For Week 14 - Questions to guide your reading

* Confessions of a Closet Catholic
* Silver (2002): What criteria does Silver suggest for evaluating books?
* Kimmel (2003): How does Kimmel understand the "Jewish content" of his stories?
* Group C members write a questioning the text paper

Check this article out. It's titled: 10 Great Books For (Traumatizing) Children. It'll give us LOTS to talk about next week!

For Week 14 - Questions to guide your reading

Read:

* Boy Meets Boy

* McLean (1997): What is McLean's rationale for considering GLB(TQ) literature as "multicultural"? What stereotypes and inaccuracies does she suggest we watch out for? This article was written in 1997. Are you familiar with any books that you think do a "better" job of representing GLBTQ characters?

* Levithan (2004): Although Levithan is directing his words to librarians, they also apply to teachers. What does he mean when he writes, "Being gay is not an issue, it is an identity. It is not something you can agree or disagree with."

Obama's Special Olympics joke

My husband nicely informed me that Obama's Special Olympics joke was weeks ago.

Sorry for not being on top of things more!

April Fools Day info

In class I mentioned how I thought April Fools Day ended at 12pm.

Here's a link to an article that talk about it. I was partly right. The 12pm thing is a British tradition (and thus probably Canadian as well).

For Week 11 - Questions to guide your reading and details

Read:

* Project Mulberry

* Siu-Runyan (2002): This article focuses on "Books that teach about the Asian and Pacific Island peoples of Hawaii". What does it add to your understanding of that population? Of the purposes and need for multicultural literature in general?

* Yamate (1997): As of 1997, what was the state of publishing for Asian American texts? What type of research might you do to explore whether anything has changed over the last 10 years? What themes might you find in Asian Pacific American literature?

Write (Group B):

* Write a questioning the text paper

Blogging assignment details

Some of you have been asking me about the blogging requirement in this course. Here are a few clarifications and suggestions.

1. Remember to post/comment regularly. To receive full credit for this part of the course grade, the minimum number of posts and/or comments is 15. Generally try to post/comment once a week.

2. Some of you have been struggling with what to post about. Look at other people's blogs to get some inspiration. Feel free to start posting initial thoughts about your final project topic. Post your reaction to what you're reading (trade books, course articles). AND, if you're still stuck, email me and I'll help you out!

3. Remember that the idea behind the blogging part of the course is to help you become more proficient at using technology and to widen the audience for your writing/reflections.

For Week 10 - Questions to guide your reading

This week we'll focus on Latino/a children's and adolescent literature.

Read:

* Becoming Naomi Leon

* Ada (2003): This chapter is from the book A Magical Encounter: Latino Children's Literature in the Classroom. Why does Ada use the term "Latina" to identify herself? How is this connected to her understanding of self and history? What does she add to our understanding of the insider/outsider debate? To our understanding of the Pura Belpre award?

* Barrera and Quiroa (2003): This chapter is from the book Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural Authenticity in Children's Literature. Why is it important to consider the use of Spanish in texts? When does it enhance the text? When does it detract from the text? How might audiences of Spanish/English and English speakers be accommodated?

Write (Group A):

* Write a questioning the text paper and submit it by the morning before class.

Information about class on Mar 18

I just sent everyone an ANGEL email with some specifics about how to best prepare for our class after Spring Break. Be sure to read it.

On the 18th, we'll be talking about critical literacy issues in the classroom, a topic that many of you are eager and excited to start talking about. We'll be spending about half of our time together discussing this and then will be walking over to the library for a tutorial on how to locate scholarly articles for your final projects.

Some resources for you (I read Lakeya's blog post and just had to give more!)

I came across this educator's recommended blogs:

Favorite Blogs: A Great Way to Keep Up with New Children's Books

Dialects in literature

Some of you have been blogging about our class experience of reading literature containing dialects. Great posts! I encourage you to check these out AND to contribute to the discussion by writing on this topic yourself.

Here's a link to the Nappy Hair classroom story I talked about in class.

What are your reactions/reflections on this? It's a good reminder for me that audience (particular mix of students in your classroom) needs to play a big part in what you choose to do and why you might choose to do certain things in the classroom.

In case you needed some convincing...

For any of you who might need some extra motivation to read/get excited about our tradebook for next week, check out Nat's recent blog entry!

For Week 8 - Questions to guide your reading

Read:

* Al Capone Does my Shirts
* Linton (1998): What does Linton say about the power of language? What terminology do you prefer when discussing this topic? Why? What would it mean to read Al Capone Does my Shirts from a "disability studies framework? What types of questions would you ask about the representations in the text? How would you analyze those questions?
* Tal (2001) and Williams, et. al. (2005): In what range of ways have people with disabilities been portrayed in text? What criteria might one use to evaluate books that include people with disabilities? Is there anything you question about the criteria presented?
* Optional: Check out Gennifer Choldenko's website. (I suggest you read the book first.) What do you learn about her? What don't you learn?

