Blog Post Drop Box: Maurice Sendak's _Where the Wild Things Are_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, March 10 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Alyssa, Amanda L., Rainy, Kaitlyn, Allison, Travis, Derek, Molly, Shaina

Course Recap for February 27

Midterm Exam

Today during class you took your midterm examination. This exam makes up 20% of your final grade. I will have these graded and back to you after spring break. I handed out a grading rubric for you to examine and attach to the front of your exam. You can access that document by finding the link on Tuesday's course recap.

Homework

• Enjoy your break!
• Read Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are

Course Recap for February 25

Janeczko's A Poke in the I and Thomas' "A Defense of Visual Poetry for Children"
Instead of taking a quiz at the beginning of class, I asked you to choose any page in Janeczko's book of concrete poetry and write about the significance of the poem. During this exercise you were not allowed to use notes, but I encouraged you to use some of the basic vocabulary and elements of craft you learned last week to talk about the poem. I also encouraged you to use your knowledge of visual interpretation to discuss the use of image/illustration on your chosen page. I then asked for volunteers to use the document camera to share the poem they wrote about and to talk about their interpretation. I also asked you to compare Janeczko's poetry to Creech's poetry.
I then asked you to take some time to go through Thomas' chapter on concrete poetry. I asked you to note important and interesting passages. We then worked on breaking down Thomas' essay.

Midterm Exam
At the end of class, I spent some time going over the midterm exam grading rubric. You can access that document HERE. As you are studying for the midterm exam, be sure to make reference to this rubric and to your midterm exam study guide.



Homework

• Study for midterm exam

Blog Post Drop Box: Paul Janeczko's _A Poke in the I_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, February 24 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Liz, Andrea, Chelcie, Shaina

Course Recap for February 20

Creech's Love That Dog
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz. I then asked you about your initial impressions and thoughts concerning Creech's verse novel and poetry in general. I gave a short presentation on the history and shifts in children's poetry. You can access that presentation HERE. I also provided you with several terms and elements of poetic craft to use when discussing poetry. You can access that handout HERE. I noted several examples of the elements of poetic craft in the presentation. I then asked you to work in pairs to complete a writing exercise related to Creech's text. You can access that document HERE. I then asked for volunteers to share their work.

Paper 1 Back
At the end of class, I returned your graded Paper 1. Most of you did well, but many of you struggled. I believe this is for one of two reasons: you either did not read the assignment sheet or the grading rubric detailing the instructions OR you did not edit and proof your paper before you handed it in. Be sure to do these things! If you did read the assignment sheet and proof your paper before handing it in, and you still struggled, I suggest you take your next paper to the writing center. As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, but be sure to wait 24 hours before contacting me about your paper. On the back of your paper I noted your current course grade. Keep in mind that this grade includes 44 attendance points, 55 quiz points, 100 exam points, 100 paper points, and between 0-90 blog post points. Depending on how many blog posts you have completed, your grade is based on 20-40% of the course work so far.

Homework

• Read Janeczko's A Poke in the I and Thomas' "A Defense of Visual Poetry for Children"
• Start studying for the midtem

Course Recap for February 18

op de Beeck's "Speaking for the Trees..." and Henderson et al.'s "Playing Seriously with Dr. Seuss..."
Today at the beginning of class we skipped the reading quiz (because I doubled your reading assignment). If you were present and participated during class, you will receive full credit for your reading quiz. We began with op de Beeck's article "Speaking for the Trees: Environmental Ethics in the Rhetoric and Production of Picture Books." I divided the class into small groups. Each group was asked to examine a six page section of op de Beeck's article and collect the following information: a summary of the main points or thesis, a list of the scholars cited, textual examples from The Lorax or other picture books, memorable quotes/lines, and a group response to the material. Each group then presented their summary and findings. Next, we moved on to Henderson, Kennedy, and Chamberlin's article "Playing Seriously with Dr. Seuss: A Pedagogical Response to The Lorax." I divided the class into pairs, and each pair worked on a short section of the article. I again asked groups to focus on gathering the following information: a summary of the main points, a list of scholars cited, a list of questions asked by the authors, the authors' response to their questions, and a group response to the material. After each group presented their findings, we worked through any lingering questions or thoughts about The Lorax.

Please find the notes your groups compiled for op de Beeck's article HERE and Henderson et al.'s article HERE.

Midterm Exam Study Guide
Your midterm exam will take place on Thursday, February 27 (in nine days). I handed out the midterm exam study guide. This exam will be open book, but will ask a bit more from you than the previous exam. You can access the study guide on the right hand side of the blog under "Course Documents." Let me know if you have any questions.

