Children’s Literature in the Classroom: Birth to 8 yrs

LRC 480c/ Section 1, Fall 2010

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this course is to give participants an opportunity to explore oral and written stories and the literature available for young children; the authors, illustrators, and poets who write for young children; and the resources available on children’s literature.  These experiences will provide a foundation for using children’s literature in early childhood settings from birth through age 8.

COURSE PURPOSES and OBJECTIVES

The primary learning intent of this course is an exploration of the literature available for young children, including infants, toddlers, pre-K, and K-3. This course is primarily a survey course of children’s literature for young children and the resource materials related to that literature.  We will look closely at the ways in which visual images convey meaning to young children, since the illustrations in picture books are so significant for young children. We will immerse ourselves into reading and responding in various ways to many children’s books, with a primary focus on picture books. There will be many opportunities for sharing and dialogue about literature in small group and whole class experiences. We will respond to literature through making personal connections to our reading and then exploring and critically examining those responses in literature circles with other readers. We will make decisions about the books we read and the resources we develop based on our needs and experiences as individuals and as teachers. We will have many opportunities to reflect on what we are learning through writing, talking, and self-evaluations. We will explore literature from a multicultural and international orientation to expand our understanding of the cultural pluralism in children’s lives and world. We will search out questions to investigate based on your interests and develop strategies for exploring those questions and sharing our understandings with others.

Through this course we will also explore the concept of “storying” and narratives. Storying is a way of making meaning and give structure and meaning to our experiences with others. We create realistic and imaginative stories about our experience. Even the most abstract theory can be seen as just a “bigger story” that is used to make sense of the observations about the world. Inventing the story is not enough, the story must be told and so narrative is, at heart, a social process. For young children, the invention and telling of stories is continuously evidenced in their play and talk. We will explore how our use of literature with young children can build on their understanding of stories. (AZ. Professional Teacher Standards woven throughout the above course purpose and objectives paragraph---Standards:  1.0, 1.4, 1.7, 1.12, 2.0, 2.9, 2.10, 3.0, 3.3, 3.5, 3.8, 3.10, 3.11, 3.12, 6.0, 6.1, 6.3, 7.0, 7.1, 7.1a, 7.3, 7.5, 8.0, 8.1, 8.6, & 8.8).

The specific objectives for the course include:

• You will gain a better understanding of yourself as a reader and of how to engage in personal and critical response to literature. (AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 6.0, 6.1, 7.0, 7.1, & 7.1a).
• You will develop a broad knowledge of the various genres and types of books for young children, including the major authors and illustrators of these books.(AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 7.0, 7.1, 7.1a, 8.0, 8.1 & 8.4).
• You will become familiar with the literary and artistic elements and how they interact to create an effective picture book for young children in order to evaluate the literary quality and appropriateness of specific books. (AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 1.0, 1.7, 3.3, 7.0, 7.1, 7.1a, 8.0, 8.1 & 8.4).
• You will be able to use reference sources to locate information on children’s literature. (AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 1.0, 1.7, 7.0, 7.1, 7.1a, 8.0, 8.1 & 8.4).
• You will examine the role of literature in the lives of young children, particularly in relation to engaging young children with literature for both personal and academic purposes.  (AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 7.0, 7.1, 7.1a, 8.0, 8.1 & 8.4; AZ Early Learning Standards:  Social Emotional, Strand 1:  Knowledge of Self—concept 1; Language & Literacy, Strand 1:  Oral Language Development—concepts 1 and 2; Language & Literacy, Strand 2:  Pre-Reading Process---concepts 2 & 6).
• You will develop an awareness of social, multicultural and international issues as they connect to literature for young children. (AZ Professional Teacher Standards: 1.4 & 8.6; AZ Early Learning Standards:  Social Emotional, Strand 1:  Knowledge of Self—concept 1; Language & Literacy, Strand 1:  Oral Language Development—concepts 1 and 2; Language & Literacy, Strand 2:  Pre-Reading Process---concepts 3 & 6; Social Studies, Strand 4:  Geography---concept 2).

Topics included within the course are:

Our class experiences are based on the following beliefs about learning (adapted from Dr. Kathy Short):

1. Learning is an active process.

We will immerse ourselves in reading and responding in a variety of ways to many children’s books

2. Learning is a social process of collaboration with others.

We will explore our thinking about our reading through dialogue in small groups.  Opportunities for informal interaction and sharing about literature will also occur in both small and whole group experiences.

