Browsing by Subject "Children's literature"
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Bridging the "chasm of doubt" : fictive epistemological strategies in nineteenth-century children's Bibles(2014-05) Plourde, Aubrey Elizabeth; MacDuffie, Allen, 1975-The "conflict thesis" that science and religious are inherently incompatible was by no means taken for granted by nineteenth-century scientists, religious thinkers, or cultural commentators. In fact, scientific exploration and religion happily coexisted for years, partially through the efforts of science writers who framed their potentially incendiary claims with narrative acknowledgements of a Great Creator. This paper examines the late-nineteenth century tension between scientific and religious epistemologies through the lens of children's religious education, claiming that children's Bible adaptations can be read as a lexicon of coping strategies through which religious adults attempted to gain control of the scientific threat to their faith. In short, by employing the techniques of fiction, writers of children's Bibles encouraged their child readers to engage with fiction in an imaginative register, diverting cosmological questions by encouraging children to see themselves and their relationship with God as porous, open, and accessible to a fantastical hyperreality.Item Creating a Sense of Place: Using Multiple Literacies to Help Students Understand Geography(2010-12) Bustos, Charlene D.; Todd, Reese; Lesley, Mellinee; Johnson, Peggy; McMillan, SallyGlobalization is ever-apparent in our economy, our media, and our political stature, suggesting geography truly is a life-skill. In the current test-driven educational climate, certain subjects which are not under the high-stakes testing agenda get short-changed due to time-constraints and administrative pressures. One such subject is geography—a sub-topic under the umbrella of social studies. The expository text in the state-adopted textbooks provides some basic information of the topic being studied, but is frequently written in a dry, difficult, convoluted style, which often inhibits student engagement. Textbooks do not contain sufficient text or in-depth information on topics to offer experiences students need to develop critical and evaluative reading skills. This qualitative case study investigated the strategies employed by one fifth grade social studies classroom teacher as she used multiple literacies to teach social studies with a focus on geography. Data sources included detailed field notes of researcher’s observations, questionnaires and surveys (teacher and students), focus groups, transcripts of interviews with the teacher and participating students, teacher lesson plans, teacher planning resources, teacher and researcher reflective journals, and student work samples of classroom assignments. Findings revealed three themes for supporting geographic learning: storytelling as a vehicle for transmediation; writing and drawing as tools for representation; and authentic learning in a socially-safe environment. Findings also revealed that a classroom teacher can teach and meet the state and local standards while at the same time nurture an enthusiasm for learning. Vertical alignment of curriculum, teacher collaboration and student choices within parameters were key elements of the results. In general, conclusions indicate implications for the education community in the areas of classroom teacher practices, school administrator involvement and support, teacher educator institutions, curricula writers, and educational researchers.Item Integrating children's literature into a college foreign language class : a teacher-researcher's perspective(2007-05) García, María de la Paz, 1970-; Schwarzer, David; Kelm, Orlando R.Authentic texts, especially literary texts, are typically absent from beginning- and intermediate-level foreign language (FL) curricula because students at these levels of proficiency seem to lack the grammar, lexicon and cultural knowledge necessary to understand the complex nature of literary texts. When presented with canonical literature, many students feel overwhelmed, frustrated, discouraged and anxious. In search of other forms of authentic texts that did not cause so much challenge for students in the first two years of college, children’s literature has been examined since the early 1990s. In the very few existing studies, children’s literary texts were found to be accepted by students, who praised their interesting topics, simple grammar and vocabulary, colorful illustrations, and short length, among other characteristics that facilitated comprehension. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to investigate the integration of children’s literature into an intermediate Spanish-as-a-foreign-language class at the university level in order to broaden the knowledge in this field. The research questions that lead the study investigated (a) the processes of text selection, integration and implementation; (b) students’ linguistic, cultural, and affective responses to these texts; and (c) the lessons learned during the investigation, as a teacher and as a researcher. The participants of this semester-long qualitative research case study are the teacher-researcher and twenty-two students (five of which were selected for more indepth case studies) of a fourth semester Spanish class at a large southwestern university. Data included several types of documents, interviews and observations. Content analysis was used to arrive at interpretations. Findings indicated that students’ proficiency level was directly related to comprehension. Therefore children’s literature must be selected carefully in order to be beneficial. Students enjoyed reading children’s literature in this course, believed their Spanish improved, and appreciated the presence of Hispanic/Latino culture in the texts. Low-proficiency students were found to have difficulties with most texts, especially with the vocabulary. These students selected familiar, simpler texts for their assignments instead. Only one student did not find the texts cognitively challenging. The teacher researcher’s lessons learned, implications for research and pedagogy, and limitations are included.Item Integrating children's literature into a college foreign language class: a teacher-researcher's perspective(2007) García, María de la Paz; Schwarzer, David,Kelm, Orlando R., 1957-Item Issues of representation in award-winning children's literature: Texas Bluebonnet Award, 1981-2002(Texas Tech University, 2003-12) Miller, RebeccaWolcott (1992) maintains that investigations can be driven by ideas, theories, concepts, procedures, or the desire for reform. I find myself drawn to reform-driven research because when "coupled with the act of inquiry [there] is an underlying (and presumably conscious) assumption on the part of the researcher that things are not right as they are or, most certainly, are not as good as they might be" (p. 15). Knowing, from my experience as a classroom teacher, that all students are not represented in children's literature, I felt that an in-depth investigation of that phenomenon would highlight the areas that are not as good as they might be. Because I believe that literature has the capability to offer a child the ability "to reap knowledge of the world, to fathom the resources of human spirit, to gain insights that will make his own life comprehensible" (Rosenblatt, 1976, p. 7), I felt it imperative that I understand more fully the ways in which award winning children's literature does not participate in "the struggle to recognize the multiplicity of voices and the diversity of histories and experiences of those who inhabit our nation and world" (Shapiro, 1995, p. 236). With this study, I wanted to investigate the ypes of representation presented in award-winning children's literature, particularly, the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA). I wanted to gain an understanding of the value society places on literature about children outside the socio-political mainstream, and the ways in which children's literature portrays or does not portray all kinds of children. Through this investigation, I also wanted to discover what the people who are responsible for choosing the Texas Bluebonnet nominated books thought of their role in the process. Essentially, the intention of this study was two-fold. I wanted to investigate the types of representation presented in awardwinning children's literature and to gain insight into the minds of the selection committees who determine which books become winners.Item La contribución de la cuentística de Carlota Carvallo a la literatura infantil peruana(Texas Tech University, 1991-05) Heflin, David DNot availableItem Neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats as a racial project: depictions of children and families in urban environments(2014-05) Falkner, Anna Christine; Brown, Anthony L. (Associate professor)Much of the research and writing about the neighborhood books of Ezra Jack Keats has centered on depictions of his character ‘Peter’ as a non-racial ‘every child,’ or on the role of play in his stories. This thesis analyzed Keats’s neighborhood books and his research for them within the context of race and class discourses of the 1960s and 1970s. This work used a racial literacy framework and drew on ideas about power inscribed in space and hierarchical representations in children’s picture books. This research found Keats’s neighborhood books and research materials function as a racial project by constructing a cultural memorial to the atmosphere of the great transformation (Omi & Winant, 1994) and to a systematically produced racialized and classed space (Hankins, et al, 2012). Findings indicate that future research is needed to consider spacial depictions of race and class in picture books, and that there is a need for place-based historical inquiry among elementary students.Item The factor structure of dominant personality dimensions in juvenile delinquents(Texas Tech University, 1968-08) House, Aubrey M.The work of Cattell (l96l) led him to postulate a multifactor theory of neurosis as opposed to the two-factor theoretical position proposed by the studies of Eysenk (196U). Cattell (196I) supports his multifactor approach with replications of his general research on personality structure, although ". . .we may sometimes have- difficulty at this stage in confirming a particular hypothesis of interpretation." He has established an arbitrary distinction of what he calls neurotic process factors, which are less systematically associated and structure a much broader concept than the neurotic-contributory processes. While Cattell views delinquency in the neurotic model, his position regards delinquency as arisen- from the "second order" factors which compose the structure of the neurotic-contributory process. These concepts are based on his T-data derived by objective psychometric instruments. His findings support the more traditional psychoanalytic position which emphasizes the effects of the Id, Ego, and Superego, Cattell (1961) did redefine the Id process as being Temperamental Ardor, or "demandingness of the Id," In this model, the so-called normal holds a position between dipoles of neurotocism and delinquency.