Kathy Short answers these and other questions in this introductory book on how to integrate literature into your curriculum. Reading real books adds to the process of understanding and learning. Stories that are worth reading and that extend children's experiences and enrich their minds also motivate them to making reading part of their lives.
Literature is one pathway to knowing and understanding the world.
Literature opens up an awareness of society and culture. Because literature should be part of a curriculum that provides a meaningful engagement with language, she shows you how to use real books to give children opportunities to learn. And you will be able to develop important reading strategies through mini-lessons, conferences, and shared and guided reading. As an example of a curricular framework, Kathy explains the authoring cycle, which uses inquiry to involve students deeply in a theme or topic. She concludes with a discussion of evaluation as part of the curriculum and offers specific examples of evaluation techniques and samples of the appropriate forms.