3. Learning occurs when we make connections to our own experiences.

We will respond to literature by making personal connections to our reading and then by exploring and critically examining those responses in literature circles with other readers.

4. Choices allow learners to connect to their experiences and feel ownership in the curriculum.

We will have choices in what we read, how we respond, and the specific focus of projects

and small group activities.

5. Learning occurs in a multicultural world that honors many ways of knowing.

We will explore children’s literature from a multicultural perspective, expanding our understanding of the cultural pluralism in children’s lives and in literature.

6. Learning is reflective as well as active.

We will have many opportunities to reflect on what we are learning through writing, art, talking, reflections and self-evaluations.

7. Learning is a process of inquiry.

As learners, we search out questions we care about and we develop strategies for exploring those questions and for sharing our learning and understanding with others.

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES ON MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION (LRC, University of Arizona)

The term “multicultural education” expresses the essential mission of the department and the university. Multicultural education is not just “about” certain subjects; it does not merely offer “perspectives” on education: It is an orientation to our purposes in education – and ultimately an orientation to life, one that values diversity of viewpoints and experiences and sees people as valuable contributors to the experience of school and society.  Life in universities is a self-consciously multicultural experience, from the varieties of personal, social, and cultural backgrounds represented in it to the full spectrum of ideas and disciplinary traditions that compose the community of scholars.  Our recognition of this central tenet leads us to commit ourselves to the following general principles.

• Learners bring a variety of linguistic and cognitive strengths from their families, communities and nations into the classroom; these strengths are resources to be appreciated as such by educators.
• Education must expand on the linguistic and cognitive strengths that learners already possess and bring with them to the classroom, rather than ignore or try to replace them with others.
• Respect and appreciation for cultural and community knowledge means that universities serve the interest of education when they allow for an exchange of views, rather than rely exclusively on a transmission model of instruction.
• We recognize the existence of a variety of communities – each with its own voice and interests – both within and outside the university; a broad education offers the opportunity to hear and study as many of these voices as possible.  Such an accommodation must include those communities, which have traditionally been excluded or underrepresented in the university.

Recognition of the validity of these general principles must be reflected in our courses, our relations with students, staff and other faculty members, and in the community life of the Department.

REQUIRED COURSE READINGS

The following texts have been ordered and can be purchased at the campus bookstore.

* Giorgis, C. & Glazer, J.(2009). Literature for young children: Supporting emergent literacy, ages 0-8, 6^th Ed. Pearson.

* Reilly Giff, Patricia. (2009). Eleven, Yearling.

* Fox, M. (2008). Reading Magic. Harcourt.

The following chapter books have been ordered and can be purchased:

* Lin, Grace. (2009). Where the mountain meets the moon. Little, Brown.

* Muñoz Ryan, Pam. (2002). Esperanza Rising. Scholastic.

Other readings

• Assigned articles on D2L
• 80 or more children’s books (minimum of 15 should be chapter books of more than 120 pages)
• Other readings and books as assigned

Sources of Children’s Books:

Children’s books can be found on special shelves in the room 455.  They can be checked out using a card system.

• University of Arizona Juvenile Collection in the Main Library, 2nd floor
• International Collection of Children’s Literature Library during open reading hours. (Room 453, books cannot be checked out)

Books are also available through various other resources:

• Public Library
• School Libraries
• Local Book Stores
• Book Club orders (Monthly book club orders will be available in class.  This is an economical opportunity for you to begin your personal library)

COURSE ASSIGMENTS

1. 80 Reading Records

Extensive and intensive reading of children’s literature is the primary focus of this course. Keep a reading record of the books you read.  You can get suggestions for the books to read from the class sessions, the course text, or books from your school or library. LRC 480-c students are typically expected to read a minimum of 80 books in a combination of picture books, poetry books, informational books (at least 65) and chapter books (at least 15) reflecting a range of genres and age levels. Your records should include books appropriate for infants, toddlers, pre-k, and K-3.

