Texts
Article Packet available from TIS Bookstore. To order your reading packet from TIS Bookstore, call 1-800-238-1229 or (812) 332-3306, extension 251, or send an email to John Wigley at jwigley@tisbook.com. If you are in Bloomington, you can purchase the packet at TIS Bookstore, 1302 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401. It should be shelved with the other Education course texts.
Rowlings, J .K. (1997). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Spinnelli, J. (1990). Maniac Magee. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
Taylor, M.D. (1976). Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. New York: Puffin Books
Konigsburg, E.L. The View From Saturday.
Martin, R. A Storyteller’s Story.
Many and various children’s books via purchase and/or library borrowing.
Course Description
This course will examine the use of children’s literature, trade books, poetry, and non-textbook materials for teaching language arts and reading in grades K-8. Special emphasis will be placed on developing personal understandings of how children’s literature can be used to foster awareness, compassion, and insights into interpersonal relationships, cultural differences, and social justice. In addition to reading a wide variety of children’s literature, we will be reading about, discussing, and inquiring into:
Web Quest: As in introduction to the field of children’s literature, conduct a search on the World Wide Web. Find 4 quality web sites that deal with some aspect of this course (see schedule) or other issues in the field that interest you. The kinds of pages you may want to see out include:
Please post your findings to SSF.
For class: Post to ssf a brief summary and critical review of the sites (paragraph or two) including the pros/cons of the sites, why you think they are worthy of sharing with the class, what it’s good for/what you like about it/how you would use it/what was surprising, and any other comments you have about the site including problems or questions. This is a great opportunity to gather resources for upcoming course assignments. This assignment is worth 20 points.
Literature Journal. Because of the wealth of valuable information and outstanding children’s books we will be exploring during the semester you are to keep an electronic journal. This will be a place to record your thoughts and ideas about:
The journal may be kept in a word processing file to be posted on SSF towards the end of the semester. This assignment is worth 10 points.
Oral Interpretation. This will be discussed more during week 1 assignments. You will have a choice of reading a book aloud to children in a setting of your choice (but preferably in a classroom of some sort) or by telling a story much like storytellers present theirs. This assignment is worth 20 points.
Book Talks and Book Circles. Weekly we will be posting ‘book talks’ to SSF. These talks will be in the format specified on SSF which includes APA style bibliographic information, a brief summary, specific ideas on how you would use it in your classroom, and 3-4 questions that you may ask children to answer to spur discussion of the book. These questions should be open-ended questions that enable children to think critically about the book.
In addition, three times during the semester, you will bring three books to “class” that are great examples of the type of children’s literature we are exploring for that week. You will have the opportunity to join different Book Circles to browse, read, and record reflections and ideas. For the three books you ‘bring to class,’ type a short Book Circle Brochure that contains the following:
These are great ways to develop text sets and theme study components to use in your classrooms. This assignment is worth a total of 30 points.
Writer’s Workshop/Picture Book Study. You will investigate picture books and compose a self-authored picture book. Guidelines will be provided. Your picture book will be shared with children during Author’s Celebration. Author’s Celebration will be done on SSF via both the chat room and power point presentations. If you have access to a video camera, and are willing to be videotaped sharing your book, this would be a great way for all of us to see your book. This assignment is worth 30 points.
Focused Study Project. In teams, create a focused study project around a broad theme or topic that highlights an interpersonal issue, social justice concern, or an Issue that has a direct connection to the lives of students, families, or the community. You can even do an “author study” if the author has written 20 or more books that are connected in some way. This assignment is worth 55 points. The same goes for an “illustrator study.’ Components of the project include:
**You will receive a detailed explanation of this assignment and a sample focused study when assignment is posted to SSF.
I-Search Paper. The “I-Search” paper strategy came from the book, I-Search Paper, by Ken Macrorie (Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 1984). This type of paper differs from a traditional research paper. You pick an issue that fascinates you and pursue a “search” to answer your questions about the topic. A good I-Search paper reflects who you are and what you care about—it’s a compelling story about your search. This assignment is worth 55 points.
Since we don’t have time to study all aspects of children’s literature in this course, you will be able to choose any topic related to children’s literature that you want to know more about. Possible topics might include:
Organization: (4 parts)
You will receive a detailed explanation of this assignment and a sample I-Search paper. This explanation is adapted from Kathryn Keen.
Grading:
Assignments will be given points. Points will be distributed with the following criteria in mind.
92-100% Exceptional creativity demonstrated in fulfillment of expected criteria
82-91% Extra Effort and creativity in fulfillment of expected criteria
72-81% Fulfilled all expected criteria as stated in assignments
62-71% Minimal fulfillment of expected criteria; little effort demonstrated