LIBR 260-10
Resources for Children, Ages 0-6
Summer 2005

Allison Taylor-McBryde
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Textbooks | Course Requirements | Assignments | Grading

Students can e-mail the instructor with a request to enroll and all students must be enrolled before Tuesday, May 31, 2005.

Course Description

This course is designed to establish a working knowledge of the resources available for children under the age of six. From an examination of the evolution of the picture book, to contemporary trends in children’s book and media publishing, students will develop skills to critically evaluate children’s resources for caregivers, parents and their children in public libraries, preschools, daycares and schools. Research on child development from birth to six will provide a background for the evaluation and promotion of materials. Familiarity with professional resources will be used to develop a sense of critical evaluation, hone reader’s advisory skills and prepare a literature-based program for a group of young children in a pre-school or public library setting.
Prerequisites: none

Course Objectives

At the completion of this course students will have:

• Knowledge of current children’s books from board books to the ubiquitous picture book, from nursery rhyme collections, poetry and song books to concept and informational books for children from birth to six.
• Read and annotated a minimum of one professional article (Web site or selected chapters from a list of resources posted in the weekly schedule), and ten appropriate children’s titles during each week of the course. Each title will be new to the student this term, except when specified, and titles must have an original publication date between 1990 – 2005. The requirements for readings will be posted weekly.
• An appreciation of the variety of artistic styles and design techniques used in the creation of children’s books and media.
• A benchmark by which to compare newer children’s books (published since 1990) to the classics, the lexicon to evaluate and interpret critical reviews, and criteria to develop selection policies.
• Knowledge of published resources about children’s literature for parents, teachers and librarians and a familiarity with a wide variety of reference books, Web sites, selection tools and review journals for professionals.
• An overview of the stages of child development and an understanding of current research on the intellectual, emotional and social growth of babies, toddlers and children to age six.
• The ability to translate developmental research and an awareness of age appropriate resources into a half-hour library program for a group of children (and their parents, care-givers or teachers), of a particular age and community, using a variety of presentation styles.
• The ability to provide reader’s advisory to children, parents, care-givers and teachers and to find appropriate resources for a variety of ages on various topics.
• Knowledge of a wide variety of media, from music and spoken word cassettes and CDs , educational CDROM and informational and literature based videos and DVDs which are appropriate for children six and under.
• Knowledge of the importance of the early or pre-literacy skills developed during early childhood, the critical role of the parent and care-giver. An awareness of the vast educational benefits of reading aloud and sharing literature with young children.

This 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

Required Text
No single textbook is required. Many professional resources will be recommended and used for one or more lectures or assignments. You will require access to some but not all of these titles. Most journal articles will be available through your library’s database. Public and university libraries may also have some of the professional texts but you are not expected to purchase titles not available through a library. Weekly readings will be assigned and may include journal articles, Web sites or selected chapters of a professional text. Access to a public library with an excellent and diverse collection for children is essential for the reading assignments of children’s books and for access to children’s media resources. In preparation for the course you may wish to research which of your local libraries has the best selection of new preschool materials (picture books, cassettes, etc) and a professional reading collection.

Recommended Texts
These are a few of the texts which will be referred to throughout the course. You will have options as to which titles you will read and review. Lists of resources will be available on the course Web site and relevant resources will be recommended weekly. Some of the titles that will be frequently mentioned are:

• Dickinson, D. K. & Tabors, P. O. (2001) Beginning literacy with language: young children learning at home and school. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub.
• Healy, J. M. (2004). Your child’s growing mind: Brain development and learning from birth to adolescence. Third edition. New York:Broadway.
• Hearne, B. G. & Stevenson, D. (1999) Choosing books for children : a commonsense guide Urbana: University of Illinois.
• Horning, K. T. (1997) From cover to cover: evaluating and reviewing children’s books. New York: HarperCollins.
• Lewis, David (2001) Reading contemporary picturebooks: picturing text. London and New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
• Mayes, L. C. and Cohen, D. J. (2002). The Yale child study center guide to understanding your child. Boston: Little Brown.
• McGuinness, D. (2004). Growing a reader from birth: your child’s path from language to literacy. New York: W.W. Norton.