Homework

• Read Creech's Love That Dog

Course Recap for February 13

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Today at the beginning of class, I collected your Paper 1. I will get these graded and back to you within a week (or a week and a half). Please see the grading rubric on the right hand side of the blog. I will be using this document to evaluate your writing. We then took a short reading quiz over The Lorax. I asked for your initial impressions on Seuss' picture book, and again, brought up some of the nostalgic responses from the blog. I then asked you to break into pairs to work on a series of questions about the text. You can access that document HERE. I asked each group to share their response, using the document camera to project images from the text. Next, I handed out an LA Times article from 1989 in which parents challenged the use of The Lorax in an elementary classroom. You can access that article HERE. I then gave a short presentation on Lisa Lubduska's article "Rethinking Human Need: Suess's The Lorax." You can access that presentation HERE. I then asked for your thoughts on Lubduska's argument.


Homework

• Read op de Beeck's "Speaking for the Trees: Environmental Ethics in the Rhetoric and Production of Picture Books"
• AND I am adding another reading I think will be of interest to you all (especially aspiring teachers): Henderson, Kennedy, and Chamberlin's "Playing Seriously with Dr. Seuss: A Pedagogical Response to The Lorax" (I have added this on the right hand side of the blog)

Each of these articles is about 20 pages long, so be sure to give yourself adequate time to read.

Blog Post Drop Box: Sharon Creech's _Love That Dog_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Wednesday, February 19 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Allison, Liz, Andrea

Course Recap for February 11

Clark's "Audience" and Silverstein's The Giving Tree
Today at the beginning of class you took a short quiz over Clark's "Audience." I then asked you to identify the main ideas and concepts from Clark's article, and we made a list on the board. I asked you to think about how you might connect Clark's article to Silverstein's The Giving Tree. I handed out a list of the discussion questions generated by your classmates. I asked you to spend a few minutes writing on one or more of the discussion questions. We then moved into a large group discussion during which we continued our discussion of Fraustino, Clark, and Silverstein's works.

Homework

• Read Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
• Paper 1 due at the beginning of next class

Blog Post Drop Box: Dr. Seuss' _The Lorax_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Wednesday, February 13 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Alyssa, Amanda L., Rainy, Kaitlyn, Allison, Amanda W., Travis, Derek, Molly

Course Recap for February 6

Silverstein's The Giving Tree
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz. I then showed you The Giving Tree movie narrated by Shel Silverstein. You can access that video HERE. Next I asked you to do a bit of writing in response to the following questions: How do you interpret Silverstein's The Giving Tree? What does it mean? Do you see multiple meanings/readings? I then gave you some background information on the author. You can learn more about the author HERE and HERE. I then gave a presentation in which I introduced you to scholar Lisa Rowe Fraustino's discussion of multiple interpretations of the picturebook, along with her own interpretation. You can access that presentation HERE. You can also access her article, which the presentation is based upon, HERE. I asked you to respond throughout the presentation to the various interpretations of the book. I then asked you to break up into pairs to work on an in-class writing exercise. You can access that document HERE.

Homework

• Read Clark's "Audience" and Fraustino's article (linked above)
• Paper 1 is due on Thursday. Please see the grading rubric HERE.

Course Recap for February 4

Tan's "The Accidental Graphic Novelist" and The Arrival
You took a short quiz over the article at the beginning of class. I then asked you to take a minute to do some preparatory writing about "The Accidental Graphic Novelist." I asked you to choose a passage form the article, a question you had, or a theme that kept emerging and write about it for ten minutes. I then asked the class to make a list of topics and questions on the board that we could discuss. We spent some time working through the article. Next I projected a list of the discussion leaders' questions. I asked you to choose one and jot down some notes/ideas. We then worked through the questions which were focused on audience, tone, form, color/style, reader response, and postmodernism.


Mini-Exam Answer Commentary
At the end of class I handed back your graded mini-exams. You all did marvelous! I was really impressed with the level of work you demonstrated on your exams. I went through the highlights of the answer commentary document. You can access that HERE. I also worked through a breakdown of your current course grade with you. So far, your grade includes: mini-exam (100 points), quizzes (30 points), attendance (24 points), and for some of you a blog post (30 points). These items add up to 154-184 points (the entire class will be worth 1000 points by the end of the semester). Thus, we have only worked through 15-18% of the items that will make up your final grade. I have not yet dropped your three lowest quiz grades (so keep that in mind). Grades will fluctuate the further we progress in the semester, so do not freak out (or get too comfortable) about your current course grade. That all being said, your exam grades are final and non-negotiable. If you have questions or concerns, please FIRST read the exam commentary carefully, wait 24 hours, and then feel free to see me during office hours.

Homework

• Read Silverstein's The Giving Tree

Blog Post Drop Box: Shel Silverstein's _The Giving Tree_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Wednesday, February 5 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Amanda L., Rainy, Chelcie, Kaitlyn, Allison, Travis, Molly, Derek, Liz