LIBR 262A-01
Materials for Children Ages 0-4
Spring 2012 Greensheet

Richie Partington
E-mail
Other contact information: 707-293-0012
Office Hours: There are no formal office hours. I prefer receiving emails but you are also welcome to telephone. I will typically respond within 24 hours, and will definitely respond within 48 hours unless I have specifically notified the class that I will be out of touch (which is extremely rare).

D2L Information: This course has a D2L site. You will be enrolled into the site automatically on the first day of the semester. 

Course Description

Survey of children’s materials, including “toy” books, picture books, and various media and technology appropriate for this age group, and how they can meet developmental needs. Collection development tools and techniques for these materials will also be included.

Course Prerequisites: LIBR 200 required.

Course Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this course the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the external (societal) and internal (developmental) forces which influence children’s choices of recreational and informational sources and materials;
• Evaluate selection tools, and demonstrate the ability to use appropriate resources to develop a collection of materials for the preschool child, including all appropriate formats;
• Critically examine representative materials designed for the preschool child, and apply criteria to evaluate them in relation to child development, multi-cultural concerns, and meeting the informational and recreational needs of preschool children;
• Evaluate children’s television programming and other digital resources to determine the most developmentally appropriate ones to recommend to parents and discover ones that are less appropriate or useful;
• Create an appropriate materials collection for this age group, including print and nonprint materials;
• Assist parents and caregivers with questions about appropriate materials for their children.

LIBR 262A supports the following MLIS Core Competencies:

• articulate the ethics, values and foundational principles of library and information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual freedom;
• compare the environments and organizational settings in which library and information professionals practice;
• recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use;
• use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information;
• describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors.
• demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for group work, collaborations and professional level presentations;
• use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information;
• use service concepts, principles and techniques that facilitate information access, relevance, and accuracy for individuals or groups of users;
• apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy.

Top of Page

Course Requirements

Course Assignments:
This course requires completion of a number of assignments designed to introduce students to the concepts covered in class and in the texts, as well as to practical applications of methods. Students will work individually and participate in group discussions on D2L. Students accumulate up to 1000 points. The total is then divided by 10 to determine the course grade. See Grading Scale below for details. Assignments are submitted via the Digital Drop Box.

• Assignment 1: Evaluate selection tools: 75 points, due February 17, 2012. Compare at least five selection tools and review sources and rate them on their usefulness and coverage of materials for this age range, and emulating the style of one of the review sources above, write reviews on five items.  Post your submission to your blog. (Objectives B and E)
  
• Assignment 2: Class presentation: 150 points, due March 2, 2012. Working in groups of three or four, research one aspect of emergent or early literacy reading readiness and share your findings with the class, including demonstrations, PPT presentations and digital handouts to be shared through the D2L site.  (Objectives A, D, and F)
  
• Assignment 3: Evaluate reading readiness/early literacy tools: 75 points, due March 9, 2012. Examine five resources and write evaluations of them, rating them on their appropriateness and ease of use. Post your submission to your blog.(Objectives B and C)
  
• Assignment 4: Evaluate digital early learning resources including television and DVDs: 75 points, due March 23, 2012. Examine five resources and write evaluations of them, rating their appropriateness and ease of use. Post your submission to your blog.  (Objectives D and F)
  
• Assignment 5: Annotated bibliography: 75 points, due April 13, 2012. Create a bibliography for parents of this age group, including at least 15-20 informational items about this age group and materials to share with their child. Submit your work through the digital dropbox.  (Objectives A, E and F)
  
• Assignment 6: Database of materials examined: 250 points, due May 15, 2012. Create a collection of materials including at least 75 items, with detailed information on each, including both print and nonprint sources that reflect your knowledge of the informational, recreational, and developmental needs of this age group. Post your submission to your blog.  (Objectives A, C, E and F)
  
• Class Participation: 300 points (20 points per discussion forum). Participate in weekly D2L discussion forums. (Objectives A, E and F) Students will participate in 15 D2L discussion forums in order to practice professional discourse on the course topics and materials. All discussion postings must be of graduate standard writing and content. Students must proofread discussion posts for correct spelling, grammar, and usage. I expect proper etiquette and professional behavior in responding to the work of your colleagues in the course, that you participate in all discussion forums, that you post your original contribution early in each forum, and that you respond later in the week to at least one of your colleagues in each discussion forum. Therefore, my expectation is that you post a minimum of two (2) times per discussion forum. I will base your grade for participation not only on frequency and timeliness of posting, but also on quality of information in your discussion posts. (Please don't just say "Me too," or say "That book sounds interesting."  If it sounds interesting then go to the library and read it.  Remember that this is a graduate program discussion forum, not Facebook.) Discussion forums for the course will include your professional reflections (based on background reading, personal research, and reading of required books and media). As there is a time frame for beginning and ending dates for each forum, late posting of comments will not count toward credit. I will hold students responsible for carefully and respectfully following the SJSU guidelines for academic integrity.