This record should be in a format that you will find useful in your classroom and in other methods courses.  Your record will vary from brief annotations, categorization, and description to more extensive annotations and analysis of your reading. Also, they will vary by the books you read. The major function of the record is for you to write down information you want for the future. You will need to decide what form your reading record will take - note cards, loose leaf notebook, computer data base, or your own form. You might create your own form where you record the book you read and develop categories to classify or rate the books based on the knowledge you get in the course.  The kinds of information included about books are the following:

• Bibliographic information on the book (ISBN #, author, title, illustrator, publisher, date, and number of pages).
• Type of book:

Toy and Baby/Board Books, Wordless Books, Picture Books: Concept Book: (Counting, Alphabet), Beginning-to-Read Books, Participation Books, Picture Story Books, Predictable Books, Engineered Books (pop-up), Chapter Book, Audiovisual, Poetry (Rhymes, Mother Goose, and Nursery rhymes), Informational).

• Your personal response (connections, tensions, comments on strengths, issues or concerns) on the text and the illustrations. What caught your attention from this book?

Decide how you want the record organized.  What system would be most helpful in quickly locating the books?  You might organize by themes, authors, types of books (genre), or some other system.

The readings for this course should be done weekly.  There may be some weeks when you read fewer books than others but this is not a project that you put off until it is due.  This course is based on continuous reading of children’s literature and you will greatly decrease your learning and participation in this class if you are not reading regularly throughout the course.

The reading record is due four times throughout the semester: will be handed in on

September 9th, October 5^th and, November 9th. The completed record and self-evaluation are due on December 2th.

2. Reflective Journal

Reflection is an important element in learning and in this class. The function of the reflective journal is to provide a place for you to think, reflect (connection), and analyze (tensions/questions) the literature you will be discussing. It is also a space to dialogue with me and another class member about your responses to the books, the class sessions, or other learning experiences. The focus of the reflective journal is on personal response to reading, reflections on your learning and thinking, and dialogue with others about these responses and reflections.

Each week, make a minimum of one entry in your dialogue journal.  One entry must always be a personal response to the reading you are going to discuss in literature circles for that week, so that you prepared to contribute to this discussion.  You may include entries on another book(s) that you have read during that week and want to think more about.  Write about your personal connections, thoughts, and questions on books you are reading.  The focus on the log is not on writing a summary or a literary analysis of a book but responding to how the book connected to you personally.

The purpose of these reflections is to give you a chance to think about the class sessions and your experiences with literature and make connections to children’s experiences.  In your reflections, write about what you are learning or thinking as well as questions and concerns.

You will submit TWO copies of your journal entries. One is a hard copy and the other copy should be electronically submitted to the Dropbox of D2L. Bring a hard copy of the journal on the day it is due and turn in it to me at the end of our class.  Entries must be 1 or 2 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, 12 font. See the Class Schedule for journal due dates.

3. Library Experiences

a. Amazing Library Race

Amazing Library Race will offer you instructive tools and services Main Library has. Bring the handout distributed in the class and your student ID to learn about the library and library services. You will learn how to locate information about authors and illustrators as well as search for book reviews and works of literary criticism. You will need to bring a well-illustrated book from your perspective to our class on September 14^th as you work on the Amazing Library Race.

b. Author/Illustrator/Poet study and Online Library Module Experience

As you read children’s books, look for a poet, author, or illustrator who particularly intrigues you or to whom you feel a strong connection. Once you have found someone, gather a collection of that person’s books and spend time reading and exploring those books. Locate information on that person through using the library reference materials. You will also be asked to complete an on-line library reference exercise as you work on the Amazing Library Race.  Read at least one or two books by this person to children and engage them in discussing or responding to this book (s) in some way.  Prepare a handout introducing the person (life and work) you have selected to share with class member and a short presentation and visual display.  Your display should be interactive and appropriate to be used at a real early childhood classroom. This exercise is due on Oct. 12^th.

4. Read Aloud and Storytelling Mini-inquiries

This inquiry is designed to help you gain experience reading and storytelling to a group of students four times during the semester:

• Sept. 2: Storytelling “Remember when” stories to a child/children.
• Sept.21: First Read Aloud: To the child/children from the paired family,
• Nov. 2: Second Read Aloud: Interactions around the Family Back Pack
• Nov.30: Third Read Aloud: at the early childhood center

For the read aloud at the early childhood center, you can either:

• Read aloud to a group of 5 or more children and facilitate a literature discussion.
• Read and discuss a book with the whole class.

After each of your read aloud inquiry, write a description and a reflection of the experience using the Well Remembered Event (Carter) as a guide for thinking about this experience (3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12 font).

5. Family Back Packs

The Family Back Pack consists of 2-3 books based on a family’s cultural background. It also includes artifacts that go along with the books and that will encourage storytelling.

