LANG 575: Spanish Children’s Literature I

Course Description: 

This course will examine the characteristics of traditional and modern Spanish children’s literature. Students will analyze Spanish children’s literature representing the different genres and themes. Attention will be given to works written in Spanish in Latin America, Spain, and the USA. Guidelines for the selection, design, and implementation of appropriate Spanish literature-based activities will be addressed throughout the course. 

Learning Outcomes: 

• Demonstrate an excellent level of reading, writing, listening, and speaking proficiency in Spanish through class discussions.

• Identify Latin American, Spanish, and Latino material written in Spanish for children.

• Identify poetry and songs from the oral traditional folklore and explain why they should be included in an elementary Spanish language program.

• Justify how language development and discovery may be promoted through stories written in Spanish for children.

• Justify how creative writing and visual expression may be promoted by reading children's literature in an elementary Spanish program.

• Compose a children's literary piece using varied classroom strategies.

• Examine the suitability of stories and poems to teach Spanish culture.

Required Text:

• Ada, A.F. (2003). A magical encounter: Latino children’s literature in the classroom (2nd. Edition). Allyn and Bacon.