Week 3: Books for the Very Young: Babies, Toddlers & Preschoolers
Instructions for Weekly Online Activities/Assignments

ENGL 231: JC Clapp (North Seattle Community College)

Due no later than Thursday, October 15, 2009 by 11:00 p.m. PST:  Choose two complete collections of Mother Goose books (not single-verse editions). Page 118 in your textbook can help with this if you find yourself at the library not knowing how to get started. Once you have your two collections, evaluate them individually, according to the criteria established at http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073378569/student_view0/chapter4/evaluation_guides.html  -- you have to scroll down towards the bottom of the page.  Abbreviated evaluation criteria are also on page 116 of your book, but use the extended online criteria if possible. Create a comprehensive post that includes complete evaluations of your two chosen books. You do need to address all of the categories thoroughly (and label them).  So, you'll need to have a section labeled "Coverage" and one labeled "Illustrations," etc., and under each then answer, in paragraph format, the evaluation questions for the books you've chosen.  After you've individually evaluated each book, then write a paragraph comparing/contrasting the editions.  Which edition would you recommend for which ages of children?  Which is the better edition? Why? What are the benefits/drawbacks of each edition? Be sure to include the titles, authors, publishers, and copyright dates (all the bibliographic data) as well in your post!  Title your post with the title of the edition you think is the best.

Due no later than Monday, October 19, 2009 by 11:00 p.m. PST:  Read all of your classmates evaluation posts, and find at least two peers that reviewed the same Mother Goose book that you did.  Compare your evaluations with that of your peers.  Where did you two agree?  Where did you differ?  If nobody reviewed the same books you did, then simply choose two peers and then go to the library and find the editions they reviewed so that you can do your response with books in hand.  As a class, see if there is a clear "winner" or two in the field.  Was there a particular edition that many people found to be strong?