Write (Everyone):

* Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel dropbox by 6 pm the evening before class.

In class we'll watch part of a documentary in which a woman who is autistic shares a little about her experience and talk about how the film may raise new questions about Al Capone Does my Shirts.

For Week 7 - Questions to guide your reading and details about your awards assignment

The co-themes of session 7 will be "practicing close readings of text" and analyzing awards for diverse literature. You'll only need to prepare for the second!

Everyone:
Read the Aronson and Pinkney articles. Be ready to discuss the following:
What are the arguments for and against honoring books in specific cultural/social categories?
What assumptions does each position rely on?
Where do you stand in terms of the debate?

Award jigsaw: Research the following information for your assigned award. 

Is there an official website for the award? Are there other resources that provide information about the award? (Sometimes libraries or author blogs feature information not available on the official sites.)

Why and when was this award created? What is the rationale for the award?
Selection criteria: What books, authors, illustrators are eligible? How are the books judged?

Who sponsors the award?

Selection committee: Who chooses the winners? How do you get on the committee? How transparent is the process?

Bring in books that have won or have been honored by the award. This will mean a trip to the library--you can coordinate this within your group. How easy was it to find the books? Do they have seals or other indications that they are award winners?

It would be helpful if one person in the group could bring in a computer.

In class we'll teach each other about the awards, share books, and talk about the questions that our research raises.

Group 1 - Coretta Scott King
Group 2 - Sydney Taylor Award
Group 3 - Asian Pacific American Award
Group 4 - Lambda Literary Foundation Award
Group 5 - Schneider Family Book Award
Group 6 - The Middle East Book Award
Group 7 - Pura Belpre

(group members are listed on our ANGEL site)

For Week 6 - Questions to guide your reading

Everyone:

* Read Martin (2004): What does she mean by the "double voicedness" of text? How is this "double voicedness" connected to the historical position of African Americans? Do any of the modes of discourse seem familiar? (You might draw on popular culture for examples or written texts.)
* Read Woodson (1998): What does Woodson add to our "insider-outsider "debate?
* Read Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes. This books is written in a combination of verse and prose. Try reading (and maybe rereading) the poems aloud to explore how they sound. Mark 1-2 poems that you would like to share and discuss.

Group C:

* Write a questioning the text paper and submit it to the Angel dropbox by midnight the night before class
* Bring a hard copy of your paper to class

Optional:

* What can you learn about Nikki Grimes through internet research? Post any interesting resources in a blog entry.
* Contribute a response to "How is blogging going?" before our class next week

Children's literature by and/or about Arab Americans

For our discussion tomorrow, here's a few weblinks to check out:

Newspaper article about Arab American stereotyping in TV shows

A video contest winner from One Nation Many People

Another video called: I am Muslim

For Week 5 - Questions to guide your reading

For Week 5 - Readings

Al-Hazza and Lucking (2005)
Al-Hazza (2006)
Staples (1997)
Additional reading (optional): An essay by Peggy McIntosh (1998)

Nye's Habibi

Questioning the Text (paper #2) - Group B

Dear America series...class discussion

In class on Wednesday, we'll be discussing one of the Dear America books:

Turner, Ann
The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
The Diary of Sarah Nita, a Navajo Girl
New Mexico, 1864
Dear America Series
Scholastic, 1999
194 pages, b/w photos
grades 4-7

Click here for a critique of the book by Oyate, "a Native organization working to see that our lives and histories are portrayed honestly, and so that all people will know our stories belong to us. For Indian children, it is as important as it has ever been for them to know who they are and what they come from. For all children, it is time to know and acknowledge the truths of history. Only then will they come to have the understanding and respect for each other that now, more than ever, will be necessary for life to continue."

The Oyate website is an excellent resource!

Book awards....find out who won!

In case you haven't heard/read, click here for the full award list in 12 categories (Newberry etc). It was just announced this week Monday so it's still hot news :)

How many of the awards are you familiar with? We'll be spending time in class discussion some of these awards and the issues that surround them.

In conversation with Dr. Debbie Reese

I just had to make a post about this because I simply can't wait to tell you about this!

I emailed Debbie Reese to ask her our class question about descriptors/terms/names to use (e.g. Native American or American Indian). She emailed me back right away and pointed me to a spot on her blog that reads: American Indian? Or, Native American? There is no agreement among Native peoples. Both are used. It is best to be specific. Example: Instead of "Debbie Reese, a Native American," say "Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman."

She also said, and this is the really exciting part, that she'd be more than willing to be in conversation with us about the topic of American Indians in Children's/YA Lit. Super cool eh?!

