WELCOME TO SURVEY OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

ONLINE

Please read the following information carefully.

Course Objectives
Contacting The Instructor
How This Online Class Works
What You Will Need To Get Started
Computers On Campus For Student Use
The Required Textbook
Academic Honesty Policy
Student Grievances
A Word To The Wise – Student Responsibilities
Information About Student Services
Counseling Appointments for Online Students
EMAIL-A-Tutor
The Cypress College Library
Student Evaluation
Course Syllabus By Week

Survey of Children’s Literature, English 239 C, surveys the historical and cultural development of children’s literature throughout the world, while emphasizing the important role that literature must assume in the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children. Tracing the multicultural origins of the oral tradition to the current standards of written excellence and pictorial artistry, this course concentrates on nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales, myth, sacred literature, picture books, juvenile literature, and non-fiction. Comparative and critical approaches are used to analyze children’s literature from a multicultural perspective. Students must complete English 100 with a grade of "C" or better before taking English 239.

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

• demonstrate an understanding of the broad historical development of children’s literature
• analyze the multicultural context of children’s literature in the United States
• analyze and describe the role of literature in the social, emotional, and intellectual development of children
• identify the types and structural forms of the different genres
• identify representative examples of each genre within the classroom tests as well as through utilization of the public library system and online resources
• analyze themes and ideas in the various genres in order to understand their function in early and contemporary times
• identify universal themes and archetypal patterns and compare and contrast their treatment in multicultural literature
• use appropriate terminology in discussing the various forms of literature
• demonstrate an understanding of various artistic techniques used to enhance illustrated books and the intrinsic importance of these techniques in regards to the meaning of wordless books and picture books
• discuss the artistic uses of language within literature and identify outstanding authors of children’s literature
• identify racial or gender stereotyping in a text and illustration and develop strategies for overcoming their effects
• create a bibliography of different genres within children’s literature
• analyze the historical and contemporary value of myths, fables, and folk tales, and create a work that applies the traditional elements of one of these genres
• create a presentation from a written story that incorporates the oral tradition and the theatrical elements of storytelling.

My name is Dr. Barbara Marshall, and I am your instructor for this course. The best way to reach me is through my e-mail address:bmarshall@cypresscollege.edu. You can also call me at the college at: (714) 484-8661. If you prefer, you can contact me in person during my campus office hours or by appointment. Cypress College is located at 9200 Valley View Street, Cypress, Ca, 90630, and my office is located in Room 221 (second floor) of the Humanities Building. You can also leave a message anytime on voice mail by calling (714) 484-7000, select 1,  then extension 48423.

I will be participating in discussions and providing feedback throughout the course.

This class runs for nine weeks. It is conducted entirely online. Our "classroom" is a web-based learning environment called Blackboard and can be accessed through this specific web address: http://cvc.blackboard.com

You will probably want to bookmark it (or put it into your favorites) for easy access. At the site, you will login. You will need your username and password (which I will assign to you) every time you enter the site. Every Monday and Thursday new information and assignments will be posted to this CourseSite. I strongly recommend logging into the course several times a week in order to complete assignments, participate in class discussion, and to benefit from classmate and instructor input. When you first enter the site, you will be at the Main Course Window. Here you will find the latest announcements regarding the course and directions for that week’s activities. All activities are located at this Coursesite; you will pick up all lectures, assignments, do quizzes and engage in discussion on the Blackboard site. At your leisure, you may be interested in visiting the Prentice Hall Companion Website, a site designed to interact with your textbook and which provides some supplemental information. Regardless of where the activities are located for the week, you will always need to enter the Blackboard CourseSite first to get specific instructions. For more detailed information about the course topics and course timeline, see below.

First of all, you need the following equipment and capabilities:

• a computer with Internet access
• a web browser – Netscape 4.0 (or higher) or Internet Explorer 4.0 (or higher)
• e-mail address
• a word processing program.

On-campus computers for student use are located in the North Lab in the Math/Science building. Before you can use the campus computers, though, you must pay a lab fee at the Cypress College Bookstore. For more information you may call the Lab at (714) 484-7150.

