LRC 480/580: Children's Literature in the Classroom Section 7 Fall 2003 Facilitator: Judi Moreillon

Due: December 7, 2003
You can choose to email your Final anytime before 7:00 p.m. on December 7th, or bring a hard copy to class on December 4th.

The purpose of the Final is to give you the opportunity to use writing to reflect on your learning. Writing is "thinking on paper." You have been exposed to a number of new ideas, concepts, and philosophies this semester. You have read many children's literature books for the first time. You have participated in literature circles and other learning experiences that may be new to you. It is important to pause, to take time to think about the ways this course may have influenced your beliefs, values, and teaching/learning practices.

What are some of the characteristics of a quality reflection?
A good reflection:
· is honest.
· answers the questions or responds to the statements.
· contains examples and details to support opinions and thoughts.
· helps the person who wrote it understand him/herself better.
· informs the audience (teacher, classmates, self).
· shows that the person really thought about the question before writing down a response. In short, it shows thinking.
· comes from a personal perspective.
· is easily understood by the reader.

Each question can earn a possible 5 points for a total of 25.

Your Final must be typed and double-spaced and be no more than two pages in length. Answer the questions as clearly and succinctly as possible. Post your response to #5 on Polis.

Respond to each of these questions:

1. Review the Department of Language, Reading and Culture's Principles on Multicultural Education. "Multicultural education […] is an orientation to our purposes in education…" Give examples from at least three learning experiences in this class to explain what is meant by a multicultural education orientation.

2. Review your beginning understandings about the use of multicultural literature in multicultural education. In what ways has your understanding changed? How will this impact your selection of resources for the students in your future classrooms and libraries - and why?

3. Encouraging students to bring their life outside the classroom into the learning environment is a way to value students' home/community cultures. Reflecting on your poem from our class book, Where I'm From, what is the relationship between your past and your current literacy history? Using a classmate's poem as an example, why should teachers (and classmates) have an understanding of the literacy background of students?

4. "Teaching is too difficult to do alone. Collaborate with your teacher-librarian." (Dr. Ken Haycock, editor, Teacher-Librarian journal.) What are some critical instructional reasons why classroom teachers and librarians (school and public) should choose to collaborate?

Post the answer to #5 on the Polis Web site. For some reason, Polis did not put the discussion at the end of the queue. ;-( The question is the second discussion on the list, What Does Technology Have to Do with the Study of Children's Literature?: https://polis.arizona.edu/fall03/Course-Homesite.cgi?LRC_480_580-07

5. Technology tools were integrated into this course. We participated in online discussions and reflected on our inquiry project online. We utilized Web-based resources while conducting inquiry and research projects. We created Web pages to share our learning and the learning of the students with whom we worked. We used email as a means of communication. Why were technology tools integrated into this children's literature course?

At this point in the course, the grade you expect to earn is a/an _____________.

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SW Children's Lit Web Site