Children’s Literature Professor Suzanne Keen
MW ABC
Spring 2009 Office hours: tba
keens@wlu.edu
Children’s literature has often been invested with the duty of inculcating virtues, values, and morality into young readers. Does reading fiction really work this way in real children? In a historical, anthology-based study of children’s literature, the course investigates the relationship between children’s literary reading and character formation. In the course, students consider questions from literary, psychological, and pedagogical perspectives. Beginning with tools for teaching literacy (primers, alphabets, and readers), students examine children’s literature in historical and cultural context, debating appropriateness and effectiveness for pedagogy. For instance, are unedited classical myths (full of sex and violence) good tools for teaching character, as advocates of cultural literacy have argued? Do the gender stereotypes in many fairy tales accidentally teach girl readers invidious ideas about their roles in society and in relationships? Should myths and fairy tales be censored, expurgated, or revised? Do modern versions correct these problems? Can children’s literature be used to promote contemporary values, such as tolerance, or do unruly literary texts and unpredictable child readers escape adult intentions? Observations from students’ optional12-hour service learning placements will supplement our discussion of course texts. Weekly response papers of 1000 words each engage students with secondary texts representing a variety of perspectives about the function of children’s literature. Appropriate for students in the Teacher Education program and FDR HL. Course website at http://sakai.wlu.edu.
Course Objectives in English
Students in English will learn how to
1. write clear, persuasive analytical essays driven by arguments about texts;
2. read closely, recognizing subtle and complex differences in language use;
3. seek out further knowledge about literary works, authors, and contexts, and document research appropriately, adhering to the highest standards of intellectual honesty;
4. broaden the range of literary texts and performances from which they can derive pleasure and edification.
Required Primary Texts:
Jessica Day George, Dragon Slippers. Bloomsbury. ISBN-13: 978-1599902753
Lois Lowry, Number the Stars, Laurel Leaf , ISBN-13: 978-0440227533
Gary Paulsen, Hatchet, Aladdin. ISBN-13: 978-1416936473
Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief, Miramax, ISBN-13: 978-0786838653
J. K. Rowling, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Children’s High Level Group. ISBN-13: 978-0545128285
Jerry Spinelli, Milkweed, Laurel Leaf, ISBN-13: 978-0440420057
Jeanette Winterson, Tanglewreck, Bloomsbury, ISBN-13: 978-0713686890
Sarah Zarr, Story of a Girl, Little, Brown, ISBN-13: 978-0316014540
Jack Zipes, The Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature, Norton, ISBN 13: 978-0393327762
Recommended Secondary Texts (will be on library reserve):
Holly Blackford, Out of this World, Teacher’s College Press. ISBN-13: 978-0807744666
Nel Noddings, Educating Moral People, Teacher's College Press, ISBN-13: 978-0807741689
Larry Nucci, Education in the Moral Domain, Cambridge UP, ISBN-13: 978-0521655491
Website: /http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/
National Endowment for the Arts, To Read or Not to Read, pdf version
Requirements: faithful attendance and participation (10%); five 1000 word essays (15% each); oral report with a 500 word handout or powerpoint (included in participation); objective comprehensive final examination (15%). Failure of the final examination with a score of 59 or lower results in a grade of E. See the regulations governing removal of E grades in the course catalog.
Optional Service Learning Project, volunteering in the community in literacy related work (elementary schools, Rockbridge Regional Library). 12 hour expectation. Contact service learning coordinator _____________________. Dedicated and responsible service (meeting your commitments) is required to pass the course; exchange this work for the final examination.
Walking directions to Waddell Elementary School:
Take Lee Avenue past Blue Sky Bakery, past the post office on your right, the international house on your left, until it dead ends on McDowell Street. Take a right onto McDowell, and your next left onto Jackson Ave. Follow Jackson- go straight past White street and take your next right. You will see Waddell in front of you about a block away. Go in the main door that faces the parking lot in front.
