An elementary school literature program for grades four to six

Lane, Shirley Anne (1989) An elementary school literature program for grades four to six. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The main purpose of this study was the development of an elementary school literature program for grades four through six. Chapter one investigates the need and the rationale for the inclusion of such a program in the elementary school curriculum. -- Chapters two and three are reviews of literature. The nature of the elementary school child is reviewed in chapter two. In particular, this chapter reviews the elementary child's intellectual development, language development and interests, and reading interests in prose and poetry. Chapter three is a review of literature on the nature of literature programs. It reviews the purposes, the organization, the content, the teaching approaches, and the evaluation methods of literature programs as presented by different writers. -- Based upon the nature of the elementary school child, the nature of literature, and the nature of literature programs, an elementary school literature program is designed in chapter four. This chapter begins with a rationale for the inclusion of literature in the elementary school curriculum. This rationale is based upon the contribution of literature to the education of the imagination. Six purposes are recommended for the literature program, the main one being to stimulate and develop children's imaginations. An organization based on genres is the approach recommended for organizing the literature curriculum. The genres recommended for study are poetry, folk literature, fantasy, historical fiction, and modern realistic fiction. Within each genre specific literary selections are recommended for study. Some instructional approaches are also suggested for the teaching of literature. The chapter concludes with a sample unit for the literary selection Charlotte's Web.

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