Wilhelm Chapter 6

This final chapter was a fairly good ending on a rather resourceful book. Wilhelm gives us a few more examples of activities to include in our classrooms and he allows us just a little more insight into his views on the world of education. I think that one of my favorite parts of this chapter is when he admits that through his years of teaching experiences he has learned to expand his view of what constitutes literature. He says that he "began to encourage readers to read young adult novels, picture books, comic books, illustrated books, organic nonfiction pieces, and student writing." I think that this is a very significant realization because I have always felt that as long as students are reading something that they enjoy, they will be more willing to explore other literature works as they develop as readers. The importance of reader literature that you enjoy should not be overrated because it is a crucial component in the never-ending timeline of what is the life of "literature." If nobody enjoyed reading at all, then we probably wouldn't even have those comic books, illustrated novels, etc, to begin with. One more thing that I would like to mention about this chapter (I've talked about it before as well) is Wilhelm's use of dramatic activities to encourage student interactions with the texts. I feel that drama and the use of these dramatic activities allows students to think about the literature in a way that they might not have done previously. Their experiences with the characters, themes, and other elements of the story are greatly influenced by these activities. Once again, anything that can get the stuents engaged with their literature and positively affected by it should be embraced by teachers in any content area.