"I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD" W. Wordsworth,

The first image that comes into my mind is a colorful summer day in the woods. I am glad to acknowledge that happiness is also a good topic to write about. This is why I believe this part of the poem: "A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company" is kind of ironic. Wordsworth demonstrates by this writing that he can do it. He can be the one to open nature to poetry, to show those colorful feelings that he sees in his life. We need in this world more of these writers to improve our living style and the relationships with other human beings.

I am not sure about what daffodils mean, but it is one of the things which provokes him happiness and joy. I see more than feel. My eyes worked better than my heart with the colorful images that he described and I interpreted.

I am happy to find out that there are many common objects that provokes feeling into sensitive people such as Wordsworth.

"When I have fears that I may cease to be" by John Keats

There are many feelings that we as human beings are allowed to feel. I believe most people avoid suffering which it may sound natural, but How are you going to enjoy happiness if you have never been sad??

This poem made me reflect about the power of human beings. There are some people that can take whatever comes to their life while others make a storm in a tea cup. We are all different; we try to live our lives in the best way we can, but why do we avoid sufffering? Is it natural? Is it cultural?

The author stated that he feels fear of losing what he is and he has. He tries to express his feelings through these lines. I wonder what do I fear the most?

This poem keeps me wonder about the importance of living your life day after day instead of waiting for that perfect moment that may be never come.

Kubla Khan by Samuel Coleridge

“Poetry is an art…of representing, in words, external nature and human thoughts and affections, both relatively to human affections, by the production of as much immediate pleasure in parts, as is compatible with the largest sum of pleasure in the whole”.

Poetry is more than a text. It is a way of representing your feeling through words. It’s a way of showing other worlds to people who don’t see beyond their nose. But, who is the one in charged of telling these stories? Where are places in which these stories and feelings occurred?
Samuel Coleridge is one of those men who were allowed to tell his own stories, a man who found into Poetry a way of expressing his own self to the rest of the world. The one who could take a pen a write about those other places nobody had seen until he found them.
To me Poetry is a complex art. It wants to express the author’s feeling at the moment of writing but sometimes, it does not find a feeling in the audience’s hearts. This is the reason why I believe there is a book for everybody, there must be a poem for every feeling.

"The little black boy" W. Blake

To distinguish colors we need to be able to see. Most people are allowed to see biologically, although not everybody has the skill to see through things. This is the reason why I believe William Blake had the gift to put into words those elements he could perceive in human beings. He incorporates nature as the basis of every human being, for instance, showing a relationship between a mother and her son. At the same time, he describes some important elements that are involved when talking about the time: the present where the story is being told and the past where the story took place. Finally, the author ends his work with the development of some ideas that are tangible as a hug or a kiss and intangible, represented by the love the both characters feel for each other. How can love be represented?? In this case, by a mother taking care of her son and the baby being as calm as the environment allow him/her to be. Can you see through this picture what I just tell you in my own words?

Ways of helping students enjoying reading

Reading is one of the four skills considered to be essential in order to acquire a language. However we should ask ourselves how often is this skill used in classrooms? We as future teacher need to be aware of the importance of bringing literature into the classroom and the ways in which students can enrich their lives. If teachers can and have the ability to make their students open their minds to new worlds, they will discover that literature can be enjoyable too.
Thus, the following question comes out: How and why to include reading into the classroom? Children are eager to share their personal experiences with others. When they enter school and become students, it seems that this institution, based on the class lessons, does not consider children’s personality and natural curiosity they brought from home. This is reason why, it is fundamental to know that books bring new stories and experiences into everybody’s lives. Literature should be included into EFL classroom and presented to students.
As Jacqueline Kennedy said “There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all.” Throughout this research, three different strategies will be presented regarding to how to introduce literature into the classroom in order to motivate students to read more and enjoy it.

