X490

The syllabus is available for download in MS word format here.

 

EDUCATORS ENGAGED IN GROWTH

 

The mission of the Indiana University Southeast School of Education is to develop high-quality caring professionals who will stimulate the continuous renewal of schools within a multicultural society.

X490 Teaching Adolescent Literature

 

Instructor: Kevin Sue Bailey

Office Phone: (812) 941-2624

Office Hours: Before class as needed

Texts: Course Manual

Reading for Real Units (furnished by instructor)

The Plaque Year

Make Lemonade

Catalog Description:

X490: What adolescent literature is, how it has changed since its inception, and how adolescent processes are related to reader needs and interests. Designed to provide the secondary classroom teacher with training in how this relatively new genre of literature can be incorporated into instructional programs.

Course Goal: The goal of this course is to prepare teacher candidates to use integrated classroom strategies that engage students in reading, writing, listening, thinking, and speaking about current and classic children’s and adolescent literature.

Beliefs: The faculty and staff of the School of Education at Indiana University Southeast affirm their belief that graduates from the IU Southeast Programs have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to:

· Play a lead role in promoting success and positive change in themselves and others.

· Use effective methods to meet diverse educational goals.

· Create and manage safe and effective educational environments.

· Make decisions and validate progress toward educational goals using appropriate data.

· Achieve educational goals identified by state and national professional standards.

· Use contemporary educational technology effectively.

· Value and be responsive to diversity among students and within society.

· Collaborate with student, faculty and administrators to create caring learning communities.

· Infuse their practices with a broad knowledge of the arts, sciences and humanities, a strong knowledge of educational theory and practice and an in-depth knowledge in a specific field of preparation.

· Incorporate the concerns and resources of the local community into their professional goals and practices.

· Engage in continuous improvement and professional growth by setting goals and reflecting upon their progress toward achieving those goals.

· Encourage, support and mentor the professional development activities of candidates and practitioners in the field.

· Utilize critical thinking, creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

· Meet the needs of all students in a developmentally appropriate manner.

· Display the positive behaviors and dispositions that are expected by the professional community.

· Communicate effectively with students, parents, other professionals and members of the community.

· Project a coherent vision of education as a personal and professional activity.

· Participate in professional organizations related to their educational roles.

 

Course Intent: The purpose of this course is to provide students with opportunities to explore the breadth and depth of the literature available for children and adolescents. These opportunities will serve as a foundation for the use of literature in classrooms and libraries. To that end, the focus of this course will be the reading and examining of children’s books and young adult literature. Issues related to the use of literature in classrooms and libraries will be discussed, but are not the focus of the course.

 

The course is based upon six beliefs about learning:

1. Learning is an active, personal process. We will immerse ourselves in hundreds of children’s books and will explore our personal responses to texts using various forms of response (written, verbal, artistic, musical, etc.).

2. Learning is a social process in collaboration with others. By sharing with each other our understandings, we are able to expand upon our own responses to the books we read using class members as discussants and collaborators. This discussion and collaboration will be accomplished in small groups, in pairs, and as a class.

3. Learning involves taking risks and supporting others in their explorations. We will act as a support system for each other as well learn about children’s literature and its uses in classrooms and libraries. Exploring any new field requires a great deal of support to effectively understand the content. We will serve as that support for each other.

4. Choice allows learners to connect to their personal experiences and feel ownership in what we read, and the focus of the projects. Our choices will reflect our personal experiences and our individual needs and experiences as teachers, librarians, parents and community members.

5. Learning occurs when we make connections to our own experiences. We will respond to literature by exploring our personal response rather than according to a specific literary interpretation.

6. Learning is reflective as well as active. We will have opportunities to reflect upon the information encountered in class and observed in schools and libraries. Reflection upon what we have learned and want to learn is a key to actively taking responsibility for one’s own learning process.

 

 

INTASC CORE STANDARDS:

The basic principles upon which Indiana standards for licensing new teachers will be based were generated by the Interstate New Teachers Assessment and Support Consortium.

 

Principle #1:

The teacher understand s the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and of structures of the disciplines(s) he or she teaches and can create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful for students.

Principle #2:

The teacher understands how children learn and develop and can provide learning opportunities that support their intellectual, social and personal development.

