Kaitlyn Smith

Teaching Resources Assignment

Childrens Literature
ENGL 414A
2/27/14

1) Identify at least five useful web sites with useful information about reading
and/or teaching childrens books.

http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/index.php
o Childrens Literature Network
I found this website to be one that could be very helpful to teachers. This website
also has a magazine. The articles from the magazine are also on the website. This
site offers opinions from professors, teachers, parents, librarians and scholars about
childrens literature. Childrens Literature Network lists new books,
recommendations for books, videos about books, book reviews, as well as book lists
and many other helpful resources.

http://www.clcd.com/
o Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database
The Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database is a research database aimed
directly for teachers of literature in grades K-12. It provides many search options
such as subject, genre, and grade level. Not only is this a research database, but also
provides tools such as lesson plants, discussion guides, and curriculum framework.
This website could be very helpful in the classroom when looking for books to
match units, or looking for books of a certain subject material.

http://www.kidlitosphere.org/
o Kid Lithosphere
Kid Lithosphere is a website composed of blogs from book reviewers, librarians,
teachers, parents, and anyone else who blogs about childrens literature. There are
blogs about every aspect of childrens literature written by many different kinds of
people. I decided to list the whole website, rather than an individual blog, because I
see the value in different opinions from many different people.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/
o Scholastic for Teachers
The scholastic website provides many useful resources for teachers as well
as students and parents. The long list of teaching resources includes book lists,
lesson plans, activities for students, book recommendations, videos, teacher
blogs, along with many other helpful resources. This website also includes
articles from the Scholastic magazine that could be potentially helpful as well. I
enjoy that this site is user-friendly and easy to navigate.


http://www.carolhurst.com/index.html
o Carol Hurst- Website Author
Carol Hursts website for childrens literature is a great example of a website
created by a teacher to help other teachers teach literature. There are a variety of
resources on the website that include books lists, a Whats New? section,
curriculum areas, lesson plans, and book reviews. The website offers themes for
subjects in literature that help relate books to curriculum. This could be very helpful
when incorporating as much literature into the classroom as possible.

2) Identify at least three non-web sources that can help you learn more about
reading and/or teaching childrens literature.

Teaching Childrens Literature- Its Critical!
o Author(s): Christine Leland, Mitzi Lewison, Jerome Harste
o Publisher: Routledge
o City of Publication: New York, NY
o Year of Publication: 2013

I found this book to be a great resource. It provides information that is helpful to
teaching reading as well as getting children to love literature. There is an entire
chapter on literature response strategies that would be extremely helpful in getting
children engaged. This book helps teachers make their children learn to love
reading. One particular chapter that I read emphasized not using basil readers that
trim down texts taken from actual literature. I think this is a great point because
many kids become frustrated and uninterested in reading due to the use of reading
programs.

Childrens Literature: A Readers History, from Aesop to Harry Potter
o Author(s): Seth Lerer
o Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
o City of Publication: Chicago, IL
o Year of Publication: 2008

This history of childrens literature is one that could be very useful to a
teacher or future teacher. Understanding childrens literature and its history are
important to understanding it. This book provides exactly what its title says: a
history of childrens literature from its beginnings to its current and modern state.

Charlotte Hucks Childrens Literature (Childrens Literature in the Elementary
School
o Author(s): Barbara Kiefer
o Other information was not available (this was a text I found online).
Charlotte Hucks Literature book seems to be a very helpful one. It seeks to
capture the attention of young children through literature, and find a love for
reading rather than a dislike. This book provides information about how to
understand childrens responses about literature and provides history and
other important information about literature.


3) Identify at least five characteristics of or ways of distinguishing reliable web
sites.


Who is the author of the site?
o The author of the site plays a large role in choosing a source. Is the
author credible? Do they know what theyre talking about?
What is this sites agenda?
o This is important to remember because many sites are created with a
specific purpose or aimed at a specific audience.
What type of website is this? (What is the domain?)
o Different types of websites aim to do different kinds of things. For
example, .edu sites are usually educational, and .com sites are
usually looking to sell something. .org sites usually have a specific
audience or agenda they are seeking to reach.
How recently was it published?
o Outdated publications can offer unreliable information. Dates of
publishing can help determine how recent a site has been published.
What sources does the author of this website site?
o Credible sources that the author used can lead to more helpful
information. Checking the authors sources can prove how credible
their website is.


https://uknowit.uwgb.edu/page.php?id=30276
http://journalism.about.com/od/reporting/a/Eight-Ways-To-Tell-If-A-Website-
Is-Reliable.htm