Driving Directions to Fairfield Elementary:
20 Fairfield School Road | Fairfield | VA 24435. Take Rt 11 past Wal Mart and follow it straight to Fairfield. You will pass the drive-in movie theater, I-81 highway entrances (exit 195), and Maple Hall. School will be on your right about 10 minutes away from East Lex. Watch your speed as you enter Fairfield—the speed limit drops abruptly at the school.
Week 1: Literacy and other Modern Values
M Introduction: sign up for group work. Service Learning Coordinator Visit.
Website: /http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/ Read the overview at least before Wednesday. Your paper prompts will arrive by email and they will also be posted in the schedule of the Sakai course web page.
W Alphabets, Primers and Readers in Norton
Nucci, Education in the Moral Domain (on reserve)
Th Paper #1 (morality and convention) due by 2:30 in Prof. Keen’s box
Week 2: Picture Books, Fairy Tales, and Controversies about Fantasy
M Picture Book section (colored supplement) in Norton, Fairy Tales in Norton (except Little Red Riding Hood section). Group presentations on Picture Books and Fairy Tales.
Fairy Tale Controversies: read this web page for your second paper.
W “Little Red Riding Hood” versions in Norton, Lois Lowry, Number the Stars
Th Paper #2 (fairy tale controversies) due by 2:30 in Prof. Keen’s box
Week 3: Cultural Literacy across the Generations
M Classical Myths in Norton. Distribute Rowling handout. Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
W J. K. Rowling, The Tales of Beedle the Bard; To Read or not to Read, NEA (free pdf)
Th Paper #3 (what's the harm?) due by 2:30 in Prof. Keen’s box
Week 4: Didactic Tales and Contemporary Virtues
M Books of Instruction in Norton, Sarah Zarr, Story of a Girl
W Can this classic be saved? Helen Bannerman, From The Story of Little Black Sambo (in Norton C5); Little Babaji (in class) . Mildred Taylor, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in Norton.
Th Paper #4 (memoir/creative) due by 2:30 in Prof. Keen’s box
Week 5: Survival Stories
M Jerry Spinelli, Milkweed, Nel Noddings, Educating Moral People (on reserve)
W Gary Paulsen, Hatchet
Th Paper #5 (motif-tracing) due by 2:30 at Professor Keen’s office
Week 6: Girl Power
M Jeanette Winterson, Tanglewreck (creative presentations)
Recommended: Out of this World: Why Literature Matters to Girls, by Holly Blackford (on reserve)
W Jessica Day George, Dragon Slippers (creative presentations)
Final Exam
Links:
Website: http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/
Overview at Prof. Nucci's http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/overview.html .
Nel Noddings links: http://members.dslextreme.com/users/madpicciotto/Noddings.htm
•Lois Lowry, Number the Stars
See the author's website: http://www.loislowry.com/
•Jerry Spinelli, Milkweed
See the author's page: http://www.randomhouse.com/features/jerryspinelli/
•Mildred D. Taylor, Roll of
Thunder, Hear my Cry
Web English Teacher resources.
A view
from the UK-National Curriculum.
Websites or electronic resources.
Children's Book Log resources for Author Study. Click
here. This site has terrific resources in other areas of
Children's Literature as well.
The Competition: Click
here.
Contemporary Authors, a reliable reference source.Click
here.
Children's Literature, the electronic scholarly journal. Click
here.
Fairy Tales: good site. Click here.
Picture Book Database. Searchable by topics, keywords, skills. Click here.
Poetry page from an elementary school. Click here.
Poem-a-day from the Library of Congress. Click here.
Poetry internet resources for teachers. Click
here.
Web English teacher author links. Click here.
Children's Literature introductory page, with study questions. Click
here.
Read-Aloud authors:
Leo Lionni. Sample author
study unit for grade schoolers.
Patricia Polacca. Click here
for the author's site.