North Seattle Community College, ENGL 231: Children’s Literature, Course Calendar Fall 2009, JC Clapp

	Overview of In-Class Activities/Assignments	Overview of Online Activities/Assignments
Week 1 Knowing Children’s Literature	Tuesday, September 29^th Introduction of syllabus and course overview Introduction to the elements of literature (plot, setting, theme, etc.) What makes a children’s book good? Read by Thursday of this week: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 1 (Knowing Children’s Literature) , Chapter 2 (Understanding Children’s Responses to Literature)	Thursday, October 1st by 11:00 p.m.: Choose a book from your childhood and evaluate it. Monday, October 5th by 11:00 p.m.: Respond to two peers. *Note: This column is simply an overview. See the detailed weekly online discussion instructions in ANGEL for exactly what you're supposed to do each week.
Week 2 Development of Multicultural Literature	Tuesday, October 6^th Guest Speaker: Cass Mabbott, Seattle Public Library Children’s Librarian Bring to class today: Find at least three illustrated works of multicultural children’s literature and bring them to class with you. Make sure you’ve read all three of them! (These could be the ones you used for our online discussion this week, if you wish.) Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 1 (Knowing Children’s Literature) , Chapter 2 (Understanding Children’s Responses to Literature) and Chapter 3 (The Changing World of Children’s Books and the Development of Multicultural Literature)	Thursday, October 8th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose a set of three books from a particular culture and evaluate them. Monday, October 12th by 11:00 p.m.: Synthesize the evaluations of your peers.
Week 3 Books for the Very Young: Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers	Tuesday, October 13^th Guest Speaker: Erica Delavan, SPL Librarian Bring to class today: Find at least five books for very young children and bring them to class with you – alphabet books, colors, numbers, or the like. Make sure you’ve read all five of them! (Bring the Mother Goose books you used for the online discussion as well, but the five books you bring should be in addition to your Mother Goose.) Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 4 (Books to Begin On) Looking Ahead: By class time on Tuesday, October 27th (in three weeks), you need to have chosen and read two of the below fantasy books, so get started now: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll (1865) Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White (1952) A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (1962) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling (1998)	Thursday, October 15th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose two complete collections of Mother Goose and evaluate, compare, and contrast them. Monday, October 19th by 11:00 p.m.: Compare your reviews to your peer's reviews of the same Mother Goose books.
Week 4 Picturebooks and Illustrating	Tuesday, October 20^th Guest Speaker: Tara Chang, illustrator (http://www.taralarsenchang.com/) Bring to class today: Find at least seven large format fully illustrated picture books and bring them to class with you. Make sure you’ve read all seven of them! If you include the books you used for your online discussion, that's fine! Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 5 (Picturebooks)	Thursday, October 22nd by 11:00 p.m.: Choose a Caldecott Award winning illustrator to look at in depth. Monday, October 26th by 11:00 p.m.: Respond to at least two of your peers.
Week 5 Folklore & Traditional Literature	Tuesday, October 27th Bring to class today: Find at least three books of folktales or traditional children’s literature and bring them to class with you. If they are long books, over about 50 pages of text, you only need to have read one of them in its entirety, but be familiar with all three of them! If they are for younger readers, you should have read all three of them. You may bring the books you used for your online discussion, if you wish. Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 6 (Traditional Literature) Also, don't forget you need to be done reading your two full-length fantasy books by next week! (List of titles to choose from under Week 3, above)	Thursday, October 29th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose three versions of one fairy tale, myth, or folklore to evaluate. Monday, November 2nd by 11:00 p.m.: Compare your answers to your peers.
Week 6 Modern Fantasy & Young Adult	Tuesday, November 3^rd Bring to class today: Bring the two full-length books of fantasy that you read for this week. We'll be discussing them in-depth in class! Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 7 (Modern Fantasy)	Thursday, November 5th by 11:00 p.m.: Ask five adults what their five favorite children’s books are. Monday, November 9th by 11:00 p.m.: Compare your answers with those of your peers.
Week 7 Poetry	Tuesday, November 10^th Guest Speaker: Eric Ode, poet (http://www.ericode.com/) Bring to class today: Find at least three books of poetry for children and bring them to class with you. If they are long books over about 50 pages of text, you only need to have read one of them in its entirety, but be familiar with all three of them! Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 8 (Poetry)	Thursday, November 12th by 11:00 p.m.: Select one poet to study and get to know more about Monday, November 16th by 11:00 p.m.: Compare your answers with those of your peers.
Week 8 Contemporary Realistic Fiction	Tuesday, November 17th Guest Speaker: Ken Mochizuki, author of fiction and nonfiction Bring to class today: Find at least three books of realistic fiction and bring them to class with you. If they are long books, over about 50 pages today, you only need to have read one of them in its entirety, but be familiar with all three of them! Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 9 (Contemporary Realistic Fiction)	Thursday, November 19th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose and evaluate two pieces of contemporary realistic fiction on the same topic. Monday, November 23rd by 11:00 p.m.: Synthesize your answers with those of your peers.
Week 9 Biographies	Tuesday, November 24^th Guest Speaker: Michele Griskey, author of biographies Bring to class today: Find at least two biographies written for children and bring them to class with you. If they are books over about 50 pages of text, you only need to have read one of them in its entirety, but be familiar with all three of them! Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 12 (Biography)	Friday, November 27th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose and evaluate two biographies written for children about the same historic figure. Monday, November 30th by 11:00 p.m.: Share your findings with your peers.
Week 10 Historical Fiction	Tuesday, December 1st Guest Speaker: Katherine Kirkpatrick, author of historical fiction (http://www.katherinekirkpatrick.com/) Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 10 (Historical Fiction)	Thursday, December 3rd by 11:00 p.m.: Choose and evaluate two pieces of historical fictions written for children about the same historical time period. Monday, December 7th by 11:00 p.m.: Share your findings with your peers.
Week 11 Nonfiction	Tuesday, December 8th Guest Speaker: Barbara Keevil Parker, author of nonfiction books Reading Due today: Children’s Literature textbook, Chapter 11 (Nonfiction Books)	Thursday, December 10th by 11:00 p.m.: Choose and evaluate two books of nonfiction written for children about the same general topic. Monday, December 14th by 11:00 p.m.: Share your findings with your peers.
Week 12	Tuesday, December 15^th Author/Illustration Group Presentations Last day of class	You're done! Say goodbye to your classmates! No online assignment for this week.