The first strategy is based on the idea of a classroom turning into a community of readers. The purpose of this idea is using the four skills in order to respond to literature in the classroom, and enriching students’ personal experiences by communicating their ideas to their classmates. According to Tompkins (2001), literature allows students to learn about the world and be transported into new lands to experience different lives than their own. Based on this idea, he proposes literature-rich classrooms as a strategy, in which the classroom becomes a place where students can read, talk, write and discuss about literature, creating a community of reading. This idea would be particularly interesting in an EFL classroom, considering that teachers need to teach a new language. In the complexity of teaching new words and concepts, this strategy would allow teachers to interact with the students in such ways that they would feel part of the learning process. Using this strategy in the classroom will allow students to choose what to read, helping them to become more independent and responsible learners.

Reading allows students to learn in a different way and at the same time, develop social-cognitive skills. The second strategy is based on promoting discussion groups in the classroom founded on readings will permit these students to develop communicational and interactional skills. According to Evans (2006) students enjoy more participating on these groups because they get engage into the discussion which promotes more reading into the classroom. Following the same idea, Tompkins (2001) states that as people read, they create imaginary places which contains feelings and thought that are part of the readers own world. This is called an aesthetic experience, according to the Cambridge Advanced Dictionary is a concept related to beauty and enjoyment of an activity. In this case, the purpose of these discussion groups is to give students the opportunity to talk, reflect and discuss about topics or stories presented through literature, and that they can relate to their own experiences. Evans introduces that there are a variety of models to form these discussion groups; but there are some elements in common: reading, discussion of ideas and opinions, and considering students’ feeling that appear through the reading.
In order to promote reading motivation in the students, they need to take an active role in classroom activities. Consequently, teachers should consider the idea of including students’ perspectives and expectations into their planning. Students know what kind of stories they like or not. Even more, they have some prior knowledge about literature that can be used in the lessons. This is why it seems appropriate to introduce Tompkins (2001) types of reading activities in the classroom, for instance, reading aloud, shared, guided and independent reading.

The third and final strategy is based on the idea of introducing folk into the classroom. According to Young (2003) bringing folk into the classroom will allow students to appreciate more their own culture. Since the purpose of folk is to teach social behaviors and manners to the readers, the students are going to enrich their lives by using these types of stories to learn a new language. The use of this strategy will bring common sense into the classroom but also creativity; students can learn from reading these stories but also by bringing their own into the classroom. The creation of this type of stories by the students dealing with their personal lives and their closest surroundings can enrich a classroom.
The purpose of everything a teacher does should include personal interests and likes. This is the reason why if students learn how to enjoy reading it will create the mood in which students will use this skill in more than just a language class. To include it into the classroom is necessary to find special ways of doing it and also, the teachers’ disposition to innovate in the lessons. The purpose of this essay was to show that there are many ways of presenting literature into the classroom but also, to support the idea that students should read. Students need to learn how to develop their own skills using the teacher’s guidance, but also knowing that they have enough resources and abilities to do it on their own.

In conclusion, reading is an essential skill when teaching students not only a new language, but in the general sense of the word. It helps them to expand their knowledge, develop their personality and express their thought and ideas. Group discussion and the analysis of different literature genres can show the diversity of choices that students have at the moment of choosing a story that will meet their needs and that will capture their attention, which is the exact point where literature becomes the teacher’s ally. Classrooms need to become communities in which students can learn from the interaction among their peers and the teacher and reading provides the perfect opportunity to achieve this.

References:
“Aesthetic” Cambridge Advanced Dictionary. 13 July 2009. Cambridge University Press 2009.
Evans, Karen. Literature Discussion Groups in the Intermediate Grades. Delaware: International Reading Association, 2006.
Tompkins Teaching Reading with Literature. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 2001.
Young, Terrell. Happily Ever After: sharing folk literature with elementary and middle school students. Delaware: International Reading Association, 2003.

Ways of helping students enjoying reading

OUTLINE

introduction: why and how to do it

Body: literature-rich classrooms

literature discussion groups

bringing Folk to the classroom

conclusion: enjoy reading; students' interest; teachers' role in the classroom