? Just wondering …

]]> http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2012/05/03/considering-common-core-why-fiction-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-8043 Jeremy Hyler Thu, 03 May 2012 22:13:50 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=5583#comment-8043 Well said Kevin.

]]> http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/2012/05/03/considering-common-core-why-fiction-matters/comment-page-1/#comment-8041 poulingail Thu, 03 May 2012 11:46:15 +0000 http://dogtrax.edublogs.org/?p=5583#comment-8041 The emphasis on non-fiction extends down the grades into kindergarten. My students are passionate about non-fiction so it’s an easy bump for me. The colorful texts, full of interesting illustrations, help students better understand the content and generate lots of questions/thinking. Even the quietest kids can forget themselves and contribute to conversations. Early writing work is based on real life experiences as those are the things children have first hand personal knowledge of and they can explain them with more emotion and better detail.
I connected with, “Fiction enhances our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds.”
Very often children do better when situations are not real, and not part of their own personal experience banks, because the fictional threats and insecurities can be experienced in their heads and still learned from.
The guided reading and interactive read aloud experiences can really tap into the comprehension of text – within, beyond, and about the text. When I dropped by your classroom yesterday, you were reinforcing a foreshadowing that a student had picked up on. Authors give us so many things to think about. In picture books, we have character expressions and movements, background colors, and often rich detail in setting. I like the movement toward non-fiction because many teachers have avoided them. The book closets are limited in those selections. A few years back, I ordered lots of science related guided reading texts for the closet and they are well used now.

]]>