Dr. Felton
HDev 419-01: Contemporary Topics: Play, Language Learning, and Literacy
5-6 pages, Times New Roman or Arial, font size 12
Due: the latest date to submit is by 11:59 p.m., Sunday, April 28th (Week Fifteen)
Paper Assignment on The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction and Related Sources
The paper assignment draws on course materials from Weeks 8 through 13. Select ONE of the following options.
1. Write a letter to parents (and other adults) OR to educators about the benefits of reading aloud. Make sure to discuss the neurological, the social and the emotional benefits as well as the contributions it makes for those engaged in reading together.
2. Write a letter to parents (or to other adults, e.g. grandparents), OR to early childhood educators about strategies for book sharing. Make sure to draw on Kuchiro et. al’s article and Yenawine’s excerpts from Visual Thinking Strategies for Preschool in addition to Gurdon’s text.
3. You’ve been asked to write a letter to a parenting website on the importance of reading picture books aloud to babies and toddlers. In The Enchanted Hour, Gurdon argues that picture books “turbocharge” children’s social and emotional development, early language learning, and self- regulation. In addition, Shirley Brice Heath’s article “What No Bedtime Story Means” identifies the problems inherent in a lack of early literacy practices. Draw on the insights and research findings presented in Gurdon’s text and Heath’s article to map out the benefits of early literacy practices and the implications of limited, or a lack of, shared reading.
4. Gurdon’s The Enchanted Hour addresses the contributions that reading aloud makes to children developing extensive vocabularies. You’ve been asked to write a letter addressing this topic for the pre-school community in your area. Draw on Gurdon’s text and on the readings from Week Eight by Hart & Risley and other researchers to support your claims.
5. Write a letter to parents (or grandparents or other relatives) OR educators introducing them to the value of selecting anti-bias children’s books. Make sure to draw on the NAEYC article by Coles & Verwayne, Derman-Sparks “Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s books, and Kelly’s “Welcoming Counterstory in the Primary Literacy Classroom.”
6. Gurdon’s text includes an evocative chapter on how reading aloud “furnishes the mind” and highlights the value of reading aloud for developing cultural literacy and an appreciation for art and beauty. Write a letter to parents, guardians, AND/OR to educators about the immediate value, and also the long-term implications, of cultivating children’s imaginations.
7. Interview a librarian who works with children’s books or who runs a weekly story hour or reading program for children. (Alternately, you might interview a bookstore staff member who specializes in children’s books). The focus of your interview will vary depending on your specific interests. What advice might they have for early childhood educators just beginning to develop a story time in their classroom? You might also want to ask for recommendations in a particular topic area that you’re interested in. [If you are already experienced in conducting story times, step back and think about the kinds of questions you might want to ask an expert.] Write a letter to Discussion Group members that sets what you’ve learned in dialogue with Gurdon’s text and some of the related readings and/or TED talks we’ve heard.
8. Gurdon’s The Enchanted Hour draws primarily on a classical western canon of children’s books. This reflects the author’s specific subject position and literary interests. You’ve been asked by a children’s book editor to address the strengths of The Enchanted Hour and to add to the insights that Gurdon has offered. Your editor has specifically asked you to address the importance of young children of all races, ethnicities, and cultural communities being able to see themselves represented in the story books their parents, caregivers, and educators are reading to them. Draw on course readings and some of the TED Talks we viewed to support your claims.
9. You’ve been asked to write a review of books that address a particular topic for a story book blog. Make sure to do all of the following (Parts A., B., and C.):
Part A. Identify a selection of at least 5-6 story books that you feel are excellent examples of ONE of the following topics:
–Racial-ethnic literacy (you may want to focus on a particular racial-ethnic group)
–Eco-cultural literacy (ex. forest or ocean ecology or climate change)
–Emotional literacy (either a focus on cultivating everyday emotional literacy, or a focus on a particular range of emotional experiences (for example, navigating anger or navigating kinds of grief (e.g, losing a pet or a family member).
–Gender Equality (or If you have a different preferred focus, let me know)
Part B. Prepare to write your review by doing an informal content analysis of the topics addressed. Also, use Louise Derman-Sparks’ “Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books” to evaluate the books you selected, and draw on Kelly’s “Welcoming Counterstory…” to help you think about the contributions these sources might make.
Part C. Then: Write a letter to forum group members describing the process that you went through in identifying and evaluating the books that you selected. Also, make recommendations (pro or con) for at least three of the books.
[Note: To find children’s books, visit your public library. You may also find children’s books that are read aloud on YouTube and that show each storybook page by page.]
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