Course Requirements:
Partner
Picture
Book Analysis: 10%
Peer-graded
Performance: 10 %
Report
on Children's Television: 20%
Learning
Log: 40%
Final
Examination: 20%
To pass the course, you must complete each requirement, and comply with
the attendance requirements outlined in the general
course policies.
Partner Picture Book
Analysis:
This is a
partner picture book analysis in two ways: first you will be working with
a partner, and second you will be working on two different books that
partner with each other in a certain way. In class discussion, we will be
looking at conventions of traditional picture books, and the ways in which
postmodern picture books break or challenge those conventions. For this
paper, you will choose two books that focus on the same subject or
concept--could be a fairy tale, a particular emotion or situation (new
baby, death, success, dance, jealousy, anger, emotions in general,
imagination, adoption, etc.), an historical event, period, or figure, etc.
The books should be written in two different time periods, with one being
in the past ten years.
Your
challenge will be to look at the ways in which the books deal with their
subject relative to the general values and beliefs of the time
period in which they were written, and to note changes in the way
they depict their subject. You should deal with the art, the text, and the
way the two interact. Then you should try to characterize those
changes--for instance, do you note nostalgia, genuine postmodern play or
hope, traditional values dressed in postmodern garb, or what, exactly?
Does the later text affirm or subvert the earlier one? In what ways, and
why?
This is a
collaborative paper--that is, you will turn in one paper between the two
of you, and you will get the same grade. How you divide the work will be
up to you. I will give you a day in class to share your work with other
partnerships, but note that this is the class period before the paper is
due, so most of the work should already be done, and you are simply
presenting and sharing, and perhaps getting one or two new insights from
your discussion to include in your final draft.
Peer-graded
Performance:
Picture books lend themselves to a variety to uses.
Some are good for intimate, one-on-one readings, some are read alones,
some have the bold colors and lyrical texts that make them successful
read-alouds with large groups. In order to share picture books with children
in groups (or adults in corporate meetings, or your friends at parties), you need
to cultivate your presentation style. For this assignment, you are to
choose a picture book, and read it aloud to the class. Alternately, you could choose to
tell a story. Either way, you'll need to introduce your story with the
goal of generating interest and excitement and getting people thinking about
the story in such a way that you could follow up with either discussion or
some other mode of response. Peer response sheets will be passed out and
collected after your performance.
Reports
on Children's Media, Product Tie-ins, and Television:
Working in groups, you will either 1) watch and research children's
television, 2) spend some time analyzing toy stores and book stores, or 3)
watch movies geared to young children. Each group will be assigned a different network or category of
children's culture: Disney (TV, not movies), Disney (movies), Not Disney
products and programming, Not Disney movies, toy stores. Focus on the programming
and products that fit the target audience of this class (birth to age 8,
or grade three). Your research
should address implicit and explicit goals of the programming, what
ideology of childhood the programming seems to espouse, the goals and
values most evident in the shows, and other things that you find of
interest and importance. Your group will have time to present a 20 minute
presentation, which should be accompanied by a paper that sums up your
findings and includes your bibliography of
sources.
Learning
Log: You will keep a learning log for this class which you will
turn in once for an advisory grade at mid-semester, and once for a final
grade at the end of the semester. Note that it is worth 40% of your grade.
Basically, I want you to keep a narrative account of the insights, new
knowledge, connections, and associations that you make as a result of the
reading and discussion we do in this class.
Here are the minimum requirements for
things to include. The log should be kept in a
three-ring binder with dividers for each section, and should be kept
separately from class notes.
---a response to each
week of class sessions. These responses should include both summaries of the key points of
class discussion, associative responses from your own experience and
understanding, notes on anything that you disagreed
with or found strange or intriguing.
---annotated lists of picture books that
reflect your understanding of concepts we cover--like how the art works,
how the text and the art work together, how the book might present the
world to different children reading it
---responses to each of
the articles we read in class. Your response should reflect on
how the theories presented in the articles may influence the way you think about children, and the ways you
might then teach or parent
Final Examination:
There will be a take-home exam due during the examination
period scheduled for this class, which will
include short answer and essay questions. It will cover the all of
the course material.
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