Fall, 2002, 07E:123, Section 004

Reading and Responding to Children’s Literature

Renita Schmidt Course Supervisor:

N231 LCDr. Cynthia Lewis

335-5428N276 LC

335-5427

Office Hours: T & Th before and after class

or by appointmentOffice Hours: Tues. 3-4 PM

Thurs. 7-8 PM

Course Description and Goals

Reading and teaching children’s literature will be the focus of this course.

I will help you

  • explore a wide variety of genres of children’s literature,
  • become more knowledgeable in your ability to select, read, and teach children’s literature,
  • develop expertise in using children’s literature in the elementary classroom for aesthetic, personal, social, and critical purposes,
  • and examine the ways readers interact with texts and each other to make meaning while reading and discussing texts.

Ongoing Expectations

This is a professional development course so it is expected that you will be present and prepared for class each day. Completing assignments, bringing requested materials to class, and reading materials before class are all essential to full and effective participation. Our class also relies heavily on discussion, group work, and active learning, so you cannot participate fully if you are absent, late, uninvolved, or unprepared. Read all assignments by the due date lasted on the course schedule. All assignments must be completed on time. Absences and tardiness will be taken into account in the final grading process. Missing more than two classes will alter your grade for the course. If you absolutely must miss a class, please talk with me about this and then talk to a classmate about what you have missed. Students who are absent are required to be on schedule with assignments and to make arrangements for completing missed work.

Part of professionalism is academic honesty. If you use another author’s ideas or words in your own written work, you must give the author credit through an appropriate reference. Attempting to use an author’s or classmate’s words or their work as your own is plagiarism and is reason for course failure.

Course Texts (available at IMU Bookstore)

Elementary Children’s Literature: The Basics for Teachers and Parents, Nancy A. Anderson

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, Francisco Jimenez

The Giver, Lois Lowry

The Misfits, James Howe

Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse

The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963, Christopher Curtis

One book by Gail Carson Levine (to be determined later in the semester)

  • Ella Enchanted
  • The Fairy’s Mistake
  • Cinderellis and the Glass Hill
  • The Princess Test
  • Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep
  • The Fairy’s Return (Not yet released so may not be possible)
  • For Biddle’s Sake (Not yet released so may not be possible)

Other readings and articles will be available on our WebCT site under readings, so you will not need to purchase a course pak! We will also be using the variety of materials in the Curriculum Lab on a regular basis.

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Assignments should be typed in a 12-point font and double-spaced with one-inch margins. Please staple all pages and include your name, date, and assignment topic at the top of the first page.

  1. Journal 30% Participation 10%

I see this journal and class participation tied together very closely. I intend the journal to be a tool to make complete participation in class more meaningful for all of us, because participation and contributions will be very important to the success of this class. I will try to create an environment where talk is distributed equitably during discussion, but I’d like you to do your part in assuring that your contributions are active and constructive as well. Your commitment to careful reading and a willingness to talk about that reading are crucial aspects of the learning atmosphere in this class.

I will evaluate your participation by monitoring attendance and reading this journal. It should contain any notes you take as you read and reflect on materials for classroom discussion, and will also contain the specific assignments noted below. I will collect this journal four times during the semester so please keep your responses in either a pocket folder or spiral notebook. They do not need to be typed.

  • Me, A Reader Reflection
  • Favorite Book Revisited
  • Picture Book Assignment
  • Controversial Literature Assignment
  • Folklore Assignment
  • Fairy Tales

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