IMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Spring Semester 2001 ?

EDUC 465 - 4 ?

Kirsten Nowak

Children's Literature ?

Office: TBA

Phone:

291-3395

E01.00 ?

E-mail: knowak@sfu.ca

PREREQUISITE

Tuesday

16:30-20:20

in EDB

8620

60 credit hours.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Children's literature? Children's literature? Children's literature? Is there, in fact, something that can be

legitimately called children's literature? If there is, is it different from other forms of literature and, if so, why

and in what ways? And does it have its own standards and yardstick of excellence?

Why bring literature and children together, anyway? And which books should we bring to which children. And

when? -- is there, for instance, a way of fitting book to child (or child to book) like the glass slipper to

Cinderella. And to what ends? And in what different ways?

These and related questions are surely at the very centre of the educational enterprise, both at home and at

school, from the earliest years of infancy to the last stages of adolescence. And the answers to these questions

speak to our most basic notions of what it is to be human, what it is to be educated. Or, as Jean-Jacques

Rousseau put it in his Confessions: "I do not know how I learned to read. I only remember my first books and

their effect on me; it is from my earliest reading that I date the unbroken consciousness of my own existence."

OBJECTIVES

• Get in touch with and reflect on your own stories and story experiences through childhood and adolescence.

• Ponder whether there is, in fact, something that can legitimately be called 'children's literature'.

• Learn to survey children's literature through a study of genre; and examine some major genres - e.g., folk &

fairy tale, the picture book, verse & poetry, the novel, etc.

• Learn to look at children's books according to their fit to children's stages and sequences of development.

• Learn to examine children's books through their themes and issues.

• Critically examine why and how children and books should be brought together.

• Learn about story and storytelling.

• Learn about reading and reading aloud.

REQUIREMENTS

The course will comprise a range and variety of learning experiences. These include: individual study, research,

and field-work with children; focussed practice of instructional strategies and procedures, with peer review and

feedback; small group and whole-class discussion, projects, and presentations; lectures, workshops, and

demonstrations.

Course Requirements comprise the following:

• Regular class attendance and participation

• Completion of readings

• Completion of assignments

• Demonstration of competency in the fulfillment of selected assignments.

REQUIRED READINGS

Trelease, J

.

The New Read-Aloud Handbook. Penguin Handbooks, 1995.

Chambers, Aidan. The Reading Environment. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers, 1996.

Butler, Dorothy. Cushla and Her Books. Penguin, 1982.

Yolen, Jane. Touch Magic. Putnam, 1981.

Other readings will be identified and made available at the first class and throughout the course.

---

Centre

Simon Fraser

for Distance

University

Educa

?

EDUCATION 465-4

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

The two main purposes of this course are:

1.

To introduce you to a small representative sample of the range of literature

available to children today and to give you an opportunity to explore and

understand children's literature in greater depth, e.g. children's traditional

literature, folk and fairy tale.

2.

To introduce you to ways of bringing children and books together through

such strategies as: reading aloud, and other simple forms of presenting

literature; storytelling- and dramatic presentation; setting up and running

independent reading programs.

PREREQUISITE:

60 credit hours.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Butler, Dorothy.

Cushla and Her Books.

Penguin, 1982.

Chambers, A.

The Reading Environment.

Thimble Press, 1991.

Trelease, Jim.

The

Read-Aloud Handbook.

4th ed.

Penguin Books, 1995.

Yolen, Jane. Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie & Folklore.

Putnam Pub., 1981.

Zola, Meguido. By Hook Or By Crook: My Autograph Book.

Tundra Books, 1987.

Zola, Meguido. (Ed.)

Poetry Plus: Collections 2.

Copp Clarke Pitman, 1990.

PLEASE NOTE: This course is delivered online using a computer conferencing

system called FirstClass Intranet Client. Access to a computer and modem is

COURSE REQUiREMENTS:

Presence and Participation online

?

5%

Participation in 6 online conference discussions

?

30%

Completion of 5 papers

?

50%

Final examination

?

15%

Exam Schedule is in Registration Timetable.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEES: Course Materials & Service Fee

Deposit for Additional Materials

11/02/00

---

Centre for Distance Education

Simon Fraser University

WMC 1300

291-3524

or

1-800-663-1411

(within BC)

Compute! Requirements

1.

This course requires active participation over the internet. Students must have access to a computer and the

internet. Students wishing to connect to the Internet from home computers are responsible for connecting to

either SFtJ or an external Internet Service Provider (ISP). Information on connecting to SFU through modem

dialup lines is available at the Academic Computing Services (ACS) web site:

<http://www.sfu.caJacs >

Phone numbers for ACS are

291-3234

(Burnaby) or

291-5030

(Harbour Centre).

2.

Requirements

On-campus computer

are:

facilities are available,

if

you are using your own computer,

Minimum Computer

Hardware

• Macintosh running System 7.1 or

?

higher OR PC with Windows

95/98/NT

• 16MBRAM

• 30 MB free disk space

• 28.8 baud modem

• Internet Connection

• CD-ROM drive

Software

?

.

• Email (e.g. Eudora, Outlook Express or equivalent)

• Internet Browser (e.g. Netscape or Internet Explorer)

• FirstClass Conferencing System (available free of

charge to students registered in this course)*

•

ji in course materials

General

• Prior computer knowledge is expected (i.e. ability to save files, install programs and maintain your

computer).

• Familiarity with the internet and related applications is highly recommended.

3.

Please Note:

Support for general computer problems such as operating system difficulties and hardware problems is

not available.

Drop-in introductory tutorials for FirstClass Conferencing are available at the LohnLab (WMC 1340)

from 9:00

AM

to 3:00

PM

during the first week of classes. Students enrolled in Distance Education

courses and unable to access the Burnaby campus may email <help@firstclass.sfu.ca

> for assistance.

The subsidized modem hours allotted to students each semester are not normally sufficient to complete

the required course work.

• A voucher system has been implemented to allow students to pay for continued modem access on

291-4721 (after your subsidized access is used up). Vouchers may be purchased from the campus

bookstores and are sold in increments of $20. At 60 cents/hour, each voucher is good for

approximately 33 hours. Instructions are included with the voucher.

• For complete information on SFU's Modem Access Policy, check the ACS web site above.

•

Out of town students

only: It is recommended that students residing outside the Lower Mainland

contact a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) since using SFU dialup services will result in

additional long-distance charges. Check your local yellow pages under "Internet" for listings.

For further information, contact the LohnLab by email at <help@firstclass.sfu.ca

>

Revised

October

21, 2000

FC Only