Strategies in Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this Unit, the pre-service teachers are expected to:
 Recognize how children and adolescent literature can be an avenue to teach multiculturalism and
media.
 Identify strategies and techniques in reading and storytelling using children and adolescent
literature.
 Prepare a learning plan and perform a teaching demonstration using children and adolescent
literature.
This Unit discusses the strategies in teaching multicultural students, teaching different types of reading
materials and teaching using technology ton successfully teach Literature among children and adolescent
learners.

LESSON 1: Teaching Strategy for Multicultural Students

Incorporating strategies in multicultural education begins with the self-reflection of the teacher. To reflect on
the expectations of students with different cultural backgrounds, Dr. Leanne Howell of The National
Association for Multicultural Education presented the tips on the ways to incorporate the multicultural
education strategies inside the classroom.
 Building relationships with your students
 Approach students with curiosity
 Cultivate a mindset in the class
 Help students build confidence
 Promote inclusion
 Remember students are not the same
 Focus on culture when designing learning experiences for students
 Present more examples of diverse literature
 Be facilitative
 Align teaching style and physical space to support objectives
 Design opportunities for students to work together
 Involve the community
  Check how school leadership shapes the school practices
 Take a look at the whole school environment

LESSON 2: Teaching Different Styles of Reading Materials

Providing accessible reading materials to students can give them access to different reading levels and
other genres. The website Scholastic Parents presented these creative ways of reading materials.
1. Magazines 6. Travel Brochures 11. Dictionaries.
2. Comics 7. Encyclopedias 12. Play Scripts
3. Manuals 8. Sports Programs 13. Atlases
4. Newspapers 9. Catalogs 14. Public Signs
5. Poetry 10. Recipes 15. Books They Write

 With the various types of reading materials that are now accessible to the students, there is a need
to ensure reading comprehension. McEwan (2007) emphasized that teachers should integrate the
seven cognitive strategies of effective readers: activating, inferring, monitoring-clarifying,
questioning, searching-selecting, summarizing, and visualizing-organizing.
1. Activating. Recalling relevant prior knowledge of the students is a good strategy to ignite their
previous experiences on a certain topic. When prior knowledge is activated, their reading process
becomes relevant.
2. Inferring. This strategy teaches the student to decipher explicit and implicit information in the
materials that they are reading. Combining both written and unwritten information in the reading
text helps them to process ideas easily.
3. Monitoring-Clarifying. Telling the students that they are free to speak and ask questions about
the material that they read is a good strategy. This makes them think about how and what they
read. Clarifying something makes them comprehend the text better.
4. Questioning. Participating in learning dialogues with the text (authors), classmates, friends, and
teachers by asking questions, making questions, and answering questions is an effective strategy
to make the students at ease by sharing ideas with others.
5. Searching-Selecting. This strategy refers to searching for more sources to get appropriate
information that leads to answering questions, defining terminologies, clarifying concepts, and
gathering more information.
6. Summarizing. Making the students restate the text in their own words helps them to
comprehend better. However, they must be guided properly by the teacher.
 7. Visualizing-Organizing. Thinking of a mental image while reading a text makes the students
construct meaning and extract information more clearly than just simply reading the text.

LESSON 3: Technology-Assisted Teaching Strategies

Odom et al. (2015) define Technology-Aided Instruction and Intervention (TAII) as an instructional
strategy where the students’ goals in the classroom are achieved with the help of technology. Odom also
points out that this strategy involves the use of any electronic equipment, gadgets, items, or virtual network
applications to improve daily productivity, work, recreation, and overall living.
In addition, Odom et al. (2015) presented these five (5) essential steps in incorporating the technology-
assisted strategy:
1. Identifying Clearly Defined Goals
2. Conducting a Technology Assessment
3. Teaching the Students How to Use the Technology
4. Evaluating Learners’ Progress
5. Continue Planning the Next Steps

LESSON 4: Reading Strategies in Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature

Reading children’s and adolescent literature exposes students to various reading materials that help in the
acquisition and learning of language. The primary goals of reading a story include acquainting the students
with the storyline, the style of writing, and how the story mirrors society. It also allows the teacher to
highlight morals and mold the students’ characters. When teaching reading, it is advisable to follow the pre-
reading, during-reading, and post-reading techniques.

