Newbery Award discouraging young readers?

Maybe so—read this.

FINAL EXAM Monday December 15, 6:30

Just a reminder:

Submit ALL WORK identified on your portfolio/final grade sheet by December 15, 6:30 pm.

PLEASE email me when and how you are submitting your work ASAP.

More lesson planning help

Wonderful resource for lesson plans and examples of lesson plans:

ReadWriteThink from NCTE

Our YA Literature Experiences

The Giver, Lois Lowry

Night, Elie Wiesel

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

Sold, Patricia McCormick

Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson

Breaking Through, Francisco Jimenez (study guide)

Uncle, J.P. Martin

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, Judy Blume

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Story of a Girl, Sara Zarr

The Loud Silence of Francine Green, Karen Cushman

Small Steps, Louis Sachar

Tamar, Mal Peet

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

Gossamer, Lois Lowry

Heaven, Angela Johnson

Flight, Sherman Alexie

Inexcusable, Chris Lynch

Academic and Intellectual Freedom in the Classroom

How the survey played out:

1) I remain quiet in class discussions because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (8) Rarely (21) Occasionally (20) Often (7) Always

2) When I talk in class discussions, I express ideas and beliefs that are similar to the teacher/professor’s even though the ideas and beliefs are not necessarily my ideas and beliefs because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (14) Rarely (25) Occasionally (13) Often (4) Always

3) On written test/exams, I express ideas and beliefs that are similar to the teacher/professor’s even though the ideas and beliefs are not necessarily my ideas and beliefs because I am concerned that my ideas and beliefs may be different than those of my teacher/professor and that such a difference will negatively impact my grade.

Never (8) Rarely (14) Occasionally (18) Often (11) Always (5)

4) My teachers/professors are aware of their own assumptions and biases, and they make serious efforts not to allow their ideas and beliefs to impact negatively how they grade their students.

Never Rarely (7) Occasionally (19) Often (25) Always (4)

5) Most students express (orally and in writing) primarily what they believe teachers/professors want to hear/read instead of saying or writing ideas and comments that may contradict the teacher/professor because students fear differences of opinion negatively impact students’ grades.

Never Rarely (2) Occasionally (18) Often (34) Always (2)

6) I am more likely to change my views by what my peers believe or say than what my teachers/professors believe or say.

Never (4) Rarely (17) Occasionally (17) Often (16) Always (2)

Unit Resources

For help with unit design go to the following:

Virtual Library of Conceptual Units

Outlines for Conceptual Units

Comics and Mythic Patterns

See Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey.

Wednesday October 29, 2008

We will have a presentation by Furman grad and current middle school ELA teacher, Alice McLeod, concerning Literature Circles.

Also, please make a note of Conventional Language, a resource for the drafting of your essay in this course.

An excellent resource for APA citation format is available from Temple University. Click on the PDF and download the guide for free.

And new information on Challenged and Banned Books.

Nice article on being a teacher in Newsweek

I Am Not A Baby Sitter, Heather Robinson

FYI: Tori Amos Comic

Tori Amos has lent her talents to a comic based on her song catalog:

Comic Book Tattoo

Poetry!

For an excellent resource concerning teaching, analyzing, and discussing poetry, see the virtualLit offerings from Bedford/St. Martin's:

Select a Poem

Banned Book Week!