She welcomes responses to her chapter (1997) that we read for this past week and/or any other questions we might have for her. I know that some of you said you really enjoyed reading her chapter; others of you wrote down questions/concerns. Please do take her up on this offer - her email is: debreese@illinois.edu. What a wonderful opportunity for all of us!

Some examples of excellent Questioning the Text assignments

I'm in the middle of responding to the first batch of Questioning the Text papers. Group A members - you're off to a good start. I appreciate the hard work you put into these papers.

In an effort to help articulate the assignment better, I think it would be helpful for you to see examples of Questioning the Texts. The goal of the assignment is to explore a question/issue rather than to "answer" it or suggest 3 possible "answers". I didn't use the word "explore" when I talked about this assignment in class but I think it's a really good one to use as it seems to capture this "wrestling with the text" idea rather than finding and making an argument.

Enough from me. Click here to find an article written by a fantastic children's lit instructor here at MSU and 3 of her students. It was published in Disability Studies Quarterly, Fall 2008, Volume 28, No. 4. Read through the three Questioning the Text examples to use as models.

American Indian discussion close to home (or at least my home!)

Here's the link the to newspaper article I mentioned in class about the school mascot debate in Saugatuck.

Here's a letter to the editor in response. Here's another. Here's yet another.

I'll keep you posted!

For Week 4 - Questions to guide your reading

Our topic next week will be:

The Insider/Outsider Debate & Expanding the Definition of Multiculturalism

Please read (all in course pack AND be sure to read in order):
Shannon (1994)
Sims Bishop (1994)
Harris (1994)
Cai (1998)

Suggestion for what to post on your blog this week:
-Initial thoughts on debate of who is "qualified" to write for a particular group/population of people (be concise and specific!)
-I encourage you to find quotes from the readings and post them on your blogs
-And, I encourage you to check out the blog and website I talked about it class (you can find a link to them on the right side of this blog).

Come prepared to debate whether authors should be “insiders” to the culture about which they write!

For Week 3 - Questions to guide your reading

o Cortes (2001)
· Examines the nature of stereotypes. What is the difference between a stereotype and a generalization? How are stereotypes created in the media?

o Reese (1997)
· Chapter in Harris text
· Covers a number of topics: background on Native American nations, key authors, stereotypes, problematic texts, teaching ideas, criteria.
· You should identify several key ideas, quotes, etc. that intrigue you. We will not review the whole text in class!

o Smith (2005)
· Cynthia Leitich Smith is an author we will feature next week. This article is a reflection on the critical response to her work.
· She also outlines some criteria to consider when choosing NA literature (or thinking about multicultural literature in general)

o Heart of a Chief
-What did you come away “knowing” about Penacook culture, based on your reading of this book? What was new or surprised you?
-Did you see evidence of stereotypes or generalizations in the text? Where? What were your thoughts around those passages?
-Does this book seem to be an authentic portrayal of a Penacook family? What questions might you ask about authenticity? What evidence would you use to back up your claims?
-Does this book seem accurate in its portrayal of a Penacook family? What questions might you ask about accuracy? What evidence would you use to back up your claims about its accuracy (or lack of accuracy)?
-Would you consider this book a piece of quality literature? Why or why not?

o “Questioning the Text” paper #1
· Submit the paper to our ANGEL dropbox by midnight on Tuesday
· Bring hard copy to class on Wednesday

Blogging information

Last year's 448 instructor (Valerie) posted a really helpful post on this subject.
I've cut and pasted it below:

* If you use a direct quote you need to put it in quotation marks or off-set it and give the source.
* If you paraphrase someone else's idea, you need to indicate that you've done so.

In most cases I think that doing this informally is fine. (Meaning you don't have to do a reference list like you might in a course paper.) For example, indicating the author's name and year of publication when you are drawing from a course reading or including the web address of where you drew a quote or big idea.

Here's where things get a little fuzzier, since a lot of our work is collaborative.

* If you are summarizing ideas formed in group discussion or sharing an idea that one of your classmates developed, you need to indicate that.

For example, if your analysis of a book is the product of a whole group discussion that helped you think of the book in new ways, say so. For example, "Class discussion helped me see..." or "One of my group members helped me understand..." or "Our debriefing after the such-and-such activity made me realize..." Or maybe leading with, "One of my group members wrote a questioning the text paper that made me look at the book in a different way".

Several positive things come out of acknowledging sources: it allows readers to track down written sources, it reminds us of the value of talking through ideas and hearing multiple interpretations of text and it keeps us "honest" in terms of sharing the credit for ideas.

More information about the Questioning the Text assignment

A number of you have been emailing me about more clarification on this assignment. Since this is the first time I've taught this course, I'm not quite sure what these papers will look like. So, I've cut and pasted some suggestions/tips/advice that former TE 448 instructors have given to their students. I hope it helps!

