Children's Literature
Elementary Education 408
Requirements and Assignments 

Attendance: Attendance at all classes is required. In case of emergency please notify me before the class time. Five points will be dropped from the attendance score for each day missed -- in addition to any other points for participation depending upon the day's activities. Bodily presence is not enough by itself, you should be actively engaged in the discussions and activities and should have completed the assigned readings prior to attending class.  More than four absenses will result in failure of the course. (25 pts)

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Children's Literature Binder: The Binder will include all materials collected and/or written for the course. Your binder should be brought to every class.  They will occasionally be shared in small groups and your peers will have an opportunity to react to your work. Binders will be collected again on the final day of class.



1. 22 picture book responses (18 by you, 4 by you and a P-8 student):

All written responses should include author, title, illustrator, copyright date, and publisher

1 book of poetry  Discuss your response to the book.  What you like about the author's craft, what you thought about the book as a teacher, issues that arise,  and so on.

1 nonfiction tradebook     Discuss your response to the book.  What you like about the theme, author's craft, what you thought about the book as a teacher, issues that arise,  and so on.
1 biographical book    Discuss your response to the book.  You might explore your thoughts as you are reading.  What you like about the author's craft, what you thought about the book as a teacher, issues that arise,  and so on.
 

**  You may include several older books but at least 15 of the books
to which you respond must have been published within the past 7 years
(10 pts for each book, 290 pts)
 

12 novels:

1.  Teaching Ideas (1 books) Discuss more explicitly how you would use one of the Historical fiction novels in a particular class.  Would it be a read aloud, a whole class read, a choice book?  What sorts of activities might you do connected to the book,? Would students need any background knowledge before reading?  (15 pts ) 
 (15 pts each = 90)


10 & 11. Blog (For 1 Transitional and one Contemporary Realistic Fiction novel):   Create an engaging dialogue on the blog to entice others to discuss your novel.  You should raise critical issues and/or respond to what others have written about the novel. Min 3 posts each  (15pts each= 30)
12.  Choose one of the following:
Audio Book (1 response)  For what reasons might you consider including some audio books as part of the classroom. How does listening to a story differ from reading silently. Are there multiple voices, sound effects, music... do these change the reading for you?  Benefits and limitations with students.
or
Novel/Movie comparison (1 book): In this response you will discuss the general differences between the novel and the movie, highlight the key differences in one chosen scene (of around five minutes movies time), and reflect on how such a comparison might be used in a classroom.
or
Dramatic Scripts (1 book): In this response discuss how script effects you differently as a reader/viewer and how you might use these short plays in the classroom (15pts)
 
Minimum two (four sentence) paragraphs each.

(15 pts for each book, 180 pts)

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II.  Booktalks (2 books) A booktalk is a way of introducing a book in such a way that others will become interested in reading it -- like a commercial.  Usually you will say something about what makes the book interesting and then read a excerpt from the book.  Do not give away too much!   Sign up to present the booktalk on the day the book will be discussed. The second booktalk should be in a digital format: podacst, audacity, voki, vlog... be creative.  (10 pts each = 20 pts) Presented in class
 

III. Reader Autobiography: Each student will keep an informal journal that chronicles the reader's growth during the course of the semester. The journal will include reader attitudes, insights, growth and development. The journal will not be collected but will be used by the student to develop a typewritten essay that illustrates the reader's changes from the beginning to the end of the course. The report should be at least two pages typed double-spaced. (30 pts)
 
 

IV. Illustrator Study: Each student will write a study of a picture book illustrator which includes a short biography, and a write up of at least three of the illustrator's works.  A handout should be prepared for distribution in class, and the project will be presented -- brief discussion of the illustrator and the chosen books.  Include sources -- websites, reviews, articles, interviews. (20 pts)

V. Visual Interpretation of an image from a picturebook -- in a small group you will choose one page from a picture book and construct an interpretation (10 pts)

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Online assignments:

These are submitted via Livetext but you should also include a hard copy in your binder

VI. Inquiry field project 1 : Culturally rich inventory (action research): Action research involves finding a problem or issue relevent to your classroom; researching what has been written about the issue; and then changing the situation in your classroom in a way that might be beneficial.  In this mini research we will look at the issue of cultural representations in literature and how this might impact children. We will look at some of the theory in class. Then you will examine a classroom library during your methods visitations. Create a graph of at least 10 variables, at least 5 of which should be related to culture and ethnicity (f.ex. Euro-American characters; color-me-brown characters; non-human characters; African American characters; Latino characters; authors of color; white authors...).  After creating the graph look to see where the gaps are in terms of cultural representations. If there are gaps look for two age appropriate books with rich cultural detail to help fill those gaps.  If the collection does not seem to have gaps choose two books that are found in the classroom library and reflect on how these benefit the educational environment of the classroom.    (30 pts)

VII.  Inquiry field project 2: Exploration of a Core Reading Program: Examine the reading selections included in the core reading program in your field placement. Look for answers to these questions: 1.) Are trade books being used within the program? 2.) If the literature is in an anthology format, are the stories included abridged, extracts, or previously unpublished material written for the anthology? 3.) How current are the reading selections? 4.) Is there diversity in terms of the authors and characters included? 5.) Are award winning books part of the selections?  6). What are the benefits and limitations of having all students read these preselected materials rather than having students work with selections from the classroom or  school library?  Respond to each of these questions in your essay.    (30 pts)

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VIII.  Professional Development Event:  Each student will attend, assist with a professional development event related to literature/literacy that occurs outside of regular class time. A reflection on this event will be submitted. (30 pts)

Additional presentation:

IX. Each student will help lead a discussion over one of the genres as presented in a textbook.  Each student who signs up for a genre will choose a textbook to read for information on that genre.  Students will then get together as a group to  create a definition of the genre and decide how to present the material.  Each group member will find two picture books which fit the group's definition.  The presentation should include a definition(s), examples of the genre, selection criteria, key authors (illustrators), and other interesting information. (20 pts)
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Grades are crude assessment tools but since you have to be assigned a grade here is the breakdown:
630-590 pts. A

589-550 pts. B

549-500 pts. C

499-450 pts. D