6. Text Set

As we move through the end of the semester we will be working on text set construction under the subthemes of the major theme of the year, which is: Power. You will work in groups of 3-4 in creating and displaying your text sets. This text set will include a group of books that reflect your theme as well as visual. Your text set will have a handout comprising of an annotated bibliography of the text set which will be distributed during class. Further, your display of books and a visual depiction of the subtheme will be presented during class as well. You will also be asked to write a reflective paper of the process and its significance. The display of books and the visual for the class is due on Dec. 7.

7. Final Self-Reflection

This is an opportunity to share your growth as a reader, writer, researcher and learner in this class over the course of the semester.  You will be asked to write a 5-6 pages self-reflection on the impact of this course in your thinking process.  You will reflect on the role of stories in the life of young children, and given the engagements of this class (e.g. Read Aloud, Storytelling, Family Back Packs…) you will reflect on the kind of learning experiences that you would develop for the child/children and family that you observed as part of the LRC 312c. Dec. 7

9. Signature Assignment: Children’s Literature Resource Portfolio

The purpose of this portfolio is to gather and organize the projects and resources from this class and to organize them according to the course objectives. The sections of your portfolio will include:

Ÿ   Responding as a Reader

Projects and handouts in which you reflect on the role of stories in your life, yourself as a reader and in-depth personal responses to the books you have read in this class. Possible artifacts include your Literacy Map, The Story of My Name, reflective journal entries on your personal responses to literature, artistic responses to literature, reading interest/attitude surveys, etc.

Course objective: You will gain a better understanding of yourself as a reader and of how to engage in personal and critical response to literature.

Ÿ   Knowledge of Children’s Literature and Stories

Projects and handouts that reflect your knowledge of stories and children’s books and ability to evaluate the literary quality and appropriateness of these book. Include the range of books which you read as part of the class and your ability to organize text sets of conceptually related books. Artifacts in this section include your reading records, inventories of your records, and text sets lists and projects as well as other related readings and reflective journal entries.  Your final reflection on the role of stories in the lives of children would also go in this section.

Course objectives:  You will develop a broad knowledge of the various genres and types of books for children, including the major authors and illustrators of these books.           You will become familiar with the literary and artistic elements and how they interact to create an effective book for children in order to evaluate the literary quality and appropriateness of specific books.

Ÿ   Reference Sources and Resources

Projects and handouts that reflect your knowledge and use of reference sources on children’s literature and how to locate information on authors, illustrators, and poets as well as books on particular themes or topics. Artifacts in this section include library exercises, library guides, author/illustrator/poet projects and handouts, professional articles that focus on children’s literature as a field, poetry handouts.

Course objective:  You will be able to use reference sources to locate information on children’s literature.

Ÿ   Literature and Storytelling Engagements with Children

Projects and handouts that reflect ways in which literature can be used with children. Artifacts in this section include read-aloud reflections, storytelling reflections, Family Back Pack reflection, literature response strategies, professional articles or handouts on the use of books with children, professional conference or classroom visit reflections.

Course objectives:  You will examine the role of literature in the lives of children, particularly in relation to engaging children with literature for both personal and academic purposes.

Ÿ   Social and Cultural Issues in Children’s Literature

Projects and handouts that focus on specific cultural and social issues in children’s literature such as censorship, stereotypes, and controversial books. Artifacts in this section include reflective journal entries and professional articles, projects or papers on these issues.

Course objective: You will develop an awareness of social, multicultural and international issues as they connect to literature for children.

The portfolio should include a reflection for each section that cites evidence for whether or not the artifacts in that section indicate whether or not you have met the course objectives for that section.

You will use your portfolio as the basis for your final examination (in-class exam) to evaluate whether or not you have accomplished these course objectives. During this exam, you will need to use each section of your portfolio to respond to these questions. Your final exam will be evaluated on a checklist based on whether or not you have provided evidence of your ability to engage in the behaviors indicated by each objective. Creation of the resource portfolio should be on-going. The portfolio and self-evaluation will be due on Dec. 7th.

