Seminar in Services to Children and Young Adults - Materials for Early Adolescence
INFO 267

Jonathan Hunt
E-mail
Office Hours: Occasional Zoom office hours will be offered, but please e-mail any time.

Seminar in planning, developing, and evaluating youth services in public libraries. Special needs of children and youth in the public library, liaison with schools, reference services, and collection planning will be featured.

Expectations

Students are expected to participate fully in all class activities. It is expected that students will be open-minded and participate fully in discussions in class and debate in a mature and respectful manner. Use of derogatory, condescending, or offensive language including profanity is prohibited. Disagreement is healthy and perfectly acceptable. Expressing disagreement should always include an explanation of your reasoning and, whenever possible, evidence to support your position. In accordance with San José State University's Policies, the Student Code of Conduct, and applicable state and federal laws, discrimination based on gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or disability is prohibited in any form.

Course Workload

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course-related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group; contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

INFO 267 supports the following core competencies:

1. C Articulate the importance of designing programs and services supportive of diversity, inclusion, and equity for clientele and employees.
2. F Use the basic concepts and principles related to the selection, evaluation, organization, and preservation of physical and digital information items.
3. J Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate, relevant and appropriate information.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

1. Exhibit knowledge of the developmental changes that happen in early adolescence and their impact on learning and literacy.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of external forces (such as culture, politics, economics) and how they shape early adolescence.
3. Examine materials for early adolescence with a particular emphasis on a diversity of formats, genres, and audiences.
4. Evaluate materials for early adolescence in order to develop an appropriate collection, build connections to programs and services, and make recommendations to patrons.

Textbooks

No Textbooks For This Course.

There are 100 points possible in this class.

Discussion (2 pts each week for a total of 30 points) Read and respond to weekly readings by answering discussion prompts and doing short activities. While there is no textbook for this course, weekly readings will consist of several articles that can be accessed online through Canvas, CLO #1-4.

Assignment 1: Presentation (10 points) You will select an approved topic to research and record a concise 3 minute presentation. Your presentation will synthesize your research, your personal interest in the topic, and recommended resources (including children's books); you will also include a works cited page at the end. Approved topics in the past have included puberty, cyberbullying, gaming, cooking, religion, ethnicity, socio-economics, peer pressure, gender, and sexuality--but a fuller list will be shared within Canvas. Due September 9, CLO #1-2.

Assignment 2: Review (10 points) Compare and contrast six different reviews of the same book in a three page, double-spaced paper. (The six reviews will be provided for you in Canvas.) Read a children's book and write 2 concise reviews of the same book (50 words for one and 200 words for the other). Both reviews should capture the essence of the book by describing many of the following: literary elements (plot, character, setting, theme, style), appeal to the audience, and how the book relates to its genre or its author's body of work. Due October 1, CLO #3-4. 

Assignment 3: Booktalk/Trailer (10 points) Read a different children's book and create a one minute recorded booktalk or a trailer which will hook and engage and early adolescent audience. Additional tips and tricks for doing this will be shared in Canvas. Due October 22, CLO #3-4. 

Assignment 4: Display/Program (10 points) Create a display or program inspired by a topic, genre, or author. Write a three page, double-spaced paper which includes the rationale, the components, and the connection between the items and activities. Include cover images and visuals as appropriate. Due November 12, CLO #3-4.

Assignment 5: Slide Deck (30 points) Read and evaluate 30 items from different genres. You may not read more than three items from any one genre or category. These must also be books you have not read before this semester. Each slide needs a cover image, a single sentence summary, and a couple of links to additional resources. Your slide deck should also have a title slides for each genre or category. Due December 6, CLO #3-4.

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 or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
  For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — 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 if you wish to stay in the program. 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.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

Per University Policy S16-9 (PDF), relevant university policy concerning all courses, such as student responsibilities, academic integrity, accommodations, dropping and adding, consent for recording of class, etc. and available student services (e.g. learning assistance, counseling, and other resources) are listed on the Syllabus Information web page. Make sure to visit this page to review and be aware of these university policies and resources.

Week 1: 8/21  - 8/27 (Early Adolescence: Internal Factors)

Week 2: 8/28 - 9/3 (Early Adolescence: External Factors)

Week 3: 9/4- 9/10 (Social Media and Digital Citizenship)

• Labor Day: September 4
• Assignment 1 (Presentation) due: September 10

Week 4: 9/11 - 9/17 (Early Adolescence Presentations)

Week 5: 9/18- 9/24 (Audio Visual Tech)

Week 6: 9/25- 10/1 (Nonfiction)

• Assignment 2 (Review) due: October 1

Week 7: 10/2 - 10/8 (Diversity: Race, Ethnicity, Culture)

Week 8: 10/9- 10/15 (Diversity: Gender, Sexuality, Ability)

Week 9: 10/16 - 10/22 (Fantasy and Science Fiction)

• Assignment 3 (Booktalk/Trailer) due: October 22

Week 10: 10/23 - 10/29 (Horror and Romance)

Week 11: 10/30- 11/5 (Mystery and Thriller)

Week 12: 11/6 - 11/12 (Humor)

• Veterans Day: November 10
• Assignment 4 (Display/Program) due: November 12

Week 13: 11/13 - 11/19 (Comics and Picture Books)

Week 14: 11/20 - 11/26 (Poetry and Verse Novels)

• Thanksgiving Holiday: November 23-24

Week 15: 11/27 - 12/6 (Censorship)

• Assignment 5 (Slide Deck) due: December 6