Course Outline

• Week 1 *short week* (January 25-27, 2012)
  Post your personal introduction to the Week 1 Discussion Forum
  Text readings: Horning: Introduction, Chapter 1; web article: Hawley, T. (2000). Starting smart: how early experiences affect brain development. Retrieved from http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/startingsmart.pdf?docID=2422
  Lecture: I know what I know if you know what I mean: course introduction
  Song: “Rabbit on my Shoulder”; Movement: "I like to drive my car around"
• Week 2 (January 28-February 3, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 8;
  Journal articles: Heppermann, C. (2002). Looking like a Wonton and Talking like a Fortune Cookie. Horn Book Magazine, 78(2), 153-157.; Kuskin, K. (1998). To get a little more of the picture: Reviewing picture books. Horn Book Magazine, 74(2), 159-166.; Sieruta, P. (2003). Reviewing by Number. Horn Book Magazine, 79(5), 635-643.
  Lecture: Ch-ch-ch-changes: Why are principles of child development important to this class?
  Song: “Mister Sun”
  Movement: “Sleeping Bears”
  Craft: Utilizing a projector for preparing art projects
• Week 3 (February 4-10, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Introduction, Chapter 1;
  Journal articles: Arnold, R., & Colburn, N. (2006). It's a Gift to Be Fancy. School Library Journal, 52(7), 26.; Bader, B. (2004). The Difference Words Make. Horn Book Magazine, 80(6), 633-644.; Feldman, S. (1999). Take Two Board Books, and Call Me in the Morning. School Library Journal, 45(6), 30.; Margolis, R. (2005, July). Start Spreading the News. School Library Journal, p. 11.
  Lecture: If language were liquid it would be rushing in: the importance of language in early child development
  Song: “What D’Ya Wanna Do?”
  Movement: "This is a nest for a bluebird"
  Craft: Designing and crafting a flannel board story
• Week 4 (February 11-17, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 5;
  Journal articles: Arnold, R., & Colburn, N. (2006). Storytime Lessons. School Library Journal, 52(3), 50.; Arnold, R. (2002). Coming together for children: a guide to early childhood programming. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 15(2), 24-30.; Meyers, E. (2002). Research maps new routes for reading success in PLA early childhood initiative. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 15(2), 3-8.
  Lecture: Can you read my mind?: the academic value of literature to children
  Song: Five Green and Speckled Frogs
  Movement: Froggie Hokey Pokey
  Craft: Ellison machine
• Week 5 (February 18-24, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Chapter 2, 3;
  Journal articles: Bader, B. (2002). How the Little House Gave Ground: The Beginnings of Multiculturalism in a New, Black Children's Literature. Horn Book Magazine, 78(6), 657-673.; Bader, B. (2003). Multiculturalism Takes Root. Horn Book Magazine, 79(2), 143.; Bader, B. (2003). Multiculturalism in the Mainstream. Horn Book Magazine, 79(3), 265.
  Lecture: I am everyday people: what are our real goal when we focus on multiculturalism?
  Song: “The More We Get Together”
  Movement: "Way up High in a Mango Tree"
  Craft: Skin Colors
• Week 6 (February 25-March 2, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 2;
  Journal articles: Arnold, R., & Colburn, N. (2007, November). True Stories. School Library Journal, p. 32.
  Lecture: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?: nonfiction for preschoolers
  Song: “Fiddle I Fee”
  Movement: “Sarah Works with One Hammer”
  Craft: Stamping
• Week 7 (March 3-9, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Chapter 4, 5;
  Journal articles: Horning, K. (1997). Board books go boom. Horn Book, 73(2), 155-160.
  Lecture: Board books and toy books and whiskers on kittens: some materials for the very young
  Song: “Willoughby, Wallaby, Woo"
  Movement: “Itsy-Bitsy Spider”
  Craft: Recycled materials
• Week 8 (March 10-16, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 3;
  Journal articles: Saltzman, A. (2005). Elizabeth I and Mother Goose. Louisiana Libraries , 68(1), 26-31.; Long, J. (2009). Some Pigs!. Horn Book Magazine, 85(2), 171-178.
  Lecture: It's the same kind of story that seems to come down from long ago: looking through the 398s for preschool appropriate tales
  Song: “Kid’s Peace Song”
  Movement: "I’m a Little Teapot"
  Craft: Music instruments
• Week 9 (March 17-23, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 4; Lecture: Second verse, same as the first: verse and poetry for preschoolers
  Song: “Happy Hippopotamus”
  Movement: "Five Little Pumpkins"
  Craft: Puppets
• Week 10 (March 31-April 6, 2012)
  Journal articles: Engelfried, S. (2002). Photos are real, aren't they?. School Library Journal, 48(8), 40-41; Robinson, L. (2008). Let's Start at the Very Beginning. Horn Book Magazine, 84(2), 157-166.
  Lecture: As simple as do, re, mi, ABC, one two three: concept books
  Song: "Mail Myself to You"
  Movement: "The Grand Old Duke of York"
• Week 11 (April 7-13, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 6;
  Journal articles: Ornstein, S. (1998). Learning to read through picture books. School Library Journal, 44(6), 60-61.
  Lecture: I'm moving up: entertaining leveled readers
  Song: "This Land is Your Land"
  Movement: The Big Fat Worm"
• Week 12 (April 14-20, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Chapter 6, 7;
  Journal articles: Lane, H. (2006). Don't Judge the Art by Its Medium: Should Computer Generated Illustrations Be Caldecott-Worthy?. Children & Libraries, 4(1), 28-9.
  Lecture: You win again: finding award winning books that work with 0-4.
  Song: "Puff the Magic Dragon"
  Movement: "Shoemaker’s song"
• Week 13 (April 21-27, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Chapter 8, 9;
  Journal articles: Hughes-Hassell, S., Agosto, D., & Sun Xiaoning. (2007). Making Storytime Available to Children of Working Parents: Public Libraries and the Scheduling of Children's Literacy Programs. Children & Libraries, 5(2), 43-8.
  Lecture: See me, hear me, touch me: information processing styles
  Song: "Cockles and Mussels"
  Movement: “Five Fat Turkeys”
• Week 14 (April 28-May 4, 2012)
  Text readings: Peck: Chapter 10
  Lecture: Are you ready, Eddie?: reading readiness
  Song: "I Am a Pizza"
  Movement: "Oats Peas Beans and Barley"
• Week 15 (May 5-May 11, 2012)
  Text readings: Horning: Chapter 7
  Lecture: Where is the love?: your favorite resources for 0-4
  Song: "The Sharing Song"
  Movement: "Shake My Sillies Out"

