Stacy Darwin LSIS 5505-OL1 Dr. Edna Cogdell August 28, 2010
Overview of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Sensory-Motor Period Ages: infancy to about 2 years Child responds best to sensory-motor play and participation with loving adult. Preoperational Period Ages: approx 2 – 7 years Child responds to predictable stories and built-in repetition. Concrete Operational Period Ages: approx years Child’s thought process is now systematic, orderly, flexible and reversible. Formal Operations Ages: begins around age 11 Child develops abstract theoretical thought processes. Source: Kiefer, Barbara. Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature, p. 38.
Let’s take a closer look at the Concrete Operational Stage and Appropriate Literature! Because of their more developed cognitive ability to rearrange a sequence of events and problem solve, children in the middle grades of elementary school love: Mysteries Choose Your Own Adventure Stories with complex plot features such as flashbacks Action and adventure! (Kiefer 38)
What else do they like? Older elementary students are able to identify with different and varied points of view. Their thought processes are also flexible and reversible. “Fractured” Fairy Tales told from alternative characters Stories with complex plot features such as flashbacks Books that are humorous (Kiefer 47)
Additional Types of Literature To Enjoy: Time concepts and spatial relationships are developing for children this age. Therefore, they enjoy: Biographies Life in other lands, in the past and in the future (Kiefer 47, 48) The newly developed cognitive growth and continued language develop enables them to be more successful with problem solving and word play. Riddles, secret codes, and language play
More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School by Louis Sachar This book is part of the Wayside School series, but it contains much less narrative than the typical Louis Sachar novel. Instead, this humorous book is full of interactive math riddles, puzzles and word problems that require the deductive reasoning that becomes more possible in the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. Unlike its predecessor, Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School, this book offers more support and help via the three sections in the back of the book titled clues, hints and answers. This feature broadens the audience that can enjoy the book because some children earlier in this developmental stage (8-9 year olds) will also be able to find success (though, probably with assistance at first). Cover art from
The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley Magic, adventure, and mystery! The Sisters Grimm series utilizes many developmental interests to capture the imaginations of its young readers. Children in late elementary have the ability to follow the action of the two Grimm sisters (descendents of the original Brothers Grimm) as they unravel crimes and mysteries while interacting with characters in situations reminiscent of classic fairy-tales, fables and folklore. Developmentally, readers in the concrete operational period of cognitive development posses the thought processes to enjoy the problem solving and varied plot twists. Cover art from
Works Cited Buckley, Michael and Peter Ferguson. The Sisters Grimm Book 1: the Fairy-Tale Detectives. Amulet, Kiefer, Barbara. Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, GoodReads.. Sachar, Louis. More Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2004.