Principle #3:

The teacher understands how the students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.

Principle #4:

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

Principle #5:

The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

Principle #6:

The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.

Principle #7:

The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community and curriculum goals.

 

Principle #8:

The teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the learner.

Principle #9:

The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the effects of his/her choices and actions on others (students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community) and who actively seeks out opportunities to grow professionally.

 

Principle #10:

The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.

 

Council of Chief School Officers (1992). Model Standards for Beginning Teacher Licensing and Development: A Resource for State Dialogue. Washington, D.C.

 

Course Objectives: Upon completion of L376/L391, X490, and L535 preservice and inservice teacher will be able to:

· Read a wide variety of children’s and adolescent literature representing cultural diversity. (3,7)

· Use the internet to access information regarding books, strategies, and authors. (6)

· Develop an extensive Reader’s Log with annotated entries for each work of literature read throughout the course. Log must represent cultural diversity, as well as diversity of genre. (See instructions in syllabus.) (8,9)

· Analyze yourself as a reader. (1,2,3)

· Recognize your role in establishing a classroom climate that is conducive to responding to literature. (3,4,5,6)

· Demonstrate and plan instruction that incorporates strategies and methodology to promote a love of literature, student-centered classrooms, and reader response. (3,4,5,6,7)

· Investigate, create and utilize resources that enable you to create a literature rich environment which reflects depth and breadth of genre, themes, cultures and authors. (1,3,4,5,7,8,10)

· Evaluate the appropriateness of literary works for developmentally appropriate levels.

· Participate in all class activities in a positive way that contributes to the class as a caring literacy community. (2)

· Demonstrate a professional, responsible, and positive attitude at all times. (2,4,9,10)

· Research and prepare an exhibit on a noteworthy author or poet. (1,4)

 

Course Evaluations: You will have an opportunity to contract for the grade you desire in this course. Simply, you decide what grade you want in the course and associated with each grade are certain tasks and skills you are to complete. There is a contract you must sign and turn in the second class meeting. You cannot break your contract or you will be given an unsatisfactory grade (D or F) in the course.

 

All work must be word processed. Paper torn from notebooks will not be accepted. If a prescribed format has been announced, only that format will be accepted. As teachers, spelling and grammar should be corrected prior to submitting the assignment.

 

All assignments will be reduced one letter grade for each class period they are late. Late assignments automatically lower the contract by one letter grade.

 

If you should have to rewrite a particular assignment over more than one time, you will be required to lower your contract one letter grade. There is a limit of two rewrites for the course before your contract is lowered. Rewrites are due at the next class meeting unless otherwise stated by the professor. Substandard work on the reading log or the final project will result in a lower grade for the course.

 

A "plus" or "minus" may be added to any grade at the discretion of the instructor.

 

ANY ABSENCE AFTER THE FIRST WILL REDUCE YOUR GRADE ONE LETTER.

Terms of Contract

The terms for each letter grade contract are enumerated below. It is implicit in each contract that the quality of work submitted, tests taken and student performance must also reflect the letter grade standards for which the student contracts. If any contracted item falls below the standards of the contract, the student will be asked to resubmit the item at he next class session or at a time specified by the instructor (see other specifications for rewrites). Graduate student will be held to a higher standard of performance than undergrads. Modeling and mentoring will be considered in assigning final grades. It is understood that preservice and inservice teachers will be held to the highest professional standards. All preservice teachers are expected to demonstrate mastery of professional ethics and subject area knowledge base, as well as oral, interpersonal, and written communication skills. Since a wide variety of reading is the foremost requirements for this course evidence of extensive reading demonstrated in class discussion will be evaluated by the instructor. Substandard performance on the Reading Log or Author/Poet Exhibit will result in a lower grade for the course.

 

Requirements for All Contracts: "A", "B", "C"

· Attend all class meetings and participate in all class activities, discussions, field trips, readings and contribute in a positive way to the professional development of yourself and your peers.

· Complete all quizzes, tests, performances, and assignments at the contracted letter grade.

· Demonstrate a professional, responsible and positive attitude at all times.

· Write and submit your "Reading Autobiography" tracing your history as a reader from your earliest remembrance to the present. (See format in syllabus)

· Read and discuss works assigned to the whole class.

