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Traditional Literature

Traditional Literature is literature that was originally told orally from one generation to the next, is mostly narrated, has no identified authors, and usually explained the origin of natural events or revealed the social, political and spiritual beliefs of a society.

Who doesn't love a good story! I know I do and children especially do. That's why using Traditional Literature in the classroom is so important, and easy! There are many ways Traditional Literature can be introduced into the classroom. One way is by reading it to your students. Traditional tales are among the most memorable that children experience in literature. Because of their well defined plots, easily identifiable characters, rapid action, and happy endings, the tales lend themselves to enjoyable experiences. When introducing the story to your students, you should be prepared and creative. Build up the the story, set the mood. By stimulating their curiosity, you automatically get them hooked. Read the story convincingly, make eye contact, and have fun. By inspiring your students through traditional literature, you can motivate them to create their own stories. Creative writing is important to encourage children to love literature and writing. Traditional literature can also be used to introduce children to past cultures and values. An example of this may be reading a traditional literature book and then asking the children to identify the lessons and values in the story and then have them compare and contrast the values with those we have and use today. Creating your own version of a traditional story is also a great way to use traditional literature in the classroom, just as we did in class on Wednesday.

I will definitely use Traditional Literature in my classroom. Traditional literature helps children understand the world and identify with universal human struggles along with providing pleasure. Children's understanding of the world is increased as they learn about early cultural traditions, develop appreciation of culture and art from different countries and become familiarized with many languages and dialects of cultures around the world. Traditional literature also encourages children to realize that people from all over the world have inherent goodness, mercy, courage and determination to succeed. Who wouldn't want to make these important lessons available to their students?