Reading Banned Books Banned Books Week, which runs September 27 to October 3 this year, draws attention to the issue of censorship and how it can best be combated. These resources explore ways to discuss censorship issues with students as well as ways to respond to text challenges in your school. For a general introduction, visit the ReadWriteThink calendar entry (G), which links to classroom activities and online resources. Be sure to check out the ReadWriteThink lesson plan A Case for Reading -- Examining Challenged and Banned Books (E), which introduces students to censorship and then invites them to read a challenged book and decide for themselves what should be done with the book at their school. The Language Arts article "Focus on Policy: Intellectual Freedom" (G) outlines details on current banning incidents, the importance of selection, and suggestions for overcoming text challenges. The article includes sidebars that list additional resources. The English Journal articles "A Battle Reconsidered: Second Thoughts on Book Censorship and Conservative Parents" (M-S) and "Facing the Issues: Challenges, Censorship, and Reflection through Dialogue" (M-S) include suggestions for responding to book challenges in ways that respect the positions of all stakeholders. You'll find a range of materials for exploring censorship in the classroom with the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Censorship in the Classroom: Understanding Controversial Issues (S). The College English article "Deflecting the Political in the Visual Images of Execution and the Death Penalty Debate" (C) explores the visual images that readers are and are not allowed to view and asserts that "the attempt to suppress the visual, as in any censorship of the press, is an attempt to limit debate." Teacher educators can share "What Do I Do Now? Where to Turn When You Face a Censor" (G), from the NCTE book Preserving Intellectual Freedom: Fighting Censorship in Our Schools, with preservice teachers. The chapter provides scenarios and the related resources that K-college teachers can use as the basis of discussion and problem-solving role-playing. Preservice teachers might then use the detailed instructions in the SLATE Rationales for Teaching Challenged Books (G) for writing their own rationales.

Related Links for Ch. 2, Reading, Learning, Teaching Margaret Atwood

Vertigo, Louise DeSalvo

The Passion of Emily Dickinson, Judith Farr

The works of Adrienne Rich

The works of Sylvia Plath

Biography and other scholarly work by Linda Wagner-Martin

The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell (Bill Moyers)

Graphic Storytelling and the New Literacies: An Interview with NCTE Educator Peter Gutiérrez
Referring to The NCTE Definition of 21st Century Literacies, Gutiérrez notes, "Yes, new technologies encourage non-traditional, often non-linear ways of engaging with text, but there's a danger in supposing that what makes the new literacies 'new' is the technology per se -- it's the literacies that are new; . . . they speak to the idea of 'participatory culture.'" Diamond Bookshelf, September 2008

Understanding Rosenblatt

While or after you read Rosenblatt, read this critical essay on her work; it may help you understand her points more concretely as they apply to the classroom:

The Significance of Louise Rosenblatt on the Field of Teaching Literature

How do we encourage reading by our students?

Consider these stories:

"The Storm," Kate Chopin

"Hills like White Elephants," Ernest Hemingway

How would we approach these stories in a traditional class setting?

How would a class consideration of these stories look if we embrace Rosenblatt's view of literacy? Freire's critical lens?

Teaching the Unteachable, Kurt Vonnegut

Teaching The Unteachable

---

By KURT VONNEGUT Jr.

ou can't teach people to write well. Writing well is something God lets you do or declines to let you do. Most bright people know that, but writers' conferences continue to multiply in the good old American summertime. Sixty-eight of them are listed in last April's issue of The Writer. Next year there will be more. They are harmless. They are shmoos.

I saw one horn five years ago--The Cape Cod Writers' conference in Craigville, Mass. It was more or less prayed into existence by three sweet preachers' wives. They were in middle life. They invited some Cape writers and English teachers to a meeting one winter night, and their spokeswoman said this: "We thought it would be nice if there were a writers' conference on Cape Cod next summer."

I remember another thing she said: "We thought established writers would probably enjoy helping beginners like us to break into the field."

And it came to pass. Isaac Asimov is the star this year. Stars of the past include Richard Kim and Jacques Barzun. Twenty-six students came the first year, forty-three the next, sixty-three the next, eighty-two the next, and nearly one hundred are expected this year-- in August. Most of the students are women. Several of them are preachers' wives in middle life.

So it goes.

I congratulated one of the founders recently, and she replied, "Well, it's been an awful lot of fun for all of us. Writers lead such lonely lives, you know, so they really enjoy getting together once a year to discuss matters of common interest."

That's the most delightful part of the game, of course: the pretense that everybody who comes to a writers' conference is a writer. Other forms of innocent summer recreation immediately suggest themselves: a doctors' conference, where everybody gets to pretend to be a doctor; a lawyer' conference, where everybody gets to pretend to be a lawyer; and so on--and maybe even a Kennedy conference, where everybody pretends to be somehow associated with the Kennedys.