The goal of the assignment
-Intended to ask you to question the literature, as a piece of diverse literature. -We’ve been readings from scholars such as Harris, Reese, and Sims-Bishop. We can consider them as participating in an ongoing conversation around issues of diverse literature. These are for you to join in the conversation. How does this particular text fit in to the conversation?

To prepare for coming up with your question:
-Read articles, etc., then read novel with concepts in mind, return to articles OR read novel, read articles w/novel in mind, and then return to novel
-Use post it notes, highlighting, notes in margins to keep track of your thoughts as you read

In writing the paper:
-You should NOT summarize the book.
-You should NOT answer your question.
-You should NOT speculate on how children might respond to the book.
-You should NOT describe how you would use the book.

Reread the assignment guidelines and ask yourself if the question you want to pose can be answered by analyzing the text and engages in a discussion of the work as a piece of diverse literature.

Some sample questions
* In what ways does XXX function as a generalization or stereotype in XXX?
* Who seems to be the implied audience for the text? (i.e. What textual clues signal who the author assumes you'll identify with or what knowledge the reader does or does not bring to the text)
* How does the [genre/style/plot/or any other literary feature] position readers to think about XXXs XXX say about the relationship between XXX and members of the dominant culture?
* How is humor/tragedy/etc. used to...?
* How does XXX and XXX work to unravel the dichotomy of…
* What did [plot twist, particular character/etc.] add to the text?
* How does the text challenge ideas about [choose any dichotomy: modernity/tradition, gender, etc.]
* Using XXX’s framework, how would you characterize XXX?
* What does the title of the book…

Remember this is a conversation! Post your questions, thoughts, etc.

General ideas of how to unpack/elaborate on your question:
-A scene that we could consider in order to discuss this question is… (page number). I’ve chosen this scene because… (Or, this scene is puzzling because…)
-Asking this question is important because it will help us explore the differences between stereotype and generalization.

Check out these recommended books!

The Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards (the CYBILs) have released their shortlist of finalists for this year's awards.

Categories include easy readers, poetry, young adult fiction, and many more. Click here for more details.

For Week 2 - Questions to guide your reading

As you do the readings for this week, I encourage you to take notes, mark passages, pose questions, etc.

Bishop (1997) (Harris Text, Chapter #1)
+ What is multicultural literature?
+ Why use it?
+ What issues might one consider?

Yenika-Agbaw (1997)
+ What is the relationship between reader-text-context?
+ What does it mean to read critically?

Tatum (2000)
+ What are our social identities? Why consider them?
+ This article should help you start thinking about the autobiographical poem.

TE 448 - Welcome!

Welcome!
Welcome to the class blog for TE 448, Issues of Diversity in Children's and Adolescent Literature, Fall 2008.

In this community blog along with your individual blogs, we will communicate and track your thoughts and perspectives on ideas addressed in this course.

I'm looking forward to getting started and to seeing where we go this semester.

On a different note, below is some advice on using/reading/posting to blogs for this class:

*Audience for blogs and confidentiality concerns.
Remember that your blogs are currently set up so that anyone can read them. This includes prospective employers, family members, and "the public". Never disclose information on your blog that you don't want to be public. This might include controversial positions which might be misread outside the context of the course.

*Consider your audience.
One audience for the blogs will be your classmates with whom you've built relationships and who know the context of the course. Another audience might be potential employers who might be interested in your ideas, your writing skills, and whether you "sound like a teacher". (I can imagine a principal asking herself, "Could I imagine this person creating a classroom blog that students and parents would read?")

* Rules of confidentiality:
Don't mention other classmates by name or with identifying information. Respond to ideas, not to people. If in doubt, choose the more confidential option. We have lots of "spaces" in which to exchange ideas in our class: our face to face meetings, our blogs, the questioning the text papers, and the Angel website. For example,if you want to pose a question that feels more personal or "risky", you might decide not to start that conversation on your blog, but rather start a discussion strand on Angel.

* As professionals, one of your tasks is to develop "professional discretion".
Although I read all posts and will contact you if I have a concern, it is ultimately up to you to make choices that demonstrate good judgment and respect for your classmates.In the future you'll be making the same types of choices with your students, parents, and professional communities!

* In terms of copyrighted material, you need to be aware of what you can and can not post on your blog. Posting the full text of a copyrighted article, for example, is a no-no. Providing a link to that article, a short excerpt, or summary of the article is fine.

Suggestions for posts to fulfill blogging assignment:

* Write a post that summarizes how you are thinking about one of the key questions we explore each week.

* Explore electronic resources connected to diverse literature and share them through your blog. Several of our readings so far have noted blogs you might want to check out--both by authors of articles and authors of children's literature

* Try adding elements to your blog. For example, you might create links to the blogs of people in your discussion group. Or you might create a space for professional resources.