Contemporary Trends in Children's Literature
BEN52702 英美兒童文學中的當代趨向Ｂ組
104b Assignments
Moodle
Be sure your English name and class number appear within your Moodle profile.
- Use the moodle for finding downloadable class information, such as handouts and lecture powerpoint presentations
- There is a class forum to which you can post questions, comments and ideas related to anything we cover in class.
Picture Book Reading Log
Read 10 picture books and record them in a reading log.
Learn more about picture books by following the links below and exploring libraries, book stores, and the Internet on your own.
Purpose: to help you become familiar with the genre and format of picture books, so when we talk about them in class, you will have examples and ideas in your head already.
The Reading Log
- Your reading log is due on March 21, at the beginning of the fourth class this semester.
- You must have 10 or more book entries in your reading log. You can write this by hand (neatly) in a notebook, or type it out on a computer.
- Each book should have a different author &/or illustrator.
- Each entry consists of three parts.
- Bibliographic information: Title, author, illustrator, publisher, publication date, etc. (follow MLA style)
- A brief summary. Just two or three sentences should be enough.
- Your comments about the pictures. Just a few sentences about what you noticed or found interesting about the pictures and how they fit in with the story.
Example of one entry:
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: Harper Collins, 1963.
A boy acts wild at home, so his mother calls him a "wild thing" and sends him to his room without any dinner. Then, his room turns into a wild place and the boy, Max, takes a boat to the land of the wild things where he becomes the ruler of large scary beasts. Finally, he comes home, and his dinner is waiting for him in his room.
I especially like the middle pages where there are no words. It makes it seem more wild. The colors aren't bright. I think this makes it feel more thoughtful, not just a happy story. I assume this story is Max's fantasy. I think he is angry at his mother and this is a way that he releases his tension. The monsters are interesting because they are both scary-looking while not looking scary at all. I’m not sure how the illustrator did this.
Grading (10 points)
- 9-10: Excellent. Carefully and neatly done with insightful comments and wide variety of books.
- 7-8: Good. Nicely done. Possibly a little repetitious. Not always insightful comments about pictures.
- 5-6: OK. The work has been done, but summaries may be copied, and comments appear rushed.
- 0: Not received.
- Late Reading Logs will still be graded and can receive ½ credit.
Picture Books Links
Picture Book Presentation
(5-7 min.) in small groups.
Purpose: to learn more about other picture books and practice critiquing picture books.
- Choose a high quality picture book that you enjoy.
- Introduce this book to a small group (this will be a new group, not your study group).
- Bring your book to the presentation so you can properly introduce it.
- Tell the group why you think this is a good book . Make sure you use the criteria you have read about in the articles and what we have discussed.
- Prepare a 1-page handout to help you make your presentation.
- Talk about both the pictures and the text.
- Make sure you have prepared well beforehand so that you stay within your time. But you should also be able to say much more about the book if you have more time.
- Don't make your presentation too short. You should be able to explain your ideas at greater length and with more examples as classmates ask you further questions.
For help finding good books, and more information on picture books, see the resources page.
The Hand out
- This must be on one side of one A4 size paper, neatly formatted, and with a normal size font.
- Make 5 copies, one for each person in your group and one for me.
- Include all the publication information of your book (title, author, illustrator, publisher, date)
- Include your name and student number.
- Give a 1-2 sentence summary of the book.
- List several points that make this book good.
- Put a picture from the book in your handout if you can.
- Be creative about how you present your information. Using charts, graphs, colors, word maps, or any other ideas are welcome, but most importantly, express your ideas clearly.
- These handouts will be posted on this website, so if you want to give me a color print, that would look nice, or e-mail an electronic file to Pearl in addition to the paper copy you hand in.
- See examples from the past.
After the presentations
- Compare your four ideas of what made your books high quality. Did you all mention the same points? Are there any other points you can say about your group members' books? Do you have any questions about your group members' books? After hearing the other presentations, did it make you think about any other ideas for your own book?
- You will give one copy of your handout to me.
Grading (20 points)
- Organization. The handout should look neat and be easy to understand.
- Depth of thought. It should look like you have considered the major factors about what goes into making a high quality picture book.
- 18-20: Excellent. Well designed, creative and attractive. Clear, abundant, and insightful information
- 15-17: Good. Nicely designed with good information and some original ideas.
- 13-14: OK. The basic information is all there, but with little attention to design or insightful points.
- 10-12: Poor. Missing basic information or misunderstood the assignment.