"Who comes to writers' conferences?" you ask. A random sample of twenty students will contain six recent divorcees, three preachers' wives in middle life, five schoolteachers of no particular age or sex, two foxy grandmas, one sweet old widower with true tales to tell about railroading in Idaho, one real writer, one not merely angry but absolutely furious young man, and one physician with forty years' worth of privileged information that he wants to sell to the movies for a blue million.

"How much sex is there at writers' conferences?" you ask. The staff members, at any rate, don't come for sex. They hate conferences. They come for money. They are zombies. They want to collect their paychecks and go home. There are exceptions, who only prove the rule.

Honi soit qui mal y pense.

I saw another writers' conference born only this past June 18. I pick that date, since that was when the Student-Faculty Get-Acquainted Party was held. It was The West-Central Writers' Conference, sponsored by Western Illinois University, which is in Macomb, Ill. The party was held in the TraveLodge Motel in Macomb, in between the Coin-A-Wash and the A&W Rootbeer stand, because there was booze. There is a rule against booze on campus.

The founder and director wasn't a preacher's wife. He was a cigar-eating young English instructor named E. W. Johnson. In the conference brochure he claimed to have been a secondhand clothing salesman, a construction worker and a professional gambler. He is also a novelist and a writer of textbooks, and the only teacher at Western Illinois who has published a book. Johnson was sad at the party because he had sent out thousands of brochures and had advertised lavishly in Writer's Digest and Saturday Review and so on, and yet only 19 students had come. They were sitting around the room, rolling their eyes moonily, waiting for new friendships to begin.

"I can't understand it," he said above the Muzak and the sounds of drag races out on Route 136. "We have as good a staff as any conference in the country."

And the staff really was at least fair to middling. There was myself, described in the brochure as "the foremost black humorist in American fiction"; and there was Richard Yates, "perhaps the greatest living short story writer in America;" and there was John Clellon Holmes "the official biographer of the Beat Generation, who has recently completed a novel entitled ëPerfect Fools,' which is written from a ëwhite humor' point of view"; and there was Frederic Will, "one of the most versatile writers in America, having published extensively (eighteen books) in the fields of poetry, non-fiction and translation."

Johnson confessed that it had appeared for a while that only five students were coming, and he confessed too, that he had never been to a writers' conference before.

I asked him how he had come to found such a thing, and he said that he sure wasn't doing it for money. All he was getting as director was his regular instructor's pay. He honestly wanted to help writers.

The party died at midnight. Everybody had gone home by then except Johnson and a couple of staff members and a girl who had been recently divorced--from an Arab, she said. We were sitting around the swimming pool, breathing chlorine and carbon monoxide.

"You know why more people didn't come?" said the girl.

"Nope," said Jonson.

"Because ëMacomb, Illinois' sounds like such a hell-hole, and because "Western Illinois University' sounds like such a jerkwater school," she explained.

The Town isn't all that bad, I guess, and the University is handsome and booming. But there isn't any water there, and there aren't any mountains there, and there is no grand hotel. If you don't have water or mountains, and you want to fond a writer's conference, you had better have a grand hotel. Bloomington, Ind., is a hell-hole, God knows, but the Indiana University Writers' Conference takes place in the student union, which contains four restaurants, a pool hall, a barber shop, a bowling alley and a bookstore, and grown- ups can drink booze in their rooms.

I taught at Indiana's conference one summer. They're starring Jerome Weidman and Gerold Frank this year. The most touching thing that happened to me there was when Harry Mark Petrakis and I admitted to each other that we had never been published in The New Yorker, and probably never would be because we lacked that certain something. We thought it might be an ethnic thing, that they didn't like Greeks and Germans.

We have been brothers ever since.

We fours stars at Macomb had all taught at one time or another in the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. E. W. Johnson got his Master of Fine Arts degree there. I've quit after two years--not angrily, but feeling waterlogged. All the Workshop staffers were professional writers. Vance Bourjailly was the only one who ever got much writing done, probably because Iowa was his home. The rest of us were gypsies.

And one problem at Iowa, no problem at Macomb, was that the students were all very able writers. They were not committed to a silly week or two in the summertime. They were engaged in a two-year graduate program which was to end, ideally, with the completion of a novel of a short-story collection, or sometimes a play. They deserved help from their teachers, and there was time in which to give it to them.

