INLS 242:   CURRICULUM ISSUES FOR
SCHOOL LIBRARY MEDIA SPECIALISTS

SYLLABUS

Goals and Objectives of the Course

The overall goal of the course is to prepare you to be a leader in your school's instructional program through collaborative planning with teachers and the integration of technology in the curriculum.

Specific Objectives: Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:

Articulate the responsibilities of the media specialist’s instructional consultant role to show how collaborative planning between the teacher and media specialist takes place. Demonstrate knowledge of instructional design and a variety of instructional methodologies. State some learning characteristics about students for each grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Be generally familiar with the NC curriculum requirements as outlined in the Standard Course of Study (SCOS) for each grade and subject and in more detail for either grades K-5, 6-8 or 9-12. Plan (scope and sequence) a library and information science curriculum for K-5, 6-8 or 9-12 that reflects the information problem-solving process and uses inquiry learning. Plan ways to integrate information skills instruction into subject learning using a collaborative approach. Demonstrate appropriate evaluation and assessment technques for school library media services and instructional activities. Design a reading encouragement program for K-5, 6-8, or 9-12 students. Generate staff development activitiy plans for classroom teachers and aides.

Textbooks

"Curriculum provides the framework for continuity at all levels of education.
It is the center of the educational process ...
Curriculum relates to the specifics of what is taught, in what order, by what methods,
with what materials and resources, and how it is evaluated. ...
Library media specialists are becoming increasingly involved in all phases of curriculum --
development, support, consultation, and implementation."
-- Michael Eisenberg. Curriculum Initiative, 1988.

There are two textboooks for the course as follows:

Turner, Philip M. and Ann Marlow Riedling. Helping Teachers Teach: A School Library Media Specialist's Role. 3rd ed. Libraries Unlimited, 2003. ISBN: 159158020X. (Available from UNC Bookstore; $40 from publisher or from Amazon).

Information Power; Building Partnerships for Learning. Prepared by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association of Educational Communications and Technology. Chicago: American Library Association, 1998. This is the standard for school library media specialists and is the basis for many of the questions on the PRAXIS test for media specialists. ISBN: 0838934706. (Available from UNC Bookstore and directly from ALA; $35 from Amazon - used copies available as well). We use this manual for both EDUC 241 and 242. For this course, we will be primarily interested in chapter 2, 3, 4 and 7 plus appendices D and E.

IMPACT; Guidelines for Media and Technology Programs. Public Schools of North Carolina, September 2000. This is available at http://www.ncwiseowl.org/impact.htm. A companion document for administrators focusing on program evaluation and effectiveness is also available there at http://www.ncwiseowl.org/admin/adminimpact.htm. While you're there, you may want to check out the WiseOwl site (www.ncwiseowl.org). It has many useful resources for school library media specialist.

Information Skills Curriculum. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, 1999. Available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/information/. Grade by grade list of overall objective, focus areas, strands, and competencies expected.

Information Skills Curriculum Integration Strategies. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, March 2001. This is available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/information/strategies/index.html. Integration stratgies for competency goals for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 are available through a link from this page. A link from the Integration Strategies page brings you to two pdf files available for downloading (but very large [75 pages for the K-5 document and 46 pages for the 6-8 document]).

North Carolina Standard Course of Study (SCOS) North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, various dates. These are the official state curriculum requirements for all K-12 grades and subjects. They are available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum. We will use this reference for objectives for all the subjects.

Another website that we will use is national: The Big 6; Information Literacy for the Information Age. Examine the Comparison of Information Skills Process Models found under Research. This will be a good resource to use when developing your own LIS curriculum and scope and sequence plans. While you are on this site, follow the instructions under the Electronic Discussion Group (found under Resources) and subscribe to the Big 6 listserv for at least a month. Check out the archives as well.

Course Requirements and Assignments

"Students who score higher on tests tend to come from schools that have more resource staff and more books, periodicals, and videos and where the instructional role of the teacher-librarian and involvement in cooperative program planning and teaching is more prominent."
-- Lance Curry. The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement, 1993.

• Readings and Web Exploration. Provide five postings on relevant readings relating to five different topics from five different sources. Post a summary and comment for each one on an appropriate discussion forum. Respond to postings from those in your study group (to be formed at first class meeting).

• Interview Teachers. For the school where you plan to develop your collaborative unit, select three teachers who are different from one another (different grade level, different subject area specialty, different level of experience). Interview each one asking about their curriculum area, the primary resources they use, particular units they enjoy teaching, the nature of their student body, and how they create lesson plans. Some preliminary examination of each of these areas will allow you to carry out an efficient and knowledgeable interview (about a half hour in length for each one).

• Collaborative Unit. Working with an adopted school select one of the classroom teachers (preferably one you have interviewed in the assignment above) and invite him/her to collaborate on a unit. Observe the teacher and students for at least one class period. With the teacher, develop a 2-4 week lesson plan for a unit to be taught in March (date is flexible). Using examples provided in class and in your reading material, develop the unit plan showing curriculum objectives for the content area and for the information area. Include one or two essential questions and an overview of the instructional strategies to be used. Describe the assessment criteria and the day by day schedule. Post diary summaries of your collaborative activies and your reactions three times (beginning, middle and end). Videotape one of the student learning sessions (with permission).

• Reading Appreciation. (Note: This assignment may be done as a team or individually). For a selected grade level, plan an activity that encourages reading (e.g., pre-reading activity, book talk, book web, author visit, storytelling session, or ...). Consider not only what you will be doing but what the students will be doing as well. Develop a method to show what effect the reading appreciation activity might have and consider how you might use the data for public relations. Summarize your work as a paper or a web page or a poster.

• Teacher Development Workshop (Note: This assignment may be done as a team or individually). Design a workshop for teachers that addresses some aspect of instructional design (see suggestions from the Turner textbook). The format for the workshop may follow a more behavioral instructional design format (rather than inquiry). Present your workshop plan to the class using a standard lesson plan format. Include methods of evaluation.

• 10 points - Class participation
• 25 points - Readings and/or Website Explorations -- individual assignment
• 20 points - Teacher Interviews -- individual or team assignment
• 25 points - Collaborative Unit -- individual working with a classroom teacher
• 10 points - Reading Appreciation -- individual or team
• 10 points - Teacher Workshop -- individual or team

For extra credit - Attend a full day's session at a relevant state conference and write (and/or present) a brief report.

Incompletes: A grade of incomplete may be taken only because of illness or special circumstances and only with the permission of the instructor.

Honor System at Carolina

"The library media professional has an agenda for developing information literacy ... That agenda can only be effectively accomplished when it is integrated into the curriculum. Such integration requires collaboration between the library media professional and the teaching staff."
-- Jean Donham. Enhancing Teaching and Learning." 1998.

For your work in this course, remember that information taken from the work of another must always be attributed and that work that you submit must be your own (or your team's in the case of group work). In this class, collaboration, discussion, and the use of assistance from other class members is encouraged and is not inconsistent with the honor system.

Conduct of the Class - Blackboard

This class will use the course management system, Blackboard. As a registered student in INLS 242, when you enter the Blackboard site (blackboard.unc.edu, you will be prompted for your ONYEN and password (If you do not yet have one, please make arrangements to get one as quickly as possible -- send me an email if it is a problem) and see a choice for INLS 242: Curriculum Issues for School Library Media Specialists. I will provide an orientation to navigating the Blackboard site at our first meeting but you will need to make at least one entry on the "Getting to Know You" forum before that meeting. You are required to check the Blackboard course site two or three times each week during the duration of the class. Regular postings to the various discussion fora are required as is reading posted material, notices, and the detailed assignments. In addition, the class will meet face to face four times during the semester in a workshop format on the following dates:

• Friday, January 16
• Saturday, January 31
• Saturday, Febuary 28
• Saturday, April 3.

Email Evelyn Daniel if you have any questions or comments.
Last revised December 31, 2004.