A full list of recommended resource titles will be available on the course Web site and through the weekly reading assignments, posted on the LIBR260 Web site under Weekly Schedule, Reading Diary Assignments and/or Resource Lists.

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Course Requirements

Course Format
This is a Web-based course using Blackboard, beginning May 31 st, 2005 and concluding August 12th, 2005, which includes two full meeting days (10 a.m. – 5p.m.) at either the San Jose or the Fullerton campus on (Attendance for both days at one site is required. The Fullerton two day workshop will be on July 7 th and 8 th from 10 – 5p.m. The San Jose two day workshop will be on July 11 th and 12 th from 10 – 5p.m.) On-line instruction is available May 31 st on the SLIS Blackboard site and concludes August 12 th Assignments will be submitted as word documents via the Blackboard site and in person during the two day workshops at Fullerton or San Jose.

A course schedule on the Web site provides a week by week outline of the discussion topics, lectures and professional resources. Resources materials may be available through your campus library, your public library and through the university’s on-line databases. It will be necessary to find current children’s materials at your local public libraries for your weekly readings. I recommend you ‘scout out’ your local libraries to find the ones with the strongest and newest children’s collections in advance of beginning the course.

Computing Requirements

1. You MUST have the minimal home computing environment as described at http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/ecommunication/homecomputing.htm
   and have Internet Access, including the ability to send and receive email, view the WWW with a graphical browser, create and view PDF files and word documents.
2. You must keep virus software up-to-date and all assignments must be scanned before submission.
3. Assignments are due by midnight of the due date and must be submitted with the student’s name in the email body with the assignment number, and numbered footers on each page of the assignment. Assignments should be submitted as word documents.

Contacting the Instructor
I work full time in addition to teaching and will have “office hours” on Monday and Wednesday and Saturday (or Sunday) mornings, Pacific Daylight Time. Other than those times, responses may take slightly longer and I tend to work late at night. I shall try to post repeated questions on the Web site under announcements and further information regarding each assignment, class resources, and weekly reading requirements will be available on the Web site.

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/

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

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Assignments

All assignments submitted must be your own work. All reading for this course must be new to you. Books read or media viewed previous to this term will inform your current reading, but cannot be counted in the Reading Diary. Other than specified readings, and our assignment on the “classics”, all children’s materials reviewed must have an original publication date between 1990 – 2005. Sources and resources must be properly cited in papers. The university requires that papers conform to the APA style sheet. A “crib sheet” is available at: http://www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm

Program Presentation and Documentation (20% of grade)
Design a half hour program which could be presented in a public library, a daycare, pre-school or a public school. You may elect to do a program for babies or toddlers and their parents, a group of two or three-year-olds, a family program or a program for a kindergarten or Grade 1 class. You will present one segment (approximately 15 minutes) of this program during the two-day meeting at the San Jose or the Fullerton campus. Create a one page (double sided if necessary) handout citing your resources, outlining your intended audience, the titles of the books read aloud in your program, and an “additional titles to read at home” list of ten books. Sufficient copies of this handout must be available for your fellow students at the on-site class. Include the full text of any poems, rhymes or songs included. Your half-hour program should include three or four stories to read, at least one of which is to be presented as a felt-board story, told with a puppet, draw-and-tell story, or told as storytellers do – without the book, sung or dramatized.

Due: Copies of your handout for your fellow classmates are due during the on-site workshops days at San Jose or Fullerton; your fifteen minute presentation ( a portion of your storytime) to be scheduled during one of the two days.

