Course Projects
Book Discussions
Any online/DE course, just like any face-to-face course, relies on engaged thinkers working together to understand course content. In this case, we’re primarily analyzing texts as representations of the cultures that produced them, and that means, there are no “right” answers. The goal of our discussions isn’t to produce “right” answers; the questions of life, of living, of experience, are all far too complicated to be answered by simple formulas. In this context, we make arguments; our arguments are based on careful reasoning coupled with specific examples used as evidence. Making these arguments effectively and thus contributing to the larger conversation requires that you read the texts carefully, underlining/highlighting important concepts/ideas, and then having those ready-to-hand as you write your discussion posts and responses. Your discussion posts will be evaluated both on the quality of your claims/assertions and the quality of your evidence, as well as your overall contribution.
Discussion Leaders: For 5 of our book discussions, there will be a group of 5 students serving as discussion leaders. This means that they will work out together 2 or 3 large questions about the novel we’re discussing and share those with the instructor for feedback/support. Those questions will then be posted on Monday or Thursday morning, depending on the text, so that other students in the course can respond. Discussion Leaders are responsible for keeping the discussion going by asking probing questions, by challenging assertions that other students make, and by summarizing the conversation periodically in order to move it in a new direction. Discussion Leaders will sign up in the first few days of the class for one of the following books:
- Pictures of Hollis Woods
- Esperanza Rising
- Feathers
- So Hard to Say
- A Monster Calls
Discussion Leaders by Book
| Esperanza | Pictures | Monster | Feathers | So Hard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alyssa D. | Olivia M. | Emily M. | Brittney W. | Connor W. |
| Margaret D’J. | Kaley S. | Elizabeth S. | Zakema H. | Lauren B. |
| Katherine G. | Shyheim J. | Rachel W. | Connie-Jean L. | Sara W. |
| Shadona S. | Janna P. | Eric W. | Ricardo A. | Cooper J. |
| Melissa S. | Amber W. | Sydney T. |
Discussion Participants: For the rest of the class who are not serving as discussion leaders for a given novel, the goal is to post responses to the questions/ideas under discussion and to try to move the discussion forward by making claims and offering supporting evidence form the text. Evidence/quotations should always be accompanied by page numbers so that other readers can find the evidence in the texts themselves.
Expectations: Discussion Participants should post a minimum of 2 times per novel; Leaders should each post at least 5 times. The quality of the posts (see above) is as important as the quantity.
Reader Hangouts
Each Wednesday, a group of students will host a Google Hangout-on-Air for 30 minutes in which they discuss the novels and stories we’ve read over the last week. The goal of these Hangouts is to make connections between/among the various texts and to help others in the class to see how ideas from course “lectures” and presentations, as well as the stories and novels themselves, connect. Each member of the class will sign up to be hosts for one Hangout. These will be recorded and can be watched live or after they have been completed.
| May 25 – 7:00 pm Discussants | June 1 – 9:00 pm Discussants | June 8 – 7:00 pm Discussants | June 16 – 7:00 pm Discussants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaley S. | Emily M. | Shadona S. | Amber W. |
| Lauren B. | Zakema H. | Eric W. | Sara W. |
| Elizabeth S. | Katherine G. | Margaret D. | James C. |
| Alyssa D. | Rachel W. | Shyheim J. | Connor W. |
| Ricardo A. | Sydney T. | ||
| Janna P. | |||
| Brittany W. | |||
| Connie-Jean L. |
Expectations: Hosts for Hangouts are expected to make notes about the connections they see among the stories, novels, and course materials in advance of the Hangout and then to use those notes to host the Hangout. Think of these Talk Shows for Children’s Lit. Other students in class are expected to sign up and participate in at least 2 Hangouts that they’re not hosting by listening live and posting questions on the video.
Major Project: Reading Ladders
When teachers and parents choose books for young readers — or work with them to make good choices — often we do so by thinking about what the young person has read or by asking about their experiences. Our goal is to think about what the young person likes or is interested in, or about what developmental issues are relevant to the reader; selecting texts that pick up on those things, even subtly, can be a useful way of engaging a young reader.
For this project, we’re borrowing the idea of “reading ladders” from Teri Lesesne and modifying it a bit. Lesesne’s idea is that students can develop their own reading agendas for a semester/year by thinking about what they have read/like to read and that maybe a bit “easy” now that they’re a certain age; then to think about those texts that are really in their “sweet spot” right now; and finally to think of those books that they’re interested in or are about similar topics/genres as their easy and sweet spot readings but which might “challenge” them. Young readers build their own ladders with the idea that they will complete them during the term/year; they also make justifications for why they have chosen the texts they have and they get feedback from their teacher. Many teachers have used this idea effectively.
For our purposes, however, we won’t have student readers constructing ladders; rather, you will be building ladders that link picture books, graphic novels, nonfiction, and traditional novels of various complexity around a common theme. You must select one of the following books from among the seven we’re reading this semester:
- Pictures of Hollis Woods
- Esperanza Rising
- Feathers
- So Hard to Say
- A Monster Calls
That book should be included in your reading ladder; based on a clear theme from that book, you will then select at least four (4) picture books, three (3) children’s/young adult novels, one (1) nonfiction text, and one (1) graphic novel or digital text that connects to your theme in some way. Your ladder, then, should have a total of ten (10) texts on it, all aimed at readers between kindergarten and eighth grade. Make your local public library and children’s librarian your best friend for the next few weeks. These folks know all sorts of books to suggest to you and can help you find books to use for your ladder. We will have our least amount of reading during the third week of class so that you have time to do your research for your reading ladder.
So What Do I Turn In for a Grade? Great question! Your ladder project consists of the following artifacts, all due by the last day of class:
- Reading Ladder Infographic: Using a free digital tool like Piktochart, Easel.ly, or Canva, create a visual representation of your reading ladder. Infographics should include, at a minimum, your theme and the titles of the texts on our ladder. You might also think of this is as a promotional item for a classroom wall and include a short description about the theme and why it matters; you might include the covers of the books; you might even be able to include a short description of each book. A more advanced/sophisticated version of this reading ladder would think about how the graphic would make the theme and texts engaging and interesting to young readers.
- A “Dear Teacher” Letter: Your graphic should be accompanied by a 400-500 word letter to teachers encouraging them to display your graphic in their classrooms. As part of this letter, you should explain what the theme is, why that theme is/might be important to young readers (you might include some data here from library research), and why each text was chosen.
Your “Dear Teacher” letter will be uploaded to the course website with the infographic attached.