"How did you help?" you ask.

Nothing is known about helping real writers to write better. I have discovered almost nothing about it during the past two years. I now make to my successor at Iowa a gift of the one rule that seemed to work for me: Leave real writers alone.

I haven't mentioned the poets in the Writers' Workshop because I don't know much about them. The poets talk all the time, like musicians, and this drives prose writers nuts. The poets are always between jobs, so to speak, and the prose writers are hung up on projects requiring months or years to complete.

The idea of a conference for prose writes is an absurdity. They don't confer, can't confer. It's all they can do to drag themselves past one another like great, wounded bears.

One thing I'm glad about: I got to see academic critics at Iowa. I had never seen academic critics before. They are felt to be tremendously creative people, and are paid like movie stars. I found that instructive.

When I saw my first academic critic, I said to a student, "Great God! Who was that?"

The student told me. Since I was so shaken, he asked me who I had thought the man was.

"The reincarnation of Beethoven," I said.

To return to the Macomb experiment one last time: I hope they get more people next year than came this year. If the conferences dies, it will be the first one that ever did. What they need to make things merrier is a sort of master of the revels, a graduate of some really great hotel school like Cornell University.

And they must stop telling staff members that they have to sign loyalty oaths or they won't get paid. Poor E. W. Johnson was humiliated when that happened in spite of all he tried to do to prevent it. A little touch like a loyalty oath can lead a visiting writer to suspect, rightly or wrongly, that his is employed by hicks.

Mr. Vonnegut is working on a new novel, "Slaughterhouse 5." A musical version of "Cat's Cradle," an earlier novel, will open on Broadway this year.

Op-Ed in The State

Crisis rhetoric, Utopian thinking and school ‘reform’
By PAUL THOMAS - Guest Columnist

Welcome to the Occupation

Rationale: Courses Taught by P. L. Thomas—
Welcome to the Occupation

Paulo Freire (1993) establishes early in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “One of the basic elements of the relationship between oppressor and oppressed is prescription. Every prescription represents the imposition of one individual’s choice upon another, transforming the consciousness of the person prescribed to into one that conforms with the prescriber’s consciousness” (pp. 28-29).

The course before you, your course, will be guided by some essential principles, beliefs, and research concerning the nature of learning and teaching along with the commitments I have to the dignity of each person’s humanity and to the sacredness of intellectual freedom within a democracy. The practices and expectations of this course are informed by many educators, writers, and researchers—many of whom are referenced at the end. But the guiding philosophies and theories of this course can be fairly represented as critical pedagogy, critical constructivism, and authentic assessment.

Now that I am in my third decade as a teacher, my classroom practices and expectations for students are all highly purposeful—although most of my practices and expectations are non-traditional and may create the perception that they are “informal.” For you, the student, this will be somewhat disorienting (a valuable state for learning) and some times frustrating. Since I recognize the unusual nature of my classes, I will offer here some clarity and some commitments as the teacher in this course.

In all of my courses, I practice “critical pedagogy.” This educational philosophy asks students to question and identify the balance of power in all situations—an act necessary to raise a your awareness of social justice. I also emphasize “critical constructivist” learning theory. Constructivism challenges students (with the guidance of the teacher) to forge their own understanding of various concepts by formulating and testing hypotheses, and by utilizing inductive, not just deductive, reasoning. A constructivist stance asks students to recognize and build upon their prior knowledge while facing their own assumptions and expectations as an avenue to deeper and more meaningful learning. My practices avoid traditional forms of assessment (selected-response tests), strive to ask students to create authentic representations of their learning, and require revision of that student work.

Some of the primary structures of this course include the following:

• I delay traditional grades on student work to encourage you to focus on learning instead of seeking an “A” and to discourage you from being “finishers” instead of engaged in assignments. At any point in the course, you can receive oral identification of on-going grades if you arrange an individual conference concerning your work. However, this course functions under the expectation that no student work is complete until the last day of the course; therefore, technically all students have no formal grade until the submission of the final portfolio. One of the primary goals of this course is to encourage you to move away from thinking and acting as a student and toward thinking and acting in authentic ways that manifest themselves in the world outside of school.

