Final answer:
Effective literature teaching for children encompasses teaching reading skills through matching materials to their reading levels and active engagement with texts. Critical thinking and the symbiotic relationship between reading and writing further enrich the literary experience. Literature becomes a medium for understanding social dynamics and personal growth.
Step-by-step explanation:
Research studies stress the importance of literature for children, highlighting two key practices in teaching reading skills: daily review until mastery paired with evaluations and selecting reading material that aligns with children's reading levels followed by related activities.
Literature teaching traditionally involves text analysis and cultural history, yet the essence of literature in the classroom extends to augmenting our social understanding, turning it into learning for life. Through reading, we gain insight into human relations, experiences, and emotions that reflect universal aspects of reality, enhancing our perspectives on life.
An essential aspect of studying literature is active engagement with the text, using tools like reading journals. Maintaining critical thinking through inquiry and communication in varied rhetorical and cultural contexts is crucial, both in academic settings and beyond. The act of reading involves the interrelated processes of experience, interpretation, and evaluation, as characterized by Robert DiYanni.
Furthermore, the act of reading and related activities such as research and writing form a symbiotic unity that enhances not only the perception of a text but also the critical and creative faculties of the reader. Dr. Milligan’s commentary underscores this, emphasizing the collaborative journey of writer and reader in providing a complete literary experience.