In chapter 6 I learned about traditional literature. Something I didn’t know was that traditional literature is the written form of stories that are part of the oral tradition of a culture. I also learned that traditional literature can be classified into two categories which are prose and non-prose. I didn’t know that non-prose narratives included jokes, riddles, play rhymes, short proverbs, ballads and nursery rhymes. I also learned that prose includes folktales, fairy tales, fables and legends.
I also learned that you have to be careful when choosing books from these categories because these books are based on cultures. You have to be careful not to offend your students. Plus you have to take into consideration when these stories were written because what was appropriate back then may not be appropriate now. These stories may have instances of racism or stereotypes and you have to consider that some of these stories may contain violence or monsters that may frighten some young children. The book suggests that you do your research before selecting from these genera. It suggests that you look at websites, book reviews, and professional societies.
I like the fact that the book gives you so many ideas on how to incorporate these stories into your lesson plans and it does some of the research for you because it gives you list of some of the various forms of traditional literature. These will definitely come in handy.