Teaching Resources - Preschool Lesson Plans Books and Children Books Life Lessons

Teachers have a tremendous amount of power in the lives of children. A teacher of literature and language arts is probably one of the more fortunate of the group, because they are privileged to see children grab language concepts and run with them. They see the depth of a child through their writing and rejoice with them as they develop reading skills. However, it is no easy task being a teacher. The hours of preparation that go into a single lesson would be enough to daunt a person who isn't called to this honorable profession.

Fortunately, there are many places on the internet where teachers can find material to plan their lessons. Teacher's lesson plan books can be purchased at book outlets and supply stores that specialize in teaching materials. Lesson plan books are available from preschool lesson plan books all the way through high school. A teacher can find the aids he or she needs to help in creating children's book lesson plans wherein students are taught how to write their own books.

Using Literature to Teach Math

Lesson plans, while similar in structure, differ in content and objective. Using a textbook as a base, teachers build a learning platform that enables their students to grasp concepts or develop skills, or both. There are children's books that teach math; however the subject can be very dry and boring unless or until a child can grasp a concept and feel the excitement that comes with understanding something difficult. In times past, the way math was taught (for the most part) was through a teacher's lecture and the child's personal struggle to understand. Today, children's literature and enthralling story books coupled with edible manipulatives help children get concepts like never before. To understand fractions, a children's book that teaches math, "The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book" can be read and a Hershey's bar is used to help understand the concept - and eaten at the same time. It can make learning a lot more fun.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Using children's literature in lesson plans is an excellent way to reinforce concepts and give the children exposure to great books at the same time. For instance, there are children's books that teach respect and by incorporating them into a lesson plan by having the children read the books and learn songs about respect, you reinforce the need for them to honor other people and their things. Reading about men and women who changed their world by respecting others and, as a result, gained respect for themselves and their cause is another way to use children's books to teach respect.

Learning respect is only one of the life lessons children can learn about through books. Children's books teach life lessons, especially books that are children's literature. Stories of real-life people who experience real-life issues help kids to know that they're not alone in their experience. Folk tales and fables, stories about animals-like rabbits and birds-often have life lessons attached to them and are wonderful ways to communicate values to little children.

A Sample English Literature Lesson

When it comes to language arts and teaching English literature, children's books enhance text-book and class lessons. An example of an English literature lesson based upon a book is a lesson using the book Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall. The objective of the teaching portion is to increase appreciation for literature, expand and foster vocabulary growth, develop deduction and prediction skills, practice public speaking, develop creative writing skills, and enhance group interaction through discussion. A target vocabulary is decided and the teacher explains to the children what she wants them to be thinking about while the story is being read. Asking the children to think about what is going on in the story and how the story might end, as well as asking them to put themselves into Miss Nelson's classroom, gives the children the guidelines for their imagination to wander within. The teacher reads the book and displays the pictures as she reads, stopping the story mid-way. Then, time is spent by the children concluding the story. Depending upon their grade level, they can either draw a picture or write their summary, or they can be broken into small groups and do a little sketch of their interpretation of what the ending might look like. The teaching time ends with a group discussion as some children share their conclusions with the class.

By using lesson plans designed to encourage children to think, imagine, write, use tactile skills, and other faculties, teaching English using a children's book can be a rewarding and exciting adventure into literature for children in the classroom.