- 0: not received
- If absent on day of presentation, you can receive half credit if you still turn in your handout on time via a classmate
Book Responses
Write a brief response (around 200 words) to three of our four class texts. You can choose which three books you wish to respond to. Each response is due in class on the second/last day we discuss the book. Your response should contain and explain two or three ideas about the book from your own point of view.
Keep in mind:
- Print out the response on A4 size paper and format it properly with correct heading.
- Give your response a meaningful title.
- Generally, each idea will be one paragraph with several sentences that support/explain your idea.
- Consider quoting from the book or even using a picture from the book.
- You can think about what you gained from your own reading and/or what we talked about in class, but don't repeat too much of what was said in class.
Here are some ideas you can consider writing about in your response
- How easy or difficult was this book to read?
- How much did you enjoy or not enjoy reading this book?
- Which part was your favorite?
- Was there a part you really didn't understand?
- What new idea or insight did you get from this book?
- Who would you like to share this book with?
- Share this book or part of it with someone and tell about his/her response.
Grading
- 9-10: Excellent. Insightful, meaningful points that are explained clearly.
- 8: Good. Good ideas with explanations that show individual thought.
- 7: OK. Typical ideas with explanations, but little individuality. Possibly too many points without sufficient explanation for each one.
- 6: Barely OK. Seems very rushed. Unclear points or explanations.
- -1 point if poorly formatted.
- -1 point if there are serious proofreading problems.
Comparison Paper
(Due 6/4 & 6/11)(4-6 pages-1 page has about 300 words)
On 6/7, you must hand in your final revised paper as well as your draft from the week before with your group member's revisions and comments.
Purpose: To develop critical reading skills. To show how different books speak about similar issues. Students should gain critical skills by closely observing the different ways that separate books treat a particular topic.
- Write about how two or more books deal with a similar topic.
- The topic may be death, recovery from trauma, dealing with bullies, dealing with different cultures, family relationships, roles of females, or many other ideas.
- You should consider at least two books we have read in class. One book must be a novel, the other could be a novel or a picture book.
- You can write about three or four books too if you would like.
- What ideas do the books present about this topic and how are these ideas similar and different?
- Include quotes and paraphrase and summaries from your books. Be sure to use quotation marks and page numbers appropriately according to MLA style.
- You can include pictures if they help you make your point. Don't do it just to make your paper look nicer.
- You don't need to use any outside references, but if you do, you absolutely MUST cite properly using MLA style.
- Include both explicit and implied meanings
Grading (100 points)
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of your topic and the books.
- Show that you understand ways in which ideas are presented subtly.
Peer review (10 points)
One week before your paper is due, you must bring a draft of your paper to class and make a short presentation of your main idea(s) to your study group members. After a brief discussion during which you should take notes for revision, you will exchange papers for peer review. You will receive a worksheet to help you work through the peer review.
Final/Poetry Page & Presentation
(8-10 minutes, in new small groups--like the picture book presentations)
Purpose: 1) To have an enjoyable experience with poetry, 2) Consider elements of design, and 3) discover meaningful ways to share poetry with others.
Find a poem you like or write your own poem and share it with a new small group. Design a single or double A4 (portait view) page of a poetry book on which the words of your poem appear.
Choose a poem you enjoy that could be shared with a child. If possible, relate it to the class unit in some way.
- Funny poems are popular, but serious and reflective poems are often better.
- Choose something unique, a poem you think will be different from others.
- Read several poems from different poets before you make a decision
- Better poems are often found in books, rather than on line. Plan to go to a bookstore or library.
Share your poem
- Introduce your poem, telling where you found it, who the poet is, and the context of the poem.
- Tell what you like about the poem.
- If you talk about why it can be considered a children's poem, do not focus on “why it is good for children.” rather, focus on the qualities of the poem. Remember that all children are different and have different tastes.
- Involve your group. This means they will need to see the words.
- You can read the poem first, then have the group read it after.
- You and your group members take turns reading lines or stanzas.
- You can direct different group members to read different parts of the poem.
- You can play a recording of someone saying or singing the poem.
- You can put the poem to music yourself and sing it to your group. Sure, why not?
- Ask students some questions about the poem or the ideas in the poem. You could ask some questions either before or after you present the poem.
- And there are many other ideas. You can find more ideas from some of the poetry sites on the resources page.
