Unless you’re interested in my plans for the class I’m taking, this post won’t be of much interest to you. This is intended as something I can print out for each lesson for an easy reference sheet, as well as having it available when I don’t have my textbook with me.

General Information

  • Course enrollment date: 6/20/2011
  • Required completion date: 2/20/2012
  • Instructor: Sandra Gravitt
  • Submission email address: corrassignments@txstate.edu
  • Submission requirements:
    • Include provided cover sheet (if smailing)
    • Note the course number, assignment number, and name in both subject and body (if emailing)
    • Number all pages of assignment
    • Include course prefix and number, assignment number, and name on every page
  • Submission smail address:
Office of Correspondence Studies
302 ASB North
Texas State University – San Marcos
601 University Drive
San Marcos, Texas 78666-4615
  • Course Objectives:
    • Present a panoramic view of available children’s books
    • Select good books for your students, or develop an understanding of what elements determine the quality of a book and which of these elements make the strongest personal appeal to you
    • Write clearly and specifically about children’s books

Lesson 1: Poetry

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 6/25/2011
  • Library day: 6/27/2011
  • First draft: 7/5/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 7/12/211

Requirements:

  • Chapter 9
  • 5 anthologies (at least one containing story poems)
  • 5 collections (5 different authors)

Objectives:

  • Recognize the characteristics of a good anthology
  • Recognize the characteristics of a good poetry book by a single author

Assignment Overview:

  • 7 short answer
  • 2 annotated book lists
  • 1 3-paragraph essay

Lesson 2: Artists and Picture Books for Children (page 11)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 7/13/2011
  • Library day: 7/14/2011
  • First draft: 7/19/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 7/26/2011

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 4, 5
  • 3 Children’s literature websites
  • 10 Picture story books

Objectives:

  • Begin to understand the the complex relationship of picture to words in illustrated texts
  • State the criteria adults use to judge art in books for children
  • Use the stated criteria for choosing good picture books
  • Apply the stated criteria by which art is judged when you describe clearly and concisely the artists’ handling of color, line, shape, texture, and composition
  • Recognize some of the foremost illustrators and the information about picture books available on the internet

Assignment Overview:

  • 1 500-word essay
  • 1 annotated list
  • 10 book recommendations

Lesson 3: Folk Tales, Fables, Myths, and Epics (page 17)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day:  7/26/2011
  • Library day: 7/27/2011
  • First draft: 8/2/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 8/9/2011 (overlap to lesson 4)

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 6, 7
  • 2 different illustrated editions of the same folktale
  • 4 additional folktales or collections of folktales
  • 2 collections of fables
  • 2 myths or collections of myths
  • 3 epics
  • NOTE: 10 of these books should represent different countries or cultures

Objectives:

  • Cite standards for choosing traditional narratives, and use these standards as a yardstick when you judge traditional narratives
  • Evolve some idea of the strengths and limitations of illustration in folk collections

Assignment Overview:

  • 1 compare/contrast
  • 1 annotated bibliography (6 collections)
  • 5 “brief comments”  (2 myths and 3 epics)

Lesson 4: Modern Fantasy (page 25)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 8/8/2011 (note overlap)
  • Library day: 8/9/2011
  • First draft: 8/16/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 8/23/2011

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 8; pp. 599-602
  • 3 tales by H.C. Anderson
  • 2 picture books from one category
  • 1 novel under each of the remaining categories:
    • Fantasy with Folk-Tale elements
    • Tales of pure imagination
    • Modern stories of talking beasts
    • Personified and inanimate objects
    • Humorous fantasy
    • Science fiction

Objectives:

  • Understand the characteristics usually found in modern fantasy
  • Cite criteria by which modern fantasy is judged
  • Apply these criteria when you discuss plot, characterization, setting, logic, and style in modern fantasy
  • Consider the reasons that some books cause controversy
  • Recognize some of the most important modern fantasy writers

Assignment Overview:

  • 3 paragraphs on H.C.A.
  • 5 paragraphs (w/biblio) on novels (one for each category)
  • 1 1000-word essay to expand on 4 of those novels

Lesson 5: Modern Fiction (page 31)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 8/23/2011
  • Library day: 8/24/2011
  • First draft: 8/30/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 9/6/2011

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 10; pp. 6-15
  • 3 books for younger children
  • 3 books for middle children
  • 3 books for older children
  • 1 sports story
  • 1 mystery
  • NOTES: At least one book should be by an author from another country. At least one must have been challenged.

Objectives:

  • List the criteria for judging what Children and Books terms “modern fiction” (be sure not to confuse “modern fiction” with fantasy)
  • Apply these criteria when you discuss plot, character, setting, point-of-view, and style in “modern fiction”
  • Distinguish some of the features of “new realism” and identify them in stories from the contemporary period
  • Have a stronger sense of societal censorship as it applies to children’s books

Assignment Overview:

  • 5 short answer
  • 1 1000-word essay
  • 1 annotated bibliography

Lesson 6: Historical Fiction (page 37)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 9/6/2011
  • Library day: 9/7/2011
  • First draft: 9/13/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 9/20/2011 (note overlap with lesson 7)
  • Send exam request: 9/20/2011

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 11
  • 3 books for younger children
  • 3 books for middle children
  • 3 books for older children
  • 1 book of your choice
  • NOTES: 2 books should be about the same historical period. All books should be by different authors. 3 should have been published after 1985.

Objectives:

  • List the criteria for judging historical fiction
  • Apply the criteria for judging historical fiction when choosing these books
  • Identify instances of new realism in historical fiction when you find them

Assignment Overview:

  • 1 extended compare/contrast
  • 1 annotated bibliography (8 books)

Lesson 7: Biography and Informational Books (page 45)

Due Dates:

  • Chapter day: 9/19/2011 (overlap with lesson 6)
  • Library day: 9/20/2011
  • First draft: 9/27/2011
  • Due-to-mail date: 10/4/2011

Requirements:

  • Chapters 2, 12, 13
  • 6 biographies (at least 2 about the same person) (2 must be written after 1990)
    • 2 for younger children
    • 2 for middle children
    • 2 for older children
  • 1 book about someone who is not American
  • 6 informational books for younger children
    • 2 alphabet books
    • 2 counting books
    • 2 concept books
  • 6 informational books for middle and older children (one from each of below). Each must be by a different author.
    • The Biological Sciences
    • The Physical Sciences
    • Mathematics
    • The Social Sciences
    • The Arts
    • Activities and Experiments
  • NOTES: Because informational books get outdated quickly, try to stay with books published after 1990.

Objectives:

  • List criteria for judging bibliographies
  • Determine the thesis of a biography
  • Understand what is left out of a biography is often more important than what is put in
  • List criteria for judging informational books
  • Apply these criteria when choosing informational books
  • Evaluate informational books written especially for younger children

Assignment Overview:

  • 1 annotated bibliography of biographies
  • 6 paragraphs about informational books for younger children
  • 6 evaluations of informational books for middle/older children

Final Exam: 10/15/2011