I really enjoyed reading fiction this semester as opposed to the standard textbook. I think teachers in elementary school use fiction a lot; however, I feel the higher you go in education, the less you see of fictional texts. What do you guys think?

Sam, I agree with you. At first I couldn't believe that we were being assigned the fiction to read. I was skeptical about how it would tie into our class. But, as I was reading, I could really see a lot of themes that we deal with in education on a daily basis. It was so worthwhile to read these books and even Pay It Forward, in our other class related to our teaching. It would be nice if we had more fiction to read along the way.

I also agree with you both. I think that reading fiction and finding the themes that we have found throughout these texts, helps to encourage me to continue along this path in the future. I now see that even if I do pick up a fictional story, I can apply it to my classroom. At the beginning I was skeptical of how a few of these themes or ideas could be applied to my setting in a kindergarten classroom. Between the fictional books read in these two classes, it has broadened my thoughts for new ideas I can use, even for five and six year olds.

I agree. Children get bored with stupid textbooks. We need to let them read ficitonal stories and relate them to what we want them to learn. I feel that if we do this they will become more intrested in their learning and they will stay more connected.

I agree Sam, research has proven that students perform better with reading comprehension through fiction rather than non-fiction. With this mindset I think that it is great that we have been introduced to using fiction as a way to communicate ideas and themes. This is a great classroom practice for the future.

I have enjoyed it as well, Sam. This year at our school we have been pushed to offer our students equal opportunites to select nonfiction books as we do fiction books. Students struggle with nonfiction because facts are facts. they can't memorize facts. They need to make connections when they read. Of course they are gonna make more connections to a fiction text, which would explain Justin's comment about research.

I agree Sam. I enjoy using novels to learn about certain topics instead of dry and dull textbook. I feel that by using novels in our classrooms, we can help students make connections to not only the characters in the stories but their situations. They get to see it through their eyes and can make those conections to how they might feel.