EDUC 218 Final, Spring 2009

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF BEIRUT FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Educ. 218 (Children’s Literature) Dr. A. BouZeineddine Final Exam / Spring 2009 1. Define the following concepts as they relate to children’s literature (15%) 1. Improvisation 2. Fables 3. Book Talk 4. Story Theater 5. Role Playing Il. Choose one of the two questions below, either A or B A. You are a teacher in the elementary school in Greater Beirut area. Your school director finds out that your grade 5 students (average age is 10) are reading with no evident response to the literature they encounter which is a reflection of their low proficiency in language arts. Your task now is to explain how to elicit readers’ responses to children’s literature and discuss Louis Rosenblatt’s 9 levels of aesthetic responses. Set an argument in which you defend why these aesthetic responses would encourage children to read with motivation. (40%) B. You are a teacher in the elementary school in Greater Beirut area. Your school director received a grant at $5,000 to buy children’s books for grade 5 students (average age is 10). She gives you the responsibility of choosing only one book genre from the anthology of children’s literature. Which book genre would you choose? Define the selected book genre and discuss its specific characteristics. Set an argument in which you defend why you selected this one specific genre for this particular grade level. Cite evidence and support your choice. (40%) III. Having been exposed to issues in children’s literature for an academic semester, and having authored your own children’s book, you now can evaluate children’s literature at large. What are the criteria which you would consider when evaluating children’s literature? First, present a set of criteria which you would use to evaluate children’s literature; then, discuss why each criterion is a reliable measure to consider a book as a success or otherwise, to be included in a school library or not, and to be worth publishing or not. (45%)