Through the Eyes of a Child, 6^th edition by Donna Norton (in the campus bookstore)
Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White (buy your own copy at a local book store or use the library)

The textbook provides the core information for this class. You should plan to have the textbook before the class begins as you will pick up reading assignments on the first day. If you have already previewed the schedule of assignments that follows in this document, you can, of course, begin your reading early!

The book is available for purchase through the Cypress College Bookstore. To purchase online, go to the college website.

You are expected to conduct yourself ethically in this course at all times. If you would like a detailed explanation of the ethical conduct expected of you and the consequences for unethical conduct, go to the Cypress College Website, http://www.cypresscollege.edu and click on the catalog link. Then go to the general Information link and scroll down to Academic Policies (page 9 in the catalog, but probably page 8 on your screen).

If at any time during this course, you have a problem with me, please tell me about it right away. If for some reason we cannot resolve the issue between us, you should check the college catalog for information on the specific steps for you to take to file a grievance. For information on the grievance procedures, go to the Cypress College website, http://www.cypresscollege.edu  and click on the catalog link. Then click on General Information and scroll down to Student Grievances (page 35 in the catalog, but probably page 34 on your screen).

Although this course is taught through the internet and not on campus, it covers the same materials as any campus-based Survey of Children’s Literature course. This means that you are expected to spend the same amount of time working on this course as you would on any other campus based course. It is important to keep this in mind as you proceed through this class. With no set meetings, online course work is easy to put off. Don’t do it! Set up a schedule for yourself. Check in with the course at least 3 or 4 times a week to get new announcements, respond to discussions and work on assignments. The successful online student is independent, and self-motivated. I believe you will find, however, after a couple of sessions, that online learning offers you great flexibility and is actually fun! You will probably also be surprised at how well you will come to ‘know’ your fellow classmates online.

The Cypress College Website, http://www.cypresscollege.edu  (especially the Library page located in the site) contains valuable information about the College and its programs and services. Below are some important phone numbers for your convenience, all in the 714 area code:

Admission and Records: 484-7346
Adult Re-entry Program: 484-7120
Assessment: 484-7223
Career Planning Center: 484-7120
Disabled Student Programs and Services: 484-7368
Extended Opportunity Programs and Services: 484-7368
Financial Aid: 484-7114
Health Services: 484-7361
Student Activities: 484-7198
Student Educational Development Center: 484-7368
Transfer Center: 484-7132
Veteran’s Affairs: 484-7344
Writing Center: 484-7183

For additional information about college programs and services, call the college at 484-7000 and press "0" for operator.

Phone appointments are available for online students. Just call your counselor during the day (Monday through Thursday), identify yourself as an online student in this class, and request a phone appointment. If you do not have your counselor’s phone number, go to the Counseling page on the Cypress College Website, http://www.cypresscollege.edu The phone numbers for the counselors are listed there. If you need to speak to a counselor in the evening, you can call the counseling center at (714) 484-7015 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM, Monday through Thursday. Again, be sure to identify yourself as an online student if you would like to make a phone appointment.

Cypress College now offers tutoring through e-mail. Responses to your questions take 24 hours or less, Monday through Friday. Here’s how it works:

1. Open your e-mail and put your Perm Number in the subject box.
2. Write out your question
3. E-mail to – WCTUTOR@cypresscollege.edu

Through the library web page you can access an online catalog listing books from the libraries at Cypress College, Fullerton College, Goldenwest College, Orange Coast College, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Long Beach. To check out books from the above libraries, you will need your campus ID card. From the library web page, you can also access a periodical database of 3000 magazines and journals (check EBSCO Host) by clicking on "Search for periodical articles" and logging on with the user ID of "Cypress" and the password of "College." The library website is: Cypress College Library

Here are the activities in which you will be expected to participate and for which you will be graded:

These activities require participation only.

• Orientation – The orientation is designed to acquaint you with the Blackboard system through which the entire course functions. It should be completed by the first day of the course. Enrolled students will receive information regarding the orientation prior to the start of the class.
• Post-Course Survey – this survey will help Cypress College in the development of future online classes. It will appear in the survey area under Assignments on the Blackboard CourseSite toward the end of the course and is due at the end of the course.