• I include individual conferences for all students at mid-term (and any time one is requested), based on a self-evaluation, a mid-course evaluation, and an identification of student concerns for the remainder of the course. You will receive a significant amount of oral feedback (“feedback” and “grades” are not the same, and I consider “grades” much less useful than feedback), but much of my feedback comes in the form of probing questions that require you to make informed decisions instead of seeking to fulfill a requirement established by me or some other authority. Your learning experience is not a game of “got you”; thus, you have no reason to distrust the process. I value and support student experimentation, along with the necessity of error and mistakes during those experiments. My classroom is not a place where you need to mask misunderstandings and mistakes. I do not equate learning with a student fulfilling clearly defined performances (see Freire’s commentary on prescription above), but I do equate learning with students creating their own parameters for their work and then presenting their work in sincere and faithful ways.

• I include portfolio assessment in my courses, requiring students to draft work throughout the course, to seek peer and professor feedback through conferences, and to compile at the end all of their assignments in a course with a reflection on that work; my final assessments are weighted for students and guided by expectations for those assignments, but those weights and expectations are tentative and offered for negotiation with each student. Ultimately, the final grade is calculated holistically and based on that cumulative portfolio. All major assignments in this course must be drafted in order to be eligible for a final grade of “A.” The drafting process must include at least two weeks of dedication to the assignment, student-solicited feedback from the professor, and peer feedback. Assignments must be submitted in final forms in the culminating portfolio, but documentation of the drafting process must also be submitted with the final products. Any major assignments that do not fulfill the expectation of drafting will not receive a grade higher than a “B.” Revision is a necessary aspect of completing academic work.

Welcome to the occupation. This is your class, a series of moments of your life—where you make your decisions and act in ways you choose. Freedom and choice, actually, are frightening things because with them come responsibility. We are often unaccustomed to freedom, choice, and responsibility, especially in the years we spend in school. So if you are nervous about being given the freedom to speak and the responsibility for making your own choices, that is to be expected. But I am here to help—not prescribe, not to judge. That too will make you a bit nervous. I am glad to have this opportunity in your life, and I will not take it lightly. I will be honoured if you choose not to take it lightly either.

References
Ayres, W. (2001). To teach: The journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press.
Brooks, J. G., & Brooks, M. G. (1999). In search of understanding: The case for constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Dewey, J. (1938/1997). Experience and education. New York: Free Press.
Freire, P. (1993). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.
Gardner, H. (1999). The disciplined mind: What all students should understand. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Gardner, H. (1991). The unschooled mind: How children think and how schools should teach. New York: Basic Books.
Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
hooks, b. (1999). remembered rapture: the writer at work. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
———. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. New York: Routledge.
Kincheloe, J. L. (2005a). Critical constructivism primer. New York: Peter Lang.
Kincheloe, J. L. (2005b). Critical pedagogy primer. New York: Peter Lang.
Pinker, S. (1994). The language instinct. New York: Harper Perennial.
———. (1999). Words and rules: The ingredients of language. New York: Basic Books.
Popham, W. J. (2001). The Truth about testing: An educator’s call to action. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Popham, W. J. (2003). Test better, teach better: The instructional role of assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Zemelman, S., Daniels, H., & Hyde, A. (2005). Best Practice: Today’s standards for teaching and learning in America’s schools (3rd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Syllabus

EDU 351/EDRD 748—Literature for Young Adults (4 hours undergraduate credit; 3 hours graduate credit)

Instructor Paul Thomas, EdD
Office 101 F Hipp Hall
Phone 294.3386
E-mail paul.thomas@furman.edu
Class Room Hipp Hall 107
Time Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:45-7:15 pm
Blog: http://yaliteraturefu.blogspot.com/


Textbooks

Required:

Thomas, P. L. (2007). Reading, learning, teaching Margaret Atwood. New York: Peter Lang.

Moore, A., & Lloyd, D. (1989). V for vendetta. New York: Vertigo.

