This course is designed to teach students how to select and use age appropriate, quality literature. Extensive reading and journal writing about the use of materials for early childhood through high school literature.

This course is divided into four content modules:

http://www.public.lib.ga.us/pls/child/childmanual.pdf

1. Learn how to explore children's' literature through journal writing.
2. Know the historical overview of literature for youth.
3. Understand the physical, personal and social developmental stages of youth and the developmental theories.
4. Understand how the literature needs of youth change, based on developmental stages. 
5. Learn how to analyze materials to determine age appropriateness and literary quality.
6. Examine materials from a wide variety of cultures and groups.
7. Learn how storytelling programs are done.
8. Learn how to create and present a book talk and story time program.
9. Understand the types of literary awards given for children's books.
10. Understand censorship issues.
11. Know what selection tools and resources are available to use to find literature for youth.
12. Understand the different types (or genres) of books and their selection criteria.
13. Understand the differences in evaluating books for selection and for book reviews.
14. Learn how to do a book review.

Text reading: Begin at the beginning, reading at your own pace and giving special attention to the sections that are most relevant to your needs and career goals. In addition, correlate the text sections with the course modules in WebCT. These can be identified by referring to the Table of Contents in the text. 

Additional readings required for Journal Entries and Book Discussions. 

*You are responsible for all information in ALL Four Content Modules and their links. 

These books may be available at public and/or school libraries.

*Module 1:

1. Cormier, The Chocolate War.
2. Series books: Read one title from each of Fear Street; Goosebumps; Sweet Valley High; Babysitter Club; Buffy, the Vampire Slayer; Roswell.
*Module 2:
1. 6 Caldecott Award Books: 2 published 1938-65, 2 published 1966-96, 2 published 1997-2003.
2. 6 Newbery Award Books: 2 published 1955-75, 2 published 1976-96, 2 published 1997-2003.
3. 4 Georgia Children's Book Awards winners: 2 from the Picture Story Book award, 2 from the Children's Book award.
4. Picture Books: Be familiar with the work of the picture book authors/illustrators listed in Module 3; In addition, read:

Henkes, Julius the Baby of the World; 
Mayer, Frog Goes to Dinner; 
DePaola, Strega Nona; 
Rylant, The Relatives Came; 
Hoban, Push Pull Empty Full; 
Martin, Chica Chica Boom Boom; 
Polacco, Pink and Say; 
Brown, Goodnight Moon; 
Van Allsburg, Mysteries of Harris Burdick; 
Rosemary Wells, Max's First Word. 

*Module 3: 

Read the following books as representative of each genre:

• Fantasy/Science Fiction: Lowry, The Giver; White, Charlotte's Web; any Harry Potter book; McKinley, The Blue Sword; Cooper, Over Sea Under Stone.
• Realistic Fiction: Blume, Then Again, Maybe I Won't; Cleary, Ramona Quimby Age 8; Laurie Halse Anderson, Speak; Cynthia Rylant, Missing May. 
• Romanticism: Voigt, A Solitary Blue 
• Historical Fiction: Hess, Out of the Dust; Lowry, Number the Stars; Watkins, So Far From the Bamboo Grove. 
• Informational books: Robie Harris, It's So Amazing! A Book About Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families (Candlewick Press, 1999); Willhoit, Daddy's Roommate; Newman, Heather Has Two Mommies. 
• Also read one book of your choice by each of these authors: Joanna Cole; Jean Fritz, Gail Gibbons, David Macaulay, Seymour Simon.
• Young adult award books: 2 books by 2 different authors who have won the Margaret A. Edwards Award; 2 titles that are winners or honor books of the Michael L. Printz Award; 2 winners of the Alex Award; 2 winners of Quick Picks for Reluctant YA Readers.
• Poetry: Read any book by: Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Judith Viorst

• Multicultural books: Two books by two different authors from each category of "Notable multicultural authors" listed in content module 3 #29, for a total of 8 books.

• Translations: 2 winners of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award

• Videos/CDs/Websites: Ten titles. Include: a Harry Potter movie; a winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal; a nonfiction CD rom; ASPCA Animaland at www.animaland.org. Titles in this category may duplicate but may not replace titles in other categories.

1. Week one. 

• Complete the "Welcome Start Here" Module. Read all pages
• Submit welcome posting to the the Welcome Forum.
• Read Journal Information in Journal Module
• Create your student homepage for your journal entries
• Begin reading children's books
• Begin writing journal entries 

2. Week two - Through the rest of semester.

• Begin reading Modules 1-4
• Continue reading children's books
• Continue journal entries, participate in Discussions
• Begin projects - book talk, story time, review

3. Exam - See chart at the end of this syllabus for due date.

Covers Modules 1-4, all literature, other readings, and class discussions. 

4. Journal Entries.

You are required to do all the journal entries in the class. See chart at the end of this syllabus for due dates.

• You are required to write/discuss all the books even if you do not do one specific question about them. Your journals are where you stop, sit back and contemplate the literature that you have read. Refer to the Journal Module for specific information about your journal entries. 
• You are also required to read the journal entries of those in your group. It is from each others' writings that you will respond in your group discussions. Participation is required and expected during the discussion period for credit. 
• Even though you can read and write your journal entries ahead of time - you must insert them and keep them in the same order as they appear in the modules. 

Journal Format 

1. At the top of each page of your journal type the subject of the journal entry or the title of the book you are writing about.
2. Separate with a dash the date you are writing the entry.
   COMPARING ONLINE JOURNALS- 1-20-03
   LOVE YOU FOREVER - 1-25-03  
3. Show forethought and deliberation 
4. Be 1/2 to 1 page long - single-spaced 
5. Fully answer the journal question (s) 
6. Be legible and understandable without worrying about grammar/spelling 
7. Posted before or on the deadline to your student homepage 

5. Complete one story time program for early childhood (0-5 years) or for elementary (6-10 years). See chart at the end of this syllabus for due date. 

This can be a storytelling activity or a read aloud activity. The course modules and your text give suggestions that may help you. You can choose to make your presentation to a group of children in a classroom, library, church, etc.

The topic is of your choice. Consider adding a poem, finger play or song as part of your story time program.

Some of you have more experience with this kind of activity than others of you do, and that is fine. The point is to grow from where you are. If you do this kind of thing regularly, choose material or an audience that is new to you.

Post in the Story Time Form provided in the Course Contents. You cannot correct this form, so be sure all your information is accurate before you send it. Write out your remarks in Word ahead of time so you can cut and paste it into the form. A story time example is posted in the story time form area under "listing of programs". See late grading policy.

For story time reports consider including: theme; opening; books, poems or songs used; any finger plays, action rhymes, flannel board stories, telling stories, drawing stories, folding stories used; puppet plays if used; any craft or other activity and supplies needed. 

6. Complete one book talk program for middle school age (11-13) or for high school age (14-17). See chart at the end of this syllabus for due date. 

This can entail more than one book. The objective is to inspire the listeners to read these books for themselves. The course modules and your text offer suggestions that may help. Topic is of your choice. You can choose to make your presentation to a group of youth in a classroom, library, church, etc. The group must be at the secondary age level.

Some of you have more experience with this kind of activity than others of you do, and that is fine. The point is to grow from where you are. If you do this kind of thing regularly, choose material or an audience that is new to you.

Post in the Book Talk form provided in the Course Content. You cannot correct this form, so be sure all your information is accurate before you send it. Write out your remarks in Word ahead of time so you can cut and paste it into the form. A book talk example is posted in the book talk form area under "listing of programs". See late grading policy. 

For book talk reports consider including: theme or topic; introduction; the body of the program; list of any props used as well as any promotion pieces created. 

7. Book Review -Select one new book for children or one new book for young adults with a copyright date of 2002 or 2003. See chart at the end of this syllabus for due date.

It can be on any subject and can be one of the books you included in journal entries. Prepare book reviews using guidelines discussed in the module. Post in the Book Review form found under Module Content. You cannot correct this form, so be sure all your information is accurate before you send it. Write out your remarks in Word ahead of time so you can cut and paste it into the form. 

Not all publishers are accepted for this assignment. Be sure to check the publisher of your book against the list in the book review form before proceeding with the assignment. Many smaller presses are merged into a larger press. The form lists the main publisher only. Check the publisher of your book to see if it is an imprint of a larger publisher and use the larger publisher in your review, not the imprint. 

All information recorded MUST BE ACCURATE. Your review is written to other librarians and educators. Justify your recommendation. If it is "recommended with reservation" be sure to give a reason for this in the review. Even if the review is "not recommended", write in a positive tone. Remember, the author has feelings. The choices are: Highly recommended, Recommended, Recommended with reservations, or Not recommended. 

8. Participate in all Discussions throughout the semester as outlined within each module. 

Discussions outlined in each Module must be started and completed during the time periods given. Postings prior to or after the time period will not count toward the grade. You must contribute a minimum of one original posting per topic. You are encouraged to post follow-up responses to other postings for each discussion topic to create a lively dialogue. To receive credit it must reflect that you read the other student's journals in your group on the topic and carried the discussion to a higher level. There are no "right" or "wrong" discussions, no "right" or "wrong" opinions. 

Each discussion period will last for one week; see dates below. Do not wait until the last minute to make your initial posting (for course credit) in case it does not go through for some reason. Try to post early in the week so everyone has time to read your thoughts and respond. Postings must be time stamped within the given times to receive credit. 

Grading

Assignments, including discussion postings, must be submitted on time to receive full credit. Late submissions (for any reason) are subject to grade reduction. Missed exams will be averaged at 50%.

Exam - 10%
Journal - 30%
Story time program - 10%
Book talk program - 10%
Book Review - 10%
Discussions - 30%

A=100%-90%
B=89%-80%
C=79%-70%

Student Information Notification

WebCT enables faculty to track whether and when students visit various areas of the course site, times of first and last logins, and number of conference postings.

Special Needs Statement

Valdosta State University is an equal opportunity educational institution. It is not the intent of our institution to discriminate against any applicant for admission or any student or employee of the institution based on the sex, race, religion, color, national origin or handicap of the individual. It is the intent of the institution to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent executive orders as well as the Title IX section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Students requiring classroom accommodations or modifications because of a documented disability should discuss this need with the professor at the beginning of the semester. Students not registered with the Special Services Program should contact Special Services in Nevins Hall, Room 2164, 229-245-2498.