Literature is a soft tool through which authors communicate their messages to the target audience. In pedagogy, writers use distinctive diction and content to help learners explore every level of their learning processes. Munsch uses his educational skills to design a masterpiece for children in their early stages in the book “Smelly Socks.” Notably, Munsch’s content is appropriate for the age group 5- 9 years. His narration portrays contextual stories intended to benefit those who are beginning to grasp the basic knowledge about language, color, and other tutoring aspects. The young ones at this age love stories told using various figurative language. Smelly Socks is appropriate for this group because it has compelling images that attract this target audience’s attention.
The recitation is about Tina, whose grandfather takes her across the river and buys her a pair of red, yellow, and green socks. She wears them for a long time and refuses to remove them until they start foul-smelling. Interestingly, Tina’s friends walk her down the stream and wash the dirty garments. Unexpectedly, she likes the activities that unfolded and wishes the mother could buy a shirt that matches the socks so that she can use it until it is dirty enough to encounter a similar fate (Munsch & Martchenko, 2004). Such tales are always fascinating to youngsters as they visualize what would have happened in real life.
A competent teacher would always allude to opening situations using questions and pictures. For instance, teachers could begin by asking how many learners know how many have their grandparents or who love new clothing. Such queries would intrigue and attract children’s attention, making them concentrate on what will happen in the whole situation. The author of the book uses images of people traveling on a boat as well as garments being washed.
Young learners can use this book to promote language by enabling an inclusive and learning-friendly environment where each participant has a voice. Munsch (2004) provides a vibrant strategy to engage the youngsters in sessions that create long-term memories. At the same time, it also boosts their cognitive performance. In essence, becoming friendly and sincere with the toddlers promotes favorable conditions for stories and language competence. Primarily, honest and reachable students have the ability to absorb the course content; hence, every other aspect of education becomes more comfortable to execute.
Munsch considers inclusiveness towards all his audience using pictorial illustrations to mirror the actual implications of the words in real life. All children in the age bracket tend to like language presentation using images, diagrams, and illustrations to understand and relate to every theme in the stories. Notably, as the author, he leaves room for the learners to also participate in filling up blanks, including names of places, animals, and even other expressions. Concurrently, multiple other examples can be used to help pupils improve their linguistics and competence.
One of Munsch’s masterpiece’s key strengths is that it ignites a positive relationship between the teacher and the learner. In essence, it seems to advocate for an individual-based approach in teaching to enable the instructor to get closer to his audience using fictitious tales. The mentioning of colors and physical features exposes the learner to practical issues that each of them faces on a daily basis (Munsch & Martchenko, 2004).
On the contrary, a comprehensive illustration of linguistic context is missing in the description. Some teachers may misinterpret the thematic aspects of the book and potentially mislead the audience. For instance, narrating Tina’s story while engaging the folks into riding boat showcases mix-up issues and may result in poor evaluation outcomes (Munsch & Martchenko, 2004). Such technique is fundamental in effective learning and interpersonal relations.
Purpose: Activity
There are several activities to make stories come to life among toddlers. Munsch’s story has vital elements of language that need to be learned and mastered in class. This activity aims to encourage the students to develop new and exciting methods of presenting language and literacy activities to children. A total of ten (10) pupils will benefit from this plan. The event will involve an array of song sessions and body movements. As the leader, it is essential to ensure that everyone is on board. Some of the rules of this game will include total concentration. The participants must first know what to do at what time during the procedure.
The main words to respond to will consist of the river, wash, new, and walk. The first rule will be that whenever there is a need to act like in the story, the audience will respond as if they are the actual doers of these verbs in the scene. For instance, upon mentioning washing, they must behave like they are doing the chores in the streams as mentioned.
Succinctly, at the end of the play, these youngsters will fill in drawn blank spaces identifying the features learned during the story. Likewise, the procedure will involve momentary pauses with question-answer moments to ensure that there is sustained focus among the target group. In an ideal situation, organizing the learners in small play groups with name tags will help keep them alert and ensure they can comprehend every aspect of the story without getting bored.
Reference
Munsch, R. N., & Martchenko, M. (2004). Smelly socks. Scholastic Canada.