Rosenblatt, L. M. (1995). Literature as exploration. 5th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

One novel of your choice by Margaret Atwood

Two YA works of your choice

Department Vision Statement
The teacher education program at Furman University prepares educators who are scholars and leaders.

Mission of the Program
Furman University prepares teachers and administrators to use effective pedagogy, reflect critically on the practice of teaching, promote human dignity, and exemplify ethical and democratic principles. Furman is committed to a program of teacher education that calls for collaborative, interdependent efforts throughout the academic community.

In keeping with the mission of the teacher education program, we emphasize:

• Knowledge of subject matter
• Philosophical, historical, and sociological foundations of education
• Human development and learning
• Social/cultural relationships
• Curriculum development, instruction and assessment
• Critical inquiry and reflection on teaching and learning
• Leadership
• Communication skills

Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Skills, and Dispositions

The Teacher Education Program of Furman University prepares educators who are scholars and leaders, based on the following propositions:

1. Educators who are scholars and leaders demonstrate mastery of content essential for intellectual competence. (CONTENT KNOWLEDGE) They:

a. have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals and concepts of their discipline
b. know and can implement national/state/district curricula and learning standards
c. understand the interrelationship of curriculum, instruction, and assessment

2. Educators who are scholars and leaders use evidence-based practice for effective teaching and communication. (PEDAGOGICAL SKILLS) They:

a. articulate their own philosophy of education and use it to guide their practice
b. demonstrate effective long- and short- range planning strategies, using
their knowledge of human development to promote learning
c. establish and maintain high expectations for all students
d. use a variety of assessments to inform instruction that reflect the way cultural, ethnic, socioeconomic, gender, and exceptionality issues affect student learning
e. relate disciplinary knowledge across the curriculum
f. demonstrate ethical use of current educational technologies to enhance instruction, assessment, and student performance
g. make subject matter meaningful to all students through use of accurate and current content from multiple sources
h. monitor student learning and adjust practice based on knowledge of student interests, abilities, experiences, and peer relationships
i. create, nurture, and maintain a sense of democratic community in the classroom, using effective and appropriate classroom management strategies to promote student responsibility for behavior
j. use appropriate organization and time management strategies
k. demonstrate respectful and productive communications with families and other care-givers representing diverse groups
l. communicate with professional competence, orally and in writing
m. inquire about and reflect on curricula, the nature of learning and teaching, and their own practice for professional self-renewal
n. demonstrate initiative to extend responsibilities beyond the classroom and into the school and community
o. engage in collaborative work with colleagues, other professionals, and community members

3. Educators who are scholars and leaders are caring and thoughtful individuals who respond to the needs and experiences of students and others with whom they interact. (DISPOSITIONS) They:

a. respect and value all students and others for their diverse talents, abilities, perspectives, and contributions
b. are sensitive to community and cultural norms
c. are timely, respectful, and responsible in meeting expectations
d. use suggestions by other professionals to meet challenges and improve practice
e. reflect critically and consistently on their own attitudes and actions
f. exemplify passionate commitment to teaching and continuous learning
g. commit to educational renewal through active professional involvement
h. model ethical and democratic principles in all relationships
i. use sound judgment and display confidence in practice
j. are advocates for students’ well being

(Based on INTASC, 1992; NBPTS, 1989; and ADEPT, 1999 standards)

Course Description

Exploration of the content of the secondary ELA classroom and pedagogical practices related to the teaching of poetry, short stories, traditional literature, nonfiction and novels written for the young adolescent. Selections also include multicultural exposure for students through a variety of genres.
(NCATE ELA standards addressed: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 2.6, 2.7, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.1.8, 3.2.4, 3.3.3, 3.4.3, 3.5.1.1, 3.5.1.2, 3.5.1.3, 3.5.1.4, 3.5.1.5, 4.1, 4.5)

Expectations for the quality and amount of academic work completed by graduate students at Furman University are higher than those for undergraduate students. These higher expectations are maintained in graduate courses and in courses that enroll both graduate and undergraduate students.

