The more the students read, the more proficient they will become in their reading fluency, and the greater their view of the world will become. 

The use of multicultural literature from the earliest grades helps students to develop that respect. Literature is a magic mirror wherein children see others like themselves. They also meet characters that provide inspiration.

Children's literature encourages the use of many different sensory fields which help to bond the students to the ideas presented. These sensory fields include oral, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic experiences which are found in the use of creative dramatics.

The whole language approach stresses the use of quality children's literature which is enhanced by memorable language and strong characters, rather than the contrived stories that are found in basal skill readers or the word drills of phonics exercises. 

A whole language curriculum allows for the exploration of literature in many ways. Based on research in psycholinguistics, whole language seeks to work with the knowledge the child brings to school rather than forcing him to learn meaningless word combinations. Whole language works by concentrating on the meaning of the literature, not on sounding out words. Whole language seeks to build experience schemas and images within the child rather than asking for memorization of grammar rules.

 Cultural Literacy

Hirsch (1987) believes that people living in western civilization have common cultural bonds that are easy to acknowledge. Schools play a fundamental role because students become literate within the cultural images represented by their communities. 

We must be mindful that:

• Children from the dominant culture have more consistency in what they learn at home and school.

• When children are supported and encouraged to develop their unique and strong cultural identity we have the chance to grow as a community through the full range of individual choices, variations, and flexibility. 

 Multicultural literature helps our children build a future world where they can respect, know, and understand each other (Barry, 1990). The integration of multicultural literature into the reading curriculum is critical and enriches the education of all students.

•  Students learn that people are similar.

• Students recognise and appreciate the value of differences. 

• Students acquire an awareness of social issues affecting all of their lives. 

 Children as Storytellers 

Whole language advocate Constance Weaver (1988) encourages storytelling; "Teachers who know stories and can tell them well are empowered. Such strength can be passed on by teachers to students through the recurring invitational demonstration. Whole-language teachers help children become storytellers by sharing with them how they themselves came to love oral stories .... It also may be some children's entrance into the rich culture of other groups" (p. 243). 

Reading should be fun for children. I feel that by involving children in reading aloud, storytelling, and creative dramatics they can better remember the literature. Children have their own hierarchy of what is important and what they will remember. The use of multicultural story hours will make students more aware of diverse cultures and help them in becoming more tolerant citizens. 

Some activities that show the students' involvement with the literature follow: 

• Portfolio of the students' writing that has been generated from the story hour units. 

• Children tell oral stories and record with an iPad. 

• Stage a production using several folktales and stories, and invite the parents or another class to view the production. Videotape the presentation.

• Students choose books from the Multicultural booklists and take them home to read with their parents. Have the parents ask the child about the story setting, the story problem, and the characters. 

• Have the children write about the story they read with their parents

Australia Kaleidoscope

Authors:

Julie Hamston and Kath Murdoch

Text type:

Resource text, nonfiction

Setting:

Australia, Asia-related content

Discusses the influences of Asian traditions, beliefs, values, and people on Australian culture. The book is accompanied by a teacher resource.

Presents six fascinating case studies and a wealth of teaching strategies and activities for use in the curriculum areas of Studies of Society and Environment/HSIE and English. Provides a variety of written, spoken, and visual texts designed for teachers of Years 4-6 but readily adapted for Years 7-8. 

Year 5-6 | Asia Education Foundation 

Differentiated reading instruction 

In this webinar, Dr. Paige delves into the best way to organize classrooms to meet the needs of all readers. He talks through the benefits of whole-class instruction and implementation of alternative grouping practice, small- group instruction, peer pairing & tutoring, and 1-2-1 instruction. More specifically, Dr. Paige discusses how teachers can help students who have difficulty with reading written material, expressing themselves, or learning by listening.

Watch David's webinar 

The essentials of developing fluency with Timothy Rasinski, Professor of Reading Education

Hear from literacy expert, Dr. Rasinski, on the importance of reading fluency. He identifies it as the bridge between word learning and comprehension. Discover the two key stages involved - automaticity in word recognition and prosody (expression) - and hear some tips and activities to help develop fluency with children.

Listen along to Tim 

ATL

(Approaches to Learning/ Transdisciplinary Skills)

Among the top skills and skill groups, employers expect to see a rise in prominence over the next few years are critical thinking, analysis, problem-solving, and self-management skills such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility. 

An inquiry approach consciously involves the learner as an active participant in the investigation process. Learning occurs as a result of both teacher-initiated and learner-initiated questions (Murdoch, 2020). 

I absolutely LOVE teaching through Children's literature. This learning sequence connects students to Country.  YAY! 

We explored themes of Indigenous perspectives, and Colonisation -the different lives, and experiences, of early Australian settlers in 1788 (Curriculum connections in slides).

Below are some examples of how I sequenced this learning for my English as an Additional Language students'. 

1. Reflective teaching and Learning

2. Noam Chomsky

3. Constructivists perspectives

4. Behaviourists perspectives

5. Sociocultural 

6. Social Learning

7. Critical