Overview

This unit is designed to develop and deepen pre-service teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature as an essential part of language and literacy development. This will enable them to make informed decisions about selecting and using literature and language experiences in early childhood education. They will become familiar with and knowledgeable critics of a wide variety of genres, including poetic, narrative and informational literature, traditional tales, picture books, popular culture and new technologies suitable for use in early childhood education (birth to eight years of age).

Requisites

Teaching Periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
26-February-2024
26-May-2024
Last self-enrolment date
10-March-2024
Census date
31-March-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
12-April-2024
Results released date
02-July-2024
Teaching Period 1
Location
Online
Start and end dates
11-March-2024
09-June-2024
Last self-enrolment date
24-March-2024
Census date
05-April-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
26-April-2024
Results released date
02-July-2024
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
04-November-2024
09-February-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-November-2024
Census date
29-November-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
27-December-2024
Results released date
04-March-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Identify and advocate how children’s literature is an essential part of literacy education.(birth to eight years of age)
  • Articulate how storytelling and picture books support language acquisition and literacy skills
  • Examine factors, current trends and how popular culture impacts upon language and literature
  • Analyse a range of genres and conventions in children's literature, including folklore, picture books, storytelling, language games and poetry
  • Demonstrate techniques of effective and engaging teaching that develops literacy skills
  • Critically evaluate children’s language and literature resources

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Class
1.00 12 weeks 12
On-campus
Class
2.00 12 weeks 24
Specified Activities
Various
4.00 12 weeks 48
Unspecified Activities
Various
5.50 12 weeks 66
TOTAL150

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning
12.50 12 weeks 150
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
EssayIndividual 40% 1,2 
PortfolioIndividual 60% 3,4,5,6 

Content

  • Children’s literature and storytelling
  • Language and literacy development
  • History of children’ literature
  • Considerations for diversity and difference
  • Thinking critically about language and literature
  • Criteria for selecting literature for children from birth, based on knowledge of a range of theories of
  • Literary criticism (for example, structuralism, post modernism, feminism)
  • Genres in children’s literature (for example, picture books, big books and illustrated texts, poetry, narrative/novels (fantasy, historical, realistic), short stories, informational texts)
  • Folklore and fairy tales
  • The oral tradition
  • Significant authors and illustrators
  • Literature for different age groups
  • Cultural influences on literature
  • Creating the language and literature environment

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.