From chapter 4 and 5 in the Cornett text, there were a lot of thing that enlightened me. The first of them being why some develop a reading habit. Research suggests that interesting literature is a big part in the habit, because it motivates students to read and in turn they comprehend at a higher level. A good example of that, was the Harry Potter series, or the Twilight series. Students are reading big chapter books that interests them. Also, I found out that "students involved with multicultural literature showed less negative attitude toward those different from themselves" (page 147). Seems like the more exposure they are to different people and culture, the less close-minded they are. I think it's very important to incorporate multicultural literature in the classroom in that case.
The text and the Jazz Similes video connected with both being pro-Art Integration. In the video the students and teacher constantly used hand motions, body movements, and even music within the Black History Month lesson. In one section of the chapter it mentions the more art integrated in the lesson, the more engagement from the students. In the video, it was so nice to see all the students paying attention and what looked like actively learning. When the teacher asked questions everyone answered in unison. It was even nice to see her call students up and hear them play the saxophone and trumpet.
This summer and in the future, I plan on introducing books to students that they might be interested in reading. So many students dread reading, and I want my students to look forward to reading and read for amusement.
Literacy is art; poetry, spoken word, and Shakespeare to name a few. Art isn't just music, dance, and paintings. Those songs, performances, and paintings say something, they mean something. The quote, "A picture is worth a thousands words" portrays the connection between art and literacy.