Goals and Objectives

This course will address—

• language arts instruction
• a respect for the worth and contributions of all learners
• becoming familiar with their own and other cultures
• the impact that culture, societal events and issues have on teachers, students, the E/LA curriculum, and education in general
• promoting the arts and humanities in the daily lives of students through literacy instruction
• the impact of cultural, economic, political, and social environments upon language
• the diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and societal roles
• the various purposes for which language is used
• using writing, visual images, and speaking for a variety of purposes and audiences
• using a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts
• how written discourse can influence thought and action
• works from a range of cultures, genres, female authors, authors of color, and written for older children and young adults
• how to examine, evaluate, and select resources, such as textbooks, other print materials, video, film, recordings, and software, that support the teaching of English language arts
• creating learning environments that promote respect for and support of individual differences of ethnicity, race, language, culture, gender, and ability

Broadly, this course will explore these major concepts as follows:

Students will address—

• the role of YA lit in the curriculum—and the state standards
• assessment of students’ literary understandings
• the connection between adolescent development and the literary canon
• creating a student-centered literature course of study
• finding and reviewing scholarly work on YA lit
• best practice in literature instruction and assessment for adolescents
• addressing issues of academic freedom and censorship in literature study

As well, assignments should address directly these NCTE standards in this course:

Standard 2.2. Candidates use ELA to help their students become familiar with their own and others’ cultures.

Standard 2.5. Candidates make meaningful connections between the ELA curriculum and developments in culture, society, and education.

Standard 3.2. Candidates demonstrate knowledge of the practices of oral, visual, and written literacy.

Standard 3.5. Candidates demon¬strate knowledge of, and uses for, an extensive range of literature.

Standard 3.6. Candidates demon¬strate knowledge of the range and influence of print and nonprint media and technology in contemporary culture.

Standard 4.6. Candidates engage students in critical analysis of different media and communi¬cations technologies.

Assignments

[ ] Attendance and class participation are crucial both to your learning in the course and the learning of the entire class. Failure to participate fully during class meetings and with class assignments along with any absences will negatively affect your final grade for the course.

[ ] Read and discuss Atwood and YA novels chosen as part of instructional units.

[ ] You are required to complete all readings—including the required texts and supplemental works handed out during the course. Following the course outline of required readings of the two major texts, email an e-journal prior to each class meeting that reflects a thoughtful response to the reading.

[ ] Prepare an original group presentation (incorporate technology of your choice) concerning YA lit and issues of culture; oral, visual, and written literacy; expanding the canon; and nonprint media and technology. (NCTE 2.2, 2.5, 3.2 3.5 3.6 4.6). This presentation should be no more than 20 minutes long (and no shorter than 16 minutes). The format and rubric for the presentation will be designed in class within the first few weeks.

[ ] This group presentation should be accompanied by an individual inquiry essay dealing with the same issues. This essay should be in proper APA format.

[ ] Young Adult Literature Unit. See appendix at end of the syllabus.

[ ] At the end of the course, each student must submit a portfolio of the term’s work which has materials organized and includes a reflection about the contents of the portfolio and how it may be used in future instructional settings.

Evaluation and Grading

Assignments and expectations listed above have not been labeled with weights or percentages. The work students complete in this course will be assessed cumulatively and holistically; individual assignments will not be weighted and averaged, as is traditionally practiced. All work may be revised as desired by the student, as agreed upon by the professor, and as term time limits allow.

Work and commitments to this course should be of the highest academic and professional quality. Late or incomplete work will be addressed at the end of the course—not on individual grades for individual assignments. Further, individual grades for group work will reflect both the effort of each individual in the group and the ultimate quality of the group assignment.

Furman University, the Education Department, and the professor are strongly committed to students performing as scholars while in all their courses. Such a commitment means that we expect the highest standards in written and oral performances—including a student’s understanding and application of academic honesty and scholarly documentation of all work. In this course, students will be expected to follow American Psychological Association (APA; 5th ed.) guidelines. Help for writing, presenting, and documentation will be provided by the professor and additional documenting help may be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html.

All grading and evaluation procedures for this course may be discussed more fully by contacting the professor for a face-to-face explanation—though much of this will be covered as a natural part of the course content as well.

All grading policies of Furman University and Graduate Studies are in effect.