Author, Publisher, Editor or Illustrator Profile (20% of grade)
Select a prominent author, publisher, editor or illustrator of children’s books; and read at least ten of their books published in the past twenty years. Research at least three reference sources, which may include journal articles, submissions in reference tools such as “Something about the author” or books by or about the creator. (See Resource List for examples). Create a five page double spaced (approximately 2000 – 2500 words) paper illuminating the outstanding contributions of this author, publisher, editor or illustrator, awards they may have received and a critique of their personal written or artistic style and philosophy. Create an annotated list of at least ten of their works and cite in full all reference resources used. Due: August 12 th, 2005

Reading Diary (40% of grade)
This course requires extensive reading, listening and viewing of children’s materials. In order to broaden your knowledge base, whether you are very experienced or not in this field, these materials must be new to you this term and may not include titles previously encountered. For the reading diary you will need books you haven’t encountered previously through classwork, professional experience or parenting. You will require access to a medium to large sized children’s library with current children’s books and resources. For your reading diary, the picture books or resources selected must have been published after 1990. Reprints, second editions, re-releases or anniversary editions are not appropriate.

The first entry of the Reading Diary will be a departure from the subsequent weeks and will be a review of one of the recommended resources for the course which will be posted on the discussion board. Subsequent to that date, all other ready diary entries will be written and submitted as word documents on the dates below. . Details will be provided under course assignments on the weekly requirements. Other than our look at the “classics” of the picture book genre, all titles must have published since 1990.

Beginning the second week of the course, students will be required to keep a reading diary of each book title read which will include a full APA citation, and an annotation for each title. A minimum of ten children’s titles published since 1990 (which you’ve never previously read or listened to) will be required weekly. During various weeks, the ten titles may also include sound recordings, or video/DVD presentations. Specific weeks will include books for babies and board books; concept and picture books for two and three year-olds; nursery rhymes, poetry and song books; picture books for preschoolers; traditional folk and fairy tales; picture books for five and six-year-olds; books for emergent readers; multicultural populations, and informational picture books. Details regarding assigned readings will be posted to the Weekly Schedule.

Annotations in the Reading Diary must include a full citation (APA) and a 200-300 word evaluative annotation of the item. The annotation of the children’s books should include a brief outline of the plot, the “marriage” of the words to the art and a critique of the themes, age appropriateness and relevant information about the creators of the work. In picture books, approximately one-third to one-half of your annotation should relate to the artistry of the illustrations and the design of the books and to critical evaluation rather than plot summary.

This is an essential part of the course and keeping up with the Reading Diary is critical. These readings follow the weekly lectures and relate directly to the weekly discussions.

Due: The Reading Diary will be submitted in three parts. Part One is due at Midnight on June 24 th. Part Two is due at Midnight July 22nd and Part Three is due at Midnight on August 5 th.

Weekly Discussions (20% of grade)
Blackboard will be the site for weekly discussions on trends, themes and issues in services and resources for children under six. Weekly discussion topics begin May 31 st, 2005 and end August 5 th.

A specific theme, issue or question will be discussed each week. All students are expected to submit a minimum of two thoughtful and constructive comments per week to the weekly blackboard discussions, citing appropriate research and readings.

The first posted comment each week will relate to your reading of a professional journal, article or chapters of a reference work and related to the weekly lecture. Your second comment will relate to your readings (or viewing) of children’s materials as they pertain to the question or issue or your experience or observations regarding children’s programming.

Due: Discussions begin May 31st and a minimum of two comments (150 – 250 words) are due by midnight of the following Sunday each week. (i.e.: Discussion 1: Begins May 31 st and you may post until midnight June 5 th, 2005. Discussion 2: Begins June 6 th and you may post until midnight June 12 th. Discussion 3: June 13 th until midnight June 19 th etc. Final week of discussion will be August 1st until midnight August 5 th, 2005).

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Grading

This course (according to students last summer) was quite the handful! A challenge, but hopefully also a great deal of fun. This is one of the most exciting and vibrant areas of children’s services, with a wealth of fascinating research and wonderful and beautiful resources. I look forward to meeting you on-line!

Allison Taylor McBryde

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