• For each topic covered in this course, there are reading assignments usually followed by a brief quiz designed to test your comprehension of the material.
• There will be a discussion question posted with each assignment.
• In addition, you will be responding to specific examples of children’s literature and to specific issues in children’s literature. You will be doing some work at other internet sites as well. For example, many authors and illustrators have very interesting sites worth examining.

Many of the topics covered in this course will also involve discussion questions. Discussion questions are located on the Discussion Board on the CourseSite, and I will usually begin the discussion thread. Students are expected to participate in the online discussions with input that is logical, that offers constructive insights or differing points of view, and that is understanding of the postings of other classmates. Discussion postings may NOT involve foul or offensive language; use of such language will result in disciplinary action.

1) Quizzes – 25% of the course grade

Brief regular reading quizzes on each chapter.

• In order to receive an ‘A’ for this component, your total number of points must be 90% of the points available.
• In order to receive a ‘B’, your total points must be 80%.
• In order to receive a ‘C’, your total points must be 70%.
• In order to receive a ‘D’, your total points must be 60 %.
• Failure to complete at least 60% of the quizzes or failure to receive credit for at least 60 % of the quizzes will result in an ‘F’ for this component of the total grade.

2). Discussion – 20% of course grade

With the Orientation, you will begin to see how Discussion works on Blackboard. It will be in the Communications Area of the CourseSite. There will be discussion questions following each reading assignment, and you are expected to check in and add your comments or questions. Ideally, you should plan on at least two comments for each discussion. (Comments are usually relatively brief, 2-5 sentences). As a discussion thread develops, you will be responding to the comments and observations of your classmates as well as to the original discussion point.

• In order to receive an ‘A’ for this component of the class, you must participate in the discussion and receive credit for your responses for 90% of the discussion questions.
• In order to receive a ‘B’, you must participate and receive credit for 80% of the discussions.
• In order to receive a ‘C’, you must participate and receive credit for 70% of the discussions.
• In order to receive a ‘D’, you must participate and receive credit for 60% of the discussions.
• Participating in fewer than 60% of the discussions, or participating in more discussions but failing to receive credit for the comment, will result in an ‘F’ for this component of the course grade.

As you can see, a large percentage of your grade is based on what are called Journal Assignments. These are written responses that vary in length from one or two paragraphs to two or three pages. You will be working on Journal Assignments every week, usually more than one, as you respond to the information in the text, lectures, and, very importantly, to specific readings of children’s literature. At times, you will respond in the quiz section on the coursesite; at other times, you will be submitting your essay through the Digital Dropbox at the coursesite. (You will learn about this procedure during the online Orientation). Since the Journal Assignments vary in length and complexity, they will receive varying point value. When you receive a Journal Assignment, you will find the point value attached to it.

• In order to receive an ‘A’ for this component of the course, you must receive 90% of the total number of points assigned.
• In order to receive a ‘B’, you must receive 80% of the total points.
• In order to receive a ‘C’, you must receive 70% of the total points.
• In order to receive a ‘D’. you must receive 60% of the total points.
• Anything less than 60% will receive an ‘F’.

Below, you will see the general list of readings for the week. For the specifics of these reading assignments, however, you will need to pick up the course lecture and assignments information which will be available by Monday and Thursday of each week on the Blackboard CourseSite: http://cvc.blackboard.com. There you will find that you will be assigned some of the readings listed below in the first half of the week and others in the second half.

Week 1 -    Selecting Literature for Children
                    Text: Chapter One

Week 2 -    The History of Children's Literature
                    Text: Chapter Two

Week 3 -    Evaluating and Selecting Literature for Children
                    Text: Chapter Three

Week 4 -    Artists and Their Illustrations
                    Text: Chapter Four

Week 5 -     Picture Books
                    Text: Chapter Five
                     Poetry
                    Text: Chapter Eight

Week 6 -    Traditional Literature
                    Text: Chapter Six

Week 7 -     Modern Fantasy
                     Text: Chapter Seven

Week 8 -     Contemporary Realistic Fiction
                     Text: Chapter Nine

Week 9 -      Multicultural Children's Literature
                      Text: Chapter Eleven

http://www.cypresscollege.edu