· Read extensively outside of class from the lists of recommended readings and write a "Reader Response Log" that reflects the depth and breadth of your reading. (See format in syllabus)

· Be prepared at each class meeting to share your reading experiences since the last class session.

 

Additional Requirements for "A" and "B" Contracts

· Choose an author or poet who has contributed extensively to children’s or adolescent literature. Read extensively about this author and read his major works. Prepare a presentation for the class that captures the author’s contributions and possibilities for classroom instruction. (See format in syllabus.) This project will be featured at the last class meeting during the Literature Showcase.

 

Additional Requirements for an "A" Contract

· Compile a professional resource file on topics covered each night in class. Select an article from a professional journal on each of the central topics discussed in class. Read the article. Prepare a tip sheet on the article to share with colleagues in class. Bring the article and tip sheet to class on the night the respective topic will be discussed. (You may substitute a professional text for an article.) Topics include: Reading Aloud, constructivist theory, independent reading, reader response, nonfiction/informational text, poetry, censorship, multicultural literature.

· Complete a "Personal Reflection Paper" that synthesizes all that you have experienced and read in the course and the practical applications or implications involved for you as a teacher.

 

 

FORMAT FOR ASSIGNMENTS

READING AUTOBIOGRAPHY: For this assignment, you need to write your history as a reader form as far back as you or your family can remember to the present time. You should write the stories told about you as a reader as well as the experiences you have had being read to, learning to read, and reading on your own. Who influenced you? Who were/are favorite authors? What were/are favorite books? How have you changed or developed since childhood as a reader? Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, and from 3-5 pages in length. Consider that your classmate and I will be your audience. Bring your favorite childhood book to the second class meeting. (A, B, & C contracts -Due second class session.)

TI P SHEETS: Read an article, text or chapter on the assigned topic. Summarize the major points made by the author on the bulleted list. The object here is to extract for your colleagues key ideas related to the topic. Center the topic of the page, begin with a proper bibliographic entry, and follow the entry with bulleted notes. (A contract – due each class session, see calendar.)

READER RESPONSE LOG: Since the focus of this course is to read children’s and adolescent books, you need to record what you have read in a way which will serve your needs in the future. The log should represent a variety of genre and culturally diverse selections. This log might take the form of the note cards, lists, a computer database – it depends upon how you prefer to organize information. The log itself will be checked several times during the semester, as well as being a part of your "Literature Response File." Your log should include AT LEAST the title, author, IBSN#, copyright date, genre and BRIEF summary of the books, comments on the book’s possible uses and your personal response to the book. (This is not a book report for me; it is a summary so that you can remember what you’ve read and a reader response revealing your connections.) (A, B, & C contracts – due upon request)

AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR/POET STUDY: This should be an in-depth exploration of at least one author/illustrator/poet’s work and life. It will include information and articles regarding the author/illustrator/poet’s life, reviews of his/her work and bibliographic entries. The Author/Illustrator/Poet Study will serve as a culminating learning experience. You will provide a visual display, a collection of his/her work for display, and enough copies of a brief biographical sketch of your subject and a bibliography of his/her work for each class member and the instructor (3-hole punch handouts). The in-depth organization of materials related to your Author/Illustrator/Poet will be turned in to the instructor and displayed for the class during the Literature Showcase. (A & B contact – on the last class.)

PERSONAL REFELCTION PAPER: Your "Personal Reflection Paper" will be your opportunity to synthesize all that you have experienced and read in the course. This will allow you to bring closure to the experience by reflecting on where you were in your beliefs and experiences with literature as you started the course and where you are now. Project what your literature/language arts classroom might look like next year as a result of your experiences this summer. ("A" contract only – due 2nd to last class.)

There are three expectations implicit in all assignments due in this course: 1) All work represents your best work, 2) Reading selections and projects will reflect the multicultural world in which we live, 3) Readings & projects should reflect the teacher’s awareness of individual differences, modality preferences, learning styles & multiple intelligences.

Disabilities Statement: If you require reasonable accommodations due to a disability to participate in this program, please contact Todd Norris, Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities, Library Building 006F, (812) 941-2243