Evaluation of Portfolio

OTHER CLASS ENGAGEMENTS

In order to explore the concept of stories and the literature available for young children, you will also engage in the following learning experiences:

1. Neighborhood Memory Map

2. The Story of My Name

3. Practicing Read Aloud (in pairs, small group and whole class)

4. Literacy Map

5. Book Browsing

6. Personal Goal Setting

EVALUATION AND GRADING

Self-evaluation is an integral part of this course. You will be asked to submit an initial statement of goals for this semester.  For each project, you will be asked to turn in a self-evaluation in which you state your goals for that particular project and evaluate the process you went through in reaching those goals.  You will receive evaluative comments for each of your projects based on your goals and the project intent.  You may resubmit projects that are not satisfactory in meeting the goals and intent. At mid-semester, you will revise your goals for the course and evaluate your learning at that point in the semester and will receive evaluative comments from me.  At the end of the class, you will write an overall self-evaluation of your learning throughout the class. 

Your final grade will be based holistically on both my evaluation and your self-evaluation of your growth and learning related to the course objectives, the quality of your written work, and your attendance, participation, and preparation for class sessions.  While you can negotiate the ways in which you define and complete class projects, you must complete all of these projects to fulfill course requirements and your final grade for the course will be based on the thoughtfulness and quality of this work with a B reflecting the completion of all course projects at a satisfactory level. You must exceed those requirements in some way to receive an A, but can choose which projects to emphasize. Your mid-term evaluation will include a discussion of the grade for your work completed as of that date so that you can establish goals for maintaining or improving your final grade for the course.  Incompletes will not be given for the course except in extreme situations and only with prior approval by the instructor.

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

Class attendance and participation are essential to this course.  This course has been designed as a highly experiential course involving book browsing, literature discussion groups, and class discussions. You cannot make up for absences by getting notes or reading the text.

I expect you to arrive 10 minutes before the start of every class and fully participate until its conclusion and complete every assignment. More than two absences, habitual tardiness and/or leaving early will lower your grade by one letter grade. If you must miss a session, please give me a written note (no emails) explaining your absence. Please arrange to talk with me after the next class session about your absence and about your plans for keeping up with the course work. If you need to leave earlier, you need to write the exit time on the attendance form (next to your name) otherwise your early departure is considered to be one absence.

All holidays or special events observed by organized religions will be honored for those students who show affiliation with that particular religion, Absences pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean's designee) will be honored

Late assignments will also affect your final grade.  If you need accommodations due to a documented learning disability, please discuss your needs with me early in the semester, well in advance of assignment due dates.

While participation styles will vary, being prepared and actively participating is necessary for class sharing, literature circles, group projects, written responses and workshops. Active participation will require reading the text, articles and books for small group discussions as well as preparing for discussion by critically reflecting on your thoughts and connections about your reading. Reading, writing and sharing in small groups or with the whole class helps create and sustain our community of learners. Pagers and cell phones are not appropriate devices to be used during the class sessions since you are expected to actively participate in the class. Please turn them off or to the silent mode but no vibration.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

If you anticipate issues related to the format or requirements of this course, please meet with me.  I would like us to discuss ways to ensure your full participation in the course.  If you determine that formal, disability-related accommodations are necessary, it is very important that you be registered with Disability Resources (621-3268; drc.arizona.edu) and notify me of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. We can then plan how best to coordinate your accommodations.

THE STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT AND PLAGIARISM

The College of Education expects you to abide by the College's standards of conduct as outlined in the Academic Code of Conduct which you received upon admittance to the teacher education program. Listed in the handbook under Prohibited Conduct is the issue of plagiarism, which is the representation of someone else's work as one's own.  This includes the use of papers written by others as well as the use of another's words, ideas or information without acknowledgement.  Plagiarized assignments will not be accepted by the instructor. Furthermore, a Fitness to Teach form will be submitted to the College of Education for any student who is caught plagiarizing any assignment in this course. Please read the policies against plagiarism at http://dos.web.arizona.edu/uapolicies

POLICIES AGAINST THREATENING BEHAVIOR BY STUDENTS

I believe that the classroom should be a comfortable environment that encourages the participation of everyone. I fully expect you to agree and disagree about ideas and theories. However, personal attacks or blatant sexist, racist, homophobic, or antagonistic language in the classroom will not be tolerated. Please read policies against threatening behavior by students: http://policy.web.arizona.edu/~policy/threatening.pdf.

COURSE COURTESY:

PDAs and cell phones are not allowed to be on, even in silent mode, in the classroom. Please turn off and put away all cell phones before entering the classroom.  Emergencies happen. If you need to talk or text, please leave the classroom to do so.