Pre-Reading Techniques
Previewing and Predicting
 Skimming and Scanning
 Unlocking
 Activating
 Making Inferences

During-Reading Techniques
  Active Reading
 Detailed Reading
 Predicting Outcomes
 Monitoring and Clarifying
 Paraphrasing

Post-Reading Techniques
 Summarizing
 Investigating the Story Elements
 Inferring and Drawing Conclusions
 Analyzing and Synthesizing
 Visual-Organizing
o This can be done using:
 Outlines
 Graphic organizers
 Story maps
 Sequence charts
 Recreating

Activity-Based Learning Method

The Activity-Based Learning (ABL) strategy in instructing the English language using fiction is based on
an active learning approach, where students engage in different activities that involve the use of
language.
Activity-based learning requires students to find opportunities to listen, read, talk, and write. These
activities include:
 Discussions
 Brainstorming ideas in pairs or groups
 Story retelling
 Story completion
  Conducting interviews
 Role-playing
 Simulation activities

Suggested Activities in Activity-Based Learning

1. Discussion / Brainstorming
 The teacher shows pictures or the title of a book.
 Students brainstorm ideas about what the book could be about based on the illustrations.
Target Language Skills:
✔ Reading
✔ Listening
✔ Speaking
✔ Grammar
 The teacher provides guide questions for discussion.
 In pairs or groups, students read and discuss the text based on the guide questions.
 They are encouraged to present their answers creatively.

2. Story Retelling and Story Completion

 Storytelling and story completion are excellent strategies for enhancing students’ four macro
skills.
Target Language Skills:
✔ Reading
✔ Listening
✔ Vocabulary
✔ Speaking
 After reading, students are given a chance to retell the story creatively.
 This can be done through:
o Video presentations
o Role-playing
o Creative reading
o Songwriting or singing
  For story completion, students write an alternative ending to the story and present it to the
class.
 This activity enhances students’ creativity and decision-making skills.

3. Conducting Interviews
 Interview simulation is a way to gather information and research more about the text.
Target Language Skills:
✔ Reading
✔ Writing
✔ Listening
✔ Speaking
Before reading:
 The teacher introduces the theme or concept of the text.
 Students conduct an interview relevant to the theme.
After reading:
 Students conduct interviews with people who represent the characters in the story or subjects of
a non-fictional prose.

4. Simulation Activities
 Different simulation activities help students understand the reading material better.
Target Language Skills:
✔ Reading
✔ Writing
✔ Speaking
✔ Viewing
✔ Listening
Examples of simulation activities include:
 Presentations
 Panel discussions
 Talk shows
 News reporting
 Filmmaking
  Other creative activities
These activities allow students to relate to the text, perform, and demonstrate their understanding.

General Strategies in Activity-Based Learning

1. Character Analysis
 The teacher asks students to pay attention to characters and how the author portrays them.
 Students identify the character based on characterization.
 Students analyze internal conflicts within the character.
2. Plot Analysis
 The teacher asks students to analyze the plot by identifying:
✔ Exposition
✔ Rising action
✔ Climax
✔ Falling action
✔ Resolution
 Students explore how characters develop and realize the conflict.
 Teachers may ask hypothetical questions such as:
o "If you were to end the story, how would you end it?"
3. Point of View Analysis
 The teacher asks students to analyze the narrator of the story.
 Students determine whether the story is told from a:
✔ First-person point of view (uses "I, me, my")
✔ Second-person point of view (uses "you, your")
✔ Third-person point of view (uses "he, she, they, it")
 Students analyze whether the third-person narrator is:
✔ Omniscient - all-knowing
✔ Limited - knows only one character’s perspective
4. Setting Analysis
 The teacher directs students to understand the time, place, or location of the story.
 The setting may also refer to a specific historical period (for historical fiction).