Expectations for Success:

• This Greensheet is the course contract. Please read it and understand it.
• There will be a few additional readings that I will choose from newly-published articles relating to this course's subject matter.
• Students must proofread assignment submissions (including discussion forum postings) for correct spelling, grammar, and usage. I encourage you access the SLIS Writing Resources site. You are also welcome to peer edit each other's work.
• Students should use the Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed.) as the standard for all bibliographic citations.
• Students and faculty are bound by the U.S. copyright regulations and need to cite the sources of the intellectual property of others, including information, images, or ideas that do not belong to us. Follow the regulations located in the Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials policy at http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm;
• Because this is an online class, students must pay particular attention to the Distance Learning (SJSU), Copyright, and Fair Use, and Plagiarism Guidelines at http://www.sjlibrary.org/services/distance/fac_copyright.htm. Students need to pay special attention to the third bullet item at the website: Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia;
• If you submit work with words, images, or ideas that are not their original ideas, words, or images, you must cite the sources of those words, images, or ideas. It is important for students in library science courses to develop a respect for the work of others and to be responsible users of the work of others. Although the work of students does have some fair-use protection, you are never safe in using words, images, or ideas of others in a course in which we share our work with one another. Not only will you need to remember this when you are posting to the discussion forums, you must also practice responsible use of resources in your projects that you will be sharing with your colleagues.

Assignment Expectations:

• Assignment 1 Expectations: For the first half of the assignment, you will first describe and then compare and contrast the five selection tools and review sources that you choose to evaluate.  Remember this: First describe and then compare and contrast.  Find a balance between providing detailed evaluations and comparisons and keeping them concise and to the point.   For the second half of the assignment, you will write reviews on five items (like picturebooks) appropriate for some portion of the 0-4 age range.  Make sure that these five items are relevant to the ages on which we are focused in this class.  Do your best to style all of these reviews in the manner of ONE of the review sources you've evaluated in part one.  IMPORTANT: Please remember to note in your post as to which review source you are styling your five reviews after.  Remember to include references. Be sure to have all the words in your submission spelled correctly.  You should read your submission aloud before finalizing it, so that you know that it makes sense grammatically.
• Assignment 2 Expectations: What I expect for Assignment 2 is an article-length paper or the equivalent in a digital presentation of some sort that will be distributed electronically to the rest of the class.  I think that you should be choosing a broad enough aspect of emergent or early literacy reading readiness -- with multiple citations of professional journal articles augmented, if desired, with web and textbook citations -- that you have at least four pages double spaced of body plus your intro, references, appendices, graphics, etc.  As with all assignments -- particularly when you have each other to get it right -- I expect ready to publish spelling and grammar.  This is really what I am looking for, something that is ready to be presented at a conference or submitted to the SLIS Student Research Journal.  Please avoid an Elluminate session as your vehicle for distribution since it is more problematic for us to store over years (when we will need it for our e-portfolios).
• Assignment 3 Expectations: I would like you to avoid evaluating the selection tools you evaluated for Assignment 1 or any television shows or early learning DVDs since you will be evaluating them for Assignment 4.  Remember Assignment 1 when you sought out and examined five selection tools and review sources?  You wrote about their strengths and weaknesses and compared them as to their value in helping select materials to share with 0-4 year-olds.  This time, instead of journals and websites and other tools useful in material selection, we are evaluating tools that are useful for helping promote readiness/early literacy.  In this mix of five, you might consider examining some websites that assist parents and/or educators in getting kids up to speed with early literacy skills.  You might also be examining some periodicals.  You might include a set of cards or an interactive program designed to help.  You might look to the Assignment 2 presentations for possibilities, so feel free to get ideas from what the various groups did there, as well as from your readings.  Remember to spell check and to read your work aloud to yourself so that you know it sounds grammatically correct.  Remember to compile all of your references.
• Assignment 4 Expectations: I would like you to avoid web-based resources since you evaluated those in Assignment 3.  My expectations for Assignment 4 include your discussing how each resource you examine contributes to the developmental needs of 0-4 year olds.  Seek out five good resources -- ones you'd recommend to a first-time parent.  They can be fun, but make sure they are also of a quality that you believe that a child going through rapid brain development is going to get something useful out of them.  As always, spell check, check for proper grammar, and provide a reference list.
• Assignment 5 Expectations: My expectation for Assignment 5 is that you prepare a two-sided handout for parents of children ages 0-4.  I want you to submit a two-page doc that is ready to print and hand out to this audience.  I want to see, as the assignment says, an annotated listing of resources about this age group and an annotated listing of recommended resources for this age group.  Don't worry about a reference page here, but it is essential that your annotated listings include publishing information so that parents (and I) can find them easily.
• Assignment 6 Expectations: This is the big one -- a quarter of your grade, and a resource that shows that you really know your materials for ages 0-4.  For each entry I expect a cover image or the equivalent; a bibliographic citation, a listing of format examined (hardcover, softcover, board book, etc.; a brief annotation; a personal reaction; some categorization tags; a listing of the age for which you consider it appropriate; and where it is most valuable in enhancing early literacy skills.  I'd list awards; author and illustrator sites; talk about issues that it addresses; and discuss the illustrations when they are outstanding.  If it's multicultural or poetry or nonfiction, etc., then say so and provide details.  Find the best resources you can.  I expect to see inclusion of at least a few resources from the current and/or past year.

Course Calendar
In addition to being posted within this Greensheet, important dates are listed in the Calendar in the course D2L site.

Course Grading

• Penalty for late work: I will accept late work on Projects (but not on the discussion forums), but you will lose 2 points for each day the assignment is late. Therefore, if your project is submitted to me by email 7 days late, I will subtract 14 points from your total grade for the project. Students must submit assignments to by the deadline for each assignment in order to get full credit.
• Note about partial submissions of work: If you post an unfinished assignment by the deadline and then post a revision later, I will consider the last date of submission as the date of the revision, not the date of the original partial submission. Therefore, to avoid penalties for late submission, students should plan their work in order to post their finished products by the Assignment's due date. Students need to communicate with me about personal or other issues that might affect completion of the work on time.
• Extra Credit: You will have the opportunity to earn 10 points of extra credit toward the end of the semester by completing and submitting your SOTES form for this class and then notifying me by email that you have done so.

Textbooks and Readings

***IMPORTANT: You MUST purchase the revised 2010 edition of the Horning text.

Required Textbooks:

• Horning, K. T. (2010). From Cover to Cover (revised ed.): Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books. HarperCollins. Available through Amazon: 0060777575.

• Peck, P. (2009). Crash Course in Storytime Fundamentals. Libraries Unlimited. Available through Amazon: 1591587158.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

• C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
• B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation.  You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  
• A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

Dropping and Adding

Students are responsible for understanding the policies and procedures about add/drop, grade forgiveness, etc. Refer to the current semester's Catalog Policies section at http://info.sjsu.edu/static/catalog/policies.html. Add/drop deadlines can be found on the current academic year calendars document on the Academic Calendars webpage at http://www.sjsu.edu/provost/services/academic_calendars/. The Late Drop Policy is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/aars/policies/latedrops/policy/. Students should be aware of the current deadlines and penalties for dropping classes.

Information about the latest changes and news is available at the Advising Hub at http://www.sjsu.edu/advising/.

Consent for Recording of Class and Public Sharing of Instructor Material

University Policy S12-7, http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S12-7.pdf, requires students to obtain instructor's permission to record the course and the following items to be included in the syllabus:

• "Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."
  • It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.
  • In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.
• "Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader to access PDF files.

More accessibility resources.