EDUC E339: Methods of Teaching Language Arts & Reading I

Instructor Name: Veronica M. Richard, Ph.D.
Email: verrich@iun.edu
Phone: (219) 980-6592  

See the **Course Guide/Schedule**for
session themes, readings, resources, and all assignment due dates.

Course Description

Bulletin Description: Examines the basis of, describes and appraises the methods, materials, and techniques employed in developmental reading programs for children from early childhood through early adolescence.

Expanded Description: EDUC E339, Methods of Teaching Reading I, is designed to serve as introductory study and reflection of methods for teaching literacy in grades K through 3. This course will emphasize current code-breaking/comprehension/ metacognitive models of reading with a literature-based focus for promoting interest as well as skill. Study of materials (texts, hardware, software) and instructional procedures used in today's schools will comprise an integral part of this course. Particular focus will be on "workshop" approaches to reading, emphasizing mini-lessons over lengthy teacher talk. Thematic teaching will also be explored as a way to integrate reading/writing techniques and practices developed in the course with teaching the other subjects (e.g., mathematics, social studies, science). Integrated reading/writing activities will be developed as both an instructional and assessment activity. Adaptations and modifications to each instructional activity for this course will be explored to meet the needs of struggling readers. Field experiences included in the course are designed to provide a genuine classroom setting for trying out the instructional procedures you learn. All of these activities will be used to prepare you for the next course, E340 & E341, where you will learn to use these instructional approaches to monitor children's literacy growth through traditional and authentic assessments.

Course Goals and Objectives

Students in EDUC-E339 will:

1. Examine Indiana state standards for K-3 language arts and plan instruction and assessment to meet those standards;
2. establish and confirm a multi-method, multilevel framework for teaching reading that reflects what good readers do;
3. Develop and apply a variety of instructional approaches to the teaching of reading which emphasize higher order thinking (e.g., analytical, creative, critical) skills;
4. Develop and apply “thoughtful connections” questions (i.e., text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world) for reading and discussing literature;
5. Explore, select, and apply various resources and technology (e.g., trade books, basals, big books, computer software, audio/videocassette programs, multimedia) for promoting the teaching of reading and writing in the classroom setting;
6. Identify, design, and apply hands-on strategies for promoting children’s “self-selected reading” that accommodate for a variety of genres and literacy levels;
7. Identify, design, and apply pre, during, and post reading lessons to help children gain meaning and metacognitive skills;
8. Identify, design, and apply hands-on teaching lessons to help the student learn to read content area textbooks for gathering knowledge and subject-matter concepts;
9. Identify, design, and apply hands-on “working with words” lessons to develop children’s ability to read and spell high frequency words through noted phonic and word family patterns.

10.  Make judgments about the ethics of the reading models, approaches, practices, materials and technology for helping students become critical thinkers through the language arts.

11.  Demonstrate Initial Program Dispositions.

Initial Program Dispositions

The SOE is committed to the values of academic integrity in teacher preparation. You are expected to consign yourself to each of the following dispositions throughout this semester in your IU Northwest classroom participation and in your school-based field activities:

1. Attends regularly, is punctual, has a professional appearance, and conducts him or herself professionally with students, peers, parents, and all P-12 and University personnel.
2. Uses knowledge of students’ family and community to connect learning to the students’ world.
3. Believes all students can learn and differentiates instruction so that all students do learn.
4. Aligns instruction with state and professional standards.
5. Organizes instruction to engage students in active learning.
6. Expresses ideas clearly and appropriately both verbally and in writing.
7. Uses multiple teaching approaches and technology.
8. Uses positive approaches to teach students’ self-discipline and responsibility; treats all students with respect and care.
9. Treats all people fairly, equitably, and with dignity and respect.
10. Cooperates in the classroom and throughout the school and community.
11. Monitors students’ progress carefully, regularly, and in multiple ways, and reports that progress clearly and systematically, while making needed adjustments.
12. Demonstrates commitment to teaching by receiving and acting upon constructive criticism. 

Any time an SOE candidate is assigned a field or student teaching experience, that candidate’s dress, behavior and speech must meet high professional standards. Any candidate who is assigned a field or student teaching experience is there for one reason – to facilitate the learning of P-12 students. Everything a candidate does during his/her assignment must support that mission.

Course Materials 

Required Text
Bousher, G., & Moser, J. (2006). The daily five book:  Fostering literacy independence in the elementary

grades. Portland, MA: Stenhouse.   ISBN:  1571104291.

Various scholarly journals posted through OnCourse Rescource tab.

Grading Information 

Grades will be determined as shown in the following assignment chart.  Detailed descriptions of assignments are available below and from the assignment links in the chart. Due dates are detailed in the Course Schedule.

Class Policies Regarding Graded Work 

**The following policies are in effect for all individual deliverables throughout the semester, unless noted otherwise. **

***Late Work***

Late work will not be routinely allowed. You must have a documented excuse (death in the family, Medical emergency, or immediate family emergency) to miss a test or an assignment.

***Original Work***

All the work submitted for this course must be YOUR OWN. This means that you are not allowed to plagiarize others’ work. Plagiarism is the most common academic misconduct violation, and some students, who have been disciplined for plagiarism, have said they were not aware that they had plagiarized their work. Be aware that ‘not knowing’ does not excuse academic misconduct – every student is responsible for knowing the rules. If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please make sure to ask me. The penalties for academic misconduct include --‐ but are not limited to --‐ lowering a grade on an assignment, lowering a course grade, or failing a student for a course.

The IU Northwest “Code of Students’ Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct” defines six areas of academic misconduct: cheating, fabrication, facilitation, interference, plagiarism, and violation of course rules. See the “Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct” for a more detailed description of these prohibited activities and actions http://www.iu.edu/~code/code/.

***Incompletes***

Incompletes will be granted only in the circumstances defined by the university: you must have completed the majority of the work in the course and you must have a passing grade.

NOTE: The instructor will keep students apprised of assignment grades via the online class Grade book. Students are responsible for contacting the instructor if they do not receive any grade by 10 days after the assignment submission date.

Course Requirements

1. E-CLASS