Department of Teacher
Education
Secondary Education
LLSS 443
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
FALL 2007
Sec 450, 3 Credit Hours.
Mondays |
505 566 3480 (unm) | 505 324 0894 (home) | 505 330 1536 (cell)
Office Hours: One hour before
and after class and by appointment
Course BLOG available at https://unm443.tripod.com/childlit/
Mission Statement:
The vision of the
Our mission is the study & practice of
education through teaching, research, & service. We
* address critical education issues;
* test new ideas and approaches to
teaching and learning; and
* educate professionals who can
* facilitate
human growth and development in schools, homes, communities and workplaces;
* prepare
students for participation in a complex and challenging society.
In carrying out our mission, we value
* excellence
in all that we do;
* diversity
of people and perspective;
* relationships
of service, accountability, collaboration, and advocacy;
* the
discovery, discussion, and dissemination of ideas; and
* innovation
in teaching, technology, and leadership.
Text:
No
assigned text.
Requirements:
- Access to computer
& Internet weekly
- Creation of webpage hosting
at http://www.tripod.com
See http://brokenflute-unm.tripod.com/natam/
(under OUR WEBPAGES)
- your CD-ROM Professional
Portfolio
Course description:
A
survey course of the field of children’s literature-reading, storying, and listening focusing on knowledge and practice
of literature, literary response and classroom practice.
Rationale:
“When a day
passes it is no longer there.
What remains of
it? Nothing more than a story.
If stories
weren’t told or books weren’t written, one [man] would
live like beasts-only for a day.
Today, we live,
but tomorrow today will be a story.
The whole
world, all human life, is one long story”
(I.B. Singer in Cooper and Collins’ [1992] Look What Happened
to Frog, p. 8).
Goals
and objectives:
- Appreciate the significance of story in human lives and in the art
of teaching;
- Read variety of children’s literature suitable for elementary
school children and young adults;
- Share reading experiences with peers and children;
- Read, read, read with the insight that
master teachers are those who know children’s literature and the power of
stories.
- Work with children in literature & creative drama experiences;
- Involve teachers and parents in book discussions;
- Understand literary genres and basic literary elements;
- Take ownership of your own learning. Approach your
learning with curiosity and internal motivation because you want
to; not because you have to. Try to be “in the
moment” letting your curiosity and love of learning guide you instead of what the assignment is supposed to look
like and how many pages does it have
to be?
Instructional
strategies:
Individual, small groups,
differentiation of instruction strategies, literature circles, group
collaboration projects, authentic learning, creative drama involving
independent and self-directed learning opportunities and experiences.
Course outline:
|
Activities/Topics |
Due |
|
Course Blog |
Weekly & per assignment Sept. 20-December 3 |
|
Booklist |
Weekly September-November |
|
Session Scribe |
Weekly |
|
Tibbetts’ Reflections |
Following Tibbetts visits September-December |
|
Literature Reading Reflections |
Weekly September-December |
|
Author Focus & Presentation |
November 5 |
|
Illustrator Focus due |
November 5 |
|
|
October 12-13 |
|
PRIME TIME |
TBA |
|
Genre & Literary Elements |
Weekly Presentations September-November JEOPARDY GAME TBA |
|
Book Sell |
Weekly September-November |
|
Children’s Literature Web Resources (research) |
Monthly September-November |
|
Children’s Literature Class Collection Website |
Nov. 26 Webpage Presentations |
|
End of semester Course final reflections (Samples add to your CD-ROM professional
portfolio) |
Dec. 3 or Dec. 10 |
|
Poetry Performance 0R CHAUTAUQUA |
Dec. 3 or Dec. 10 |
Attendance:
Silence cell phones out of respect for all learners
Attendance is required for each class session.
Arrive on time to allow classes to begin (and end) at their scheduled
times. Attendance is a crucial and
considered your professional responsibility.
Communication with instructor via email, phone or in person is
considered proper professional and respectful etiquette. Lateness and leaving
early are considered serious interferences with your progress in this class.
Thus, you should come to all classes well prepared to assume an active and
thoughtful role in the scheduled activities by having read all required
readings and completed all class assignments. Attending all classes is for your
benefit to fully experience and appreciate the world of children's literature.
And further more, we will miss you and your contributions during our time
together.
Please rearrange work and appointment schedules so
that you can attend each session.
If you are absent more than two times this
semester, you can be dropped from the course.
“The reporting of
absences does not relieve the student of responsibility for missed assignment,
exams, etc. The student is required to
take the initiative in arranging to make up missed work, and it is expected
that faculty will cooperate with the student in reasonable arrangements in this
regard” (UNM Pathfinder).
It is responsible and respectful to contact
instructor or leave message with Dawn in the UNM office if you are going to be
late or absent from class. It is also your responsibility to check in with the
instructor and consult with a class peer after the missed class for all makes
up work.
Evaluation:
|
A+ |
Exemplary completion
of all Learning Invitations with
adherence to all timelines. Evidence of excellent development across the
five dimensions of learning and course strands. |
|
A |
Exemplary completion
of all Learning Invitations with
adherence to all timelines. Evidence of significant development across the
five dimensions of learning and course strands. |
|
B |
Satisfactory completion of all Learning Invitations. Evidence of acceptable development
across the five dimensions of learning and course strands. |
Learning Invitations (Course requirements)
BLOG
& EMAIL: Course blog and email
correspondence serve as a communication and management tool for class dialogue,
reflection, and weekly updates. To be prepared, you will be required to
regularly check your email each week.
SCRIBE:
Each session, we will take turns highlighting the events of the session
and posting them to the course blog page under WEEKLY
SESSION HIGHLIGHTS.
WEBPAGES:
Create individual webpage by registering for free site on http://www.tripod.com. Each student will
create and maintain their respective website which will contain your intellectual property of course
assignments throughout the semester. This website will be yours to use and
update after the responsibility of this course.
( * post on your individual webpage).
See http://brokenflute-unm.tripod.com/natam/ (under
OUR WEBPAGES) for examples of websites created by former students. As a
culmination of your learning (your
intellectual property) during our course include: your booklist, author focus, illustrator
focus, Book Talk, list of selected children’s websites, literature sharing, weekly
reflections, short bio and quote. At the end of the semester you may use this
website and your final course reflection for your CD-ROM Portfolio. You will
have access to each other’s webpages on our course blog at https://unm443.tripod.com/childlit/
*Organized BOOKLIST: Read randomly, read selectively, read
methodically, read seriously, read entertainingly, read, read, read. Follow a ‘quest to find books in “sets” according to
author, illustrator, or genre. Follow your heart’s delight. Risk
new genre. Reread favorites. Read once as an “enjoyer” and once again as
a “critic” to see how the author structured the book and why you laughed or
cried. Come to some understanding of literature as an art form, that is, as a
tool for educating the imagination. (Please, No Disney or Golden
books.)
AVERAGE AIM: 60 books | ABOVE AVERAGE
AIM: 80 books | EXCELLENT
AIM: 100 books
Prepare
an annotated booklist of at least 60
children’s books to which you add about 4-5 books per week. Please organize
your booklist in a systematic way so once set up you can add to on a weekly
basis. From these annotated entries, you will be asked to present at least one 5-10
minute “book talk”, during which you are to “sell” your classmates on the
merits of reading the books selected for Oprah’s Book List. All
annotated booklists are to include: Genre, Title, Author, Annotation. If
quoting, give credit to source. Academic integrity is expected of you and is to
be reflected in your UNM coursework.
Types
of literature (genre) you will explore and present:
20
Picture Books | 5 Poetry and Verse| 10 Folktales |
5 Realistic Fiction
4 Historical
Fiction | 4 Autobiography/Biography | 3 Fantasy | 3
Science Fiction |
5 NonFiction/Informational = 60 total
(The
total number of books is not optional, however, use
your own interests when it comes to the number of books read in each genres.
Only one RULE OF THUMB: Read at least 3 in each genre to total 60 books.)
*LITERATURE SHARING
SESSIONS: We will have the opportunity to work with Tibbetts teacher Penny Smith and her 6th graders
(period
*Literature
Reading Journal.
In your weekly journal, post on your webpage
a reflection generated from class discussions, books read, aha moments,
revelations (include author, title, genre, annotation complementing your BOOKLIST
reading), guest or field trip
reflections.
*Author
FOCUS: Choose a children’s author to explore biographic and literary
contributions. Present a written presentation of the author to share with the
class. If possible, include several books of the author for display. Remember
to cite sources and to give due credit. Save to your CD-ROM Professional
Portfolio.
For
examples see http://brokenflute-unm.tripod.com/natam/
(under OUR WEBPAGES).
*Illustrator
FOCUS: Choose a children’s illustrator to explore biographic and
artistic contributions. Present a written presentation of the illustrator to
share with classmates. If possible, include several books of the illustrator
for display on the day of presentation. Remember to cite sources and to give
due credit. Save to your CD-ROM Professional Portfolio. For examples see http://brokenflute-unm.tripod.com/natam/
(under OUR WEBPAGES).
GENRE & LITERARY
ELEMENTS DEFINITIONS: Each student will be responsible for researching a particular
genre and literary element. Present Genre & Literary elements explanations
to classmates on assigned dates. Additionally, provide an answer and question
on the day of presentation for each to include in a JEOPARDY GAME to be played
as a class for content assessment. Refer to course Blog
for Literary Elements and supplied textbooks for Genres.
POETRY
PERFORMANCE:
You will be part of a poetry performance with your peers and Tibbetts’ sixth graders for presentation at a local
elementary school, such as Apache, McKinley, Ladera. If time does not permit, a Chautauqua
performance may be substituted. UTube? Researching a character of interest to you and then
becoming that character to perform for others is the goal of a Chautauqua.
*Book
SELL/Advertisement
for Oprah’s
Book List about your favorite book as a presentation in any form, other
than a written book report. Following the ‘Sales’ pitch (book sell), please
read an excerpt. Each student will prepare to deliver at least one book sell
during the course.
*CHILDREN’S Literature Websites. Each month explore
several children’s literature websites (See course blog
under OUR WEB RESOURCES for examples).
Use the information learned for your own enrichment – personal and
professional. Add these websites to your individual webpage.
*POTENTIAL GUESTS may be invited to our
class to share their own experiences with and expertise of children’s literature and storytelling. (Include reflection of guest visit
on your webpage.)
q Susan Kanard
– Educator (Visit Classroom)
q Tom Rago
–
q Anthony Chee
Emerson – Artist and Illustrator
q Jean Whitehorse – Advocate,
Librarian & Storyteller (Cultural Sensitivity)
q Uma Krishnaswami
– Children’s Author & Creative Writing Educator (History of Children’s
Literature)
q Connie Gotsch
– KSJE radio, author, photographer
q Kathy Beatty-- Children’s
Author (Children’s Book Publishing)
q Flo Trujillo –
q Kathy Schlapp
–
q Melanie Sells – Japanese
Anime/Manga expert
q Daniel Hamlow
-- Japanese Anime/Manga expert
q Eileen Telford – Author of
Gwendolyn, The Emerald Fairy
q Rocinante PreSchool
– Songs, Stories & Movement Activities
q Jeanne Whitehouse – Author
& NMEH Speaker’s Bureau
q Paula Attencio
– Storyteller & NMEH Speaker’s Bureau
q
*POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITIES (Include
reflection on your webpage.)
q NEW MEXICO ENDOWMENT FOR
THE HUMANATIES (http://www.nmeh.org)
provides storytelling and Chautauqua
resources.
q PRIME TIME FAMILY LITERACY
PROGRAM sponsored by FPL at local area schools (Apache, Esperanza, Central
Primary,
q SJC & LOCAL CALENDAR OF
EVENTS FALL 2007
q ROCINANTE Preschool visits
to share stories, chants and songs
Plagiarism is the presentation as original work by
a writer of ideas, words, or thoughts belonging to someone else. You must provide a reference note indicating
the source of any specific words borrowed from another source. Any project containing incidents of
plagiarism will receive no credit or grade.
Plagiarism is a serious offense in any college course and can lead to
failure in that course or expulsion from UNM.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a
federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights
protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a
learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their
disabilities. If you have a disability requiring accommodation, please
contact me as soon as possible to make arrangements.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE |
Children’s Literature LLSS443 |
UNM-SAN JUAN CENTER
August 20-September
Week 1:
Introductions-
Maxime, French Chef - peanut, glasses activities
& James & Giant Peach
Frog’s
Tale; House Story & Gem Story; Reading Survey
Genres
Review & Genres Quiz
Week 2:
Trip
to
Character
introductions & Story Relay
Review
Syllabus – Sign up for individual webpage at http://www.tripod.com
Dialogue:
Orality & Literacy-Don Quixote, Dramatic
structure of stories, Brain Research
Handouts:
Story Quotes
Discussion:
Early reading experiences with books & influence now
Video
& Literature Circle-“Strays” by Mark Richard
Literature
Reading Journal post on your individual website
Field
trip to
Week 3:
SJC SMART LAB Computer Lab-Email your webpage
URL to me at abiyoyoyo@yahoo.com
Literature
Website Resources #1
List
Genre
Focus: POETRY
Genre
Focus: CHILDREN’S LITERATURE & PICTURE BOOKS
Genre
Focus: FANTASY & TRADITIONAL FOLKLORE
Genre
Focus: TRADITIONAL FOLK LITERATURE &
Fantasy
NO CLASS – SEPT. 3 LABOR
DAY
NO CLASS – SEPT. 24 WORK
on:
1)
Webpage design-organizing page and posting assignments at http://www.tripod.com
2) Genre & Literary Elements Definitions
BOOKLIST ( 20-40 minimum books total due)
Video
excerpts: Reservoir Dogs & Wizard of Oz; Maurice Sendak
(Ray Rodenberry-Star Trek)
Lateness
Policy: a story-fabrications, exaggerations,
elaborations – anything BUT the truth!
Visits
to Tibbets Middle School-Penny Smith’s classroom at 2:05-2:50pm on Mondays:
September
10 & 17 | October
| November LITERATURE
CIRCLES
POETRY CREATIVE DRAMA & PERFORMANCE (Tentative)
October-November
BOOKLIST
(60 minimum books total due)
Reading
Activity: Blanket Story; Queen’s Drum; Abiyoyo &
Foolish Frog & Name activity
Book
Sell/Awards
Hero’s
Journey and story shapes and literary forms & terms
Activity:
Illustrate story; setting / character & conflict activity
Censorship
issues
Molly
Bang & Illustration
Leveled
Literature
Sharing Journal post on your individual website
Literature
Reading Journal post post on your individual website
Literature
Website Resources #2 & #3 (add to List)
Video:
Tomie DePaola,
author/illustrator
Genre
Focus: REALISTIC FICTION & HISTORICAL FICTION
Genre
Focus: BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY & NONFICTION
Mid-term October 8
CHAUTAUQUA performance
Poetry, Author/Illustrator Focus DUE November 5
PREMIER of CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
CLASS COLLECTION WEBPAGES
Presentations
on November 26
December
POETRY
OR CHAUTAUQUA PERFORMANCE Dec. 3 or Dec.
10 (tentative date)
FINAL
CLASS CELEBRATION
December
10 - Optional final exams as needed
Course Strands and Dimensions of Learning
as correlated with UNM
Conceptual Framework
Means of interpreting and assessing
student achievement will involve Course
Strands and Dimensions of Learning.
Course Strands
1. communication 2. research/content (genres/literary elements) 3. technology, and 4. collaboration
components describing your development as readers, writers, and users of
technology during duration of course.
Five Dimensions of Learning
Confidence and
Confidence and independence in your own reading, writing, and thinking
abilities. We see growth and development when learners' confidence and
independence become coordinated with their actual abilities and skills, content
knowledge, use of experience, and reflectiveness about
their own learning. The overconfident student learns to ask for help when
facing an obstacle; the shy student begins to trust her own abilities and
begins to work alone at times, or to insist on presenting her own point of view
in discussion. In both cases, students develop along the dimension of
confidence and independence. How are you developing as an independent and
confident learner in this course?
Skills and Strategies (Practice)
Specific skills and strategies involved in. Skills and strategies represent the
"know-how" aspect of learning. When we speak of
"performance" or "mastery," we generally mean that learners
have developed skills and strategies to function successfully in certain
situations. In this course, it will be using children’s literature to make
connections within, across and beyond the curriculum that reach each student’s
life. How can we use stories to transform and change ourselves in the process?
The practicum experience with Penny Smith’s classroom of 6th graders
will provide opportunities to practice ways to engage middle school students in
responding to text and stories they read. What skills and strategies am I
learning and implementing in this course?
Knowledge Content (Practice)
Knowledge content refers to the "content" knowledge gained in
children’s literature include recognizing genres, story structure, literary
elements, literature circles, reading and writing workshops, creative drama,
the art of questioning, and the power of story. Knowledge content is the most
familiar dimension, focusing on the "know-what" aspect of learning. How
well am I gaining a better repertoire of children’s literature within a variety
of genres? How well do I understand literary elements and dramatic structures?
How well do I engage children in literary discussions/literature circles? How
well do I collaborate with others?
Use of Prior and Emerging Experience (Understanding)
The use of prior and emerging experience involves the ability to draw on your
own experience and connect it to your work. A crucial but often unrecognized
dimension of learning is the ability to make use of prior experience as well as
emerging experience in new situations. It is necessary to observe learners over
a period of time while they engage in a variety of activities in order to
account for the development of this important capability, which is at the heart
of creative thinking and its application. Our prior experience might be tapped
to help scaffold new understandings, or consider how ongoing experience shapes
the content knowledge or skills and strategies we are developing. What
experiences and knowledge did I bring into this course?
Critical Reflection (Understanding, Practice, Professional
Identity)
Reflection refers to your developing awareness of our own learning process, as
well as more analytical approaches to reading, writing, and communication. When
we speak of reflection as a crucial component of learning, we are not using the
term in its commonsense meaning of reverie or abstract introspection. We are
referring to the development of your ability to step back and consider a
situation critically and analytically, with growing insight into your own
learning processes, a kind of metacognition.
It is important that you are made aware of the course strands
and the five dimensions of learning because the ownership of your learning in
relation to this course content is a focus of your assessment and evaluation.
This evaluative process provides a framework with which you can evaluate your
own growth. As learners, you are measuring your own learning given the strands
and dimensions, considering them in relation to your prior learning. In
assessing your progress, you will provide a midterm and final reflection which
will be posted on your webpage. See Guideline below:
EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT GUIDELINE
Summary interpretation of
observations and evidence in terms of the four major strands of work and the
five dimensions of learning.
1.
Four major
strands of work: communication, research, technology, and collaboration
2.
Five
dimensions of learning:
- confidence and independence
- knowledge content
- skills and strategies
- use of prior and emerging experience
- reflectiveness (critical awareness)
Midterm
evaluation
- Estimated evaluation in terms of grade
- Suggestions for your own further development
during remainder of semester
- Suggestions for class activities or for the
professor to better support learning
________________________________________________
Final
Summary
Summary interpretation of observations and
evidence covering the whole semester in terms of the four major strands of work
and the five dimensions of learning. Be sure to connect your interpretations
with specific examples included in the observations and samples of work.
1.
Four major
strands of work: communication,
research, technology, and collaboration
2.
Five
dimensions of learning:
- confidence and independence
- knowledge content
- skills and strategies
- use of prior and emerging experience
- reflectiveness (critical awareness)
Final
evaluation
- Reflections on semester's learning experience
- Any suggestions for the professor for future
classes
- Estimated evaluation in terms of grade
PROVIDE
WRITTEN MIDTERM & FINAL SUMMARIES AND EVALUATIONS at CONFERENCES as well as
downloading to your webpage.
CHECKLIT OF ASSIGNMENTS LLSS 443 Children’s Literature
FALL 2007