Create a poetry page
- You must bring this page to class AND email it to me as a .pdf, .jpg, .png, .doc, or .docx file. (The assignment is not complete until i have confirmed that i received your poetry poster.) (jmklassen@scu.edu.tw)
- This poetry book will be available on the moodle site one week after the final exam.
- Use one vertical (portrait view) A4 size paper. Two pages is also OK if you need.
- You can choose whether or not to make a copy for each group member. Make sure that everyone can easily read all the words of your poem.
- Design your page to be visually attractive and emphasize the feeling/s in the poem.
- You can use color and images
- You can include other information, questions, ideas, but don't make it too cluttered.
- You must include the poet's name and date of the poem (general time is OK if you don't know the exact date)
- You must include the poem's source (complete reference to book, website, etc.)
- Make sure your name and class number are clear at the top of the page.
- On the back of the poetry page you give me in class: Briefly tell why you like this poem and what makes it a good poem to include in an anthology of poems for children/teens.
Grading
- Visual appeal: Attractive and meaningful design.
- Your explanation for what makes this a good poem to include in an anthology of poems for children/teens.
- 9-10: Excellent. Good poem, Carefully designed page that strongly emphasizes feelings and/or ideas in the poem. Clear, precise explanation.
- 7-8: Good. Good poem, visually appealing page. Generally good explanation.
- 5-6: OK. Good poem, page appears to be hastily constructed, vague explanation.
Children Poetry books in the SCU Library
- Children & poetry: a selective, annotated bibliography / compiled by Virginia Haviland, Head, Children's Book Section, and William Jay Smith. [Z1037 .H36]
- This singing world : a collection of modern poetry for young people / collected and edited by Louis Untermeyer; illustrations by Decie Merwin. [PR1224 .U65]
- A year full of poems / [compiled by] Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark. [PS595.S42 Y43 1996]
- One hundred years of poetry for children / [compiled by] Michael Harrison & Christopher Stuart-Clark.
- A world of poetry / selected by Michael Rosen. Rosen, Michael, 1946- (256 p.)
- Come hither : a collection of rhymes & poems for the young of all ages / by Walter de la Mare ; Decorations by Warren Chappell. (777 p., two copies)
- Favorite poems, old and new : selected for boys and girls / Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard.
- Afro-Caribbean poetry and ritual [electronic resource] / Paul A. Griffith. Griffith, Paul A., 1952-
- Chinese children's rhymes / Ruth Hsü. (English translations)
- A child's garden of verses / Robert Louis Stevenson; with illustrations by Charles Robinson. [PR5489 .C5]
- Where the sidewalk ends / the poems & drawings of Shel Silverstein. [PS3569.I47224 W5 1974]
- A light in the attic / Shel Silverstein. [PS3569.I47224 L5 1981]
- Children's classic poetry / [illustrations [by]Robin Lawrie].
- Earthways, earthwise : poems on conservation / selected by Judith Nicholls.
- The bat-poet / by Randall Jarrell; pictures by Maurice Sendak. [PZ7.J295 B3 1996]
- It's raining pigs & noodles / poems by Jack Prelutsky; drawings by James Stevenson. [PS3566.R36 I828 2000]
- The new kid on the block: poems / by Jack Prelutsky; drawings by James Stevenson. [PS3566.R36 N4 1984]
- The book of baby verse / collected by Joseph Morris and St. Clair Adams. [PN6110.C4 M56]
- Canto familiar / Gary Soto; [illustrated by Annika Nelson]. [PS3569.O72 C36 1995]
- The Sneetches and other stories / written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss. [PZ8.3.G276 S64 1989]
- A party for Pooh [sound recording]: When we were very young; and, Now we are six / A.A. Milne. [Tape Record) use in library only]
- A Packet of poems / chosen by Jill Bennett ; illustrated by Paddy Mounter. Bennett, Jill
- Read my mind: young children, poetry and learning / Fred Sedgwick. [LB1576 .S3434 1997]
- A blue poetry paintbox / chosen by John Foster. Foster, John, 1941-
- A purple poetry paintbox / chosen by John Foster. Foster, John, 1941-
- A first poetry book / compiled by John Foster ; illustrated by Chris Orr, Martin White, Joseph Wright.
- third poetry book / compiled by John Foster ; illustrated by Allan Curless, Michael McManus, John Raynes.
- A fourth poetry book / compiled by John Foster ; illustrated by Peter Benton ... [et al.].
- A fifth poetry book / compiled by John Foster. Foster, John, 1941-
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