The Learner’s Perspective: Engage in Designing Learning Tools and Lessons with the Incorporation of Multicultural Children's Literature, Terry, Summer 2024

Course Description

This newly designed eight-week course is intended to give educators first-hand opportunities to experience the same learning opportunities as their learners. Through the journey of incorporating purposeful writing opportunities with the implementation of multicultural children’s literature, educators will embark in the following experiences:

• Designing learning tools specific to concepts being addressed
• Designing lessons specific to the multicultural literature and concepts being addressed

This course focuses on the importance of incorporating purposeful writing through the integration of multicultural children's literature. By gaining a sense of appreciation and acceptance for all individuals from diverse cultures, learners become genuinely self-motivated and engaged in these strong feelings. These feelings are the roots for learning opportunities. Learners can freely and with purpose, communicate and connect their own thoughts, ideas, and feelings with those from other diverse cultures and backgrounds. Writing gives our learners a healthy and amazing outlet for expressing these strong feelings with purpose!

“Learning how people from other cultures do similar things in different ways can help children gain a sense of acceptance and appreciation for diverse cultures.” (Higgins, 2013)

Course Goals & Objectives

Student Expectations and Goals:

• Build a learning environment and community which can successfully incorporate multicultural children's literature into the Writing Curriculum 
  • Understand the significant benefits of multicultural children's literature in the elementary school classroom
  • Engage in wonderful writing opportunities, first-hand, that utilizes multicultural children's literature 
  • Learn to incorporate these amazing writing opportunities with your learners in your classroom
  • Reflect and respond to weekly readings that will enrich your capabilities of implementing a purposeful Writing Curriculum using multicultural children's literature 

Required Texts:

Costs for required texts are not included in the course tuition.

You will need to purchase the following multicultural children's literature books:

Sosu's Call by Meshack Asare
Sebastian's Roller Skates by Joan de Deu Prats 
No Mirrors In My Nana’s House by Ysaye M. Barnwell
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble 
Tea Cakes for Tosh by Kelly Starling Lyons 

Up In The Leaves – The True Story of the Central Park Treehouses by Shira Boss

For additional course information

Laura Terry
(802) 849-2225

For additional registration information

Center for Schools Team
(802) 468-1325

Register now!