LIBR 260-01
Resources for Children, Ages 0-6
Fall 2005

Adele Fasick
E-mail

GREENSHEET

Textbooks | Course Requirements

You will be able to enroll on the Blackboard site, Fall 2005 | LIBR 260-01 | Fasick, starting on August 15. You will be required to use a password access code which will be provided by the instructor using the MySJSU Messaging system.

Course Description

An overview of literary and informational materials for children from ages birth to six. The emphasis will be on the evaluation and selection of materials suitable for young children in public libraries, daycare programs, and schools. The course is designed to give students some familiarity with materials currently available, with selection tools, and with trends in early childhood education, publishing, and media.

Course Objectives

At the completion of this course the student should be able to

• Demonstrate a familiarity with the varieties of materials available for children.
• Critically examine representative materials and apply criteria for evaluating such materials.
• Use selection aids appropriately
• Design a book-centered program for young children.

The course supports the following SLIS objectives:

• One or more specialized aspects of information management
• Evaluating and utilizing relevant research studies from a variety of disciplines

Textbooks

Recommended Text
Horning, Kathleen. From Cover to Cover: Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. 1997. HarperCollins.

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Course Requirements

Course Format
This is a Web-based course, which will start on August 24. You will be able to enroll on the Blackboard site, Fall 2005 | LIBR260-01 | Fasick, starting on August 15.

Most course materials will be available on the Course Web site section of Blackboard. The Course Schedule on the 260 Web site gives a week by week outline of the course and lists the weekly topics and resources. Reading lists and class readings will be posted on the Web site. It will be necessary for students to find and read other materials (mostly children's materials) in their local libraries or to buy or borrow them. Not all material that you need can be found online.

Class discussion questions will be posted on the Discussion section of Blackboard. Students are expected to contribute to the discussion and to use their reading as background for their comments. Each student will be expected to contribute at least two messages to the discussion for each topic.

Assignments
Assignment 1: Personal Introduction (Due September 7)
By September 8, each student is to post some information on the Personal Home Page provided by Blackboard. This information should be professional background information about current or past jobs, or plans for future library work, the kind of information you would share with colleagues in a new job. You may include as much additional information about your interests and hobbies as you wish. Everyone is strongly urged to post a picture.

Assignment 2: Picture Book Annotations (Due September 28)
Select twenty picture books that are not among books listed for class reading. These should include a mixture of board books, wordless picture book, traditional stories, and contemporary stories. The books should be published 1995 or later.

For each book give bibliographic data and write a brief evaluative annotation of approximately 200-250 words. The annotations should be written for an audience of librarians.

Before writing your annotations, read the file on librarians annotations in the Course Schedule section of the 260 Web site for more information about the bibliographic entry and the style of annotations. Also look at short reviews such as those published in School Library Journal and Booklist for models of annotations directed at librarians.

Assignment 3: Multimedia List (Due October 26)
Choose ten multimedia products for young children. These should include five Web sites and five assorted CDs, videos, DVDs, educational games, or other types of material that might be collected by a library. For each item write an evaluative annotation of approximately 200-250 words. The annotations should be written for an audience of librarians and should include a brief description of the item, an evaluation of whether it is appropriate for the developmental level of its intended audience, and an evaluation of its quality in comparison with other similar materials. 

Assignment 4: Group Program Plan (Due November 30)
Each group will plan a program for a group of children using picture books or other materials suitable for young children. The assignment should include the following parts:

1. Description of the setting (daycare center, kindergarten, public library, school) and the group (English-language learners, homeless families, mixed neighborhood group, suburban)
2. Objectives of the overall program, which may be a summer reading program or a series of story hours to be held during the year. The objectives should be related to the developmental stages of the children and include the learning goals for the program
3. List of books and other materials that will be used in the program
4. Step by step description of the segment of the overall program to be given on one day (opening activity, books read, fingerplays or songs, etc.)
5. An attractive booklist of suggested reading on the topic, to be given to each child at the end of the program.

Group Discussions: August 31 to December 7
Contributions to the ongoing discussion on Blackboard will be assessed as part of your grade. Each student will be expected to contribute substantive comments to the discussion. The discussion topics are listed in the Course Schedule section of the 260 Web site. Other discussion threads may be started if they are related to the focus of the course.

Grading
Your final grade will be calculated as follows:

Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
Students who need accommodation due to a disability must register with SJSU's Disability Resource Center (DRC) during the first three weeks of the semester. The Center will work with the students to determine the disability, document it, and determine the services and accommodations necessary for student success. Then, the DRC will contact the faculty member to determine the types of consideration necessary.

Students attending the Fullerton campus should first contact the Disability Resource Center in San José since they are SJSU students. The DRC will then direct the students to supporting resources on the Fullerton campus.

The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/

A Statement on Plagiarism
All assignments submitted must be your own work. Sources must be properly cited in papers as specified in class.

Academic Integrity
Read the SJSU Academic Integrity Policy
http://www2.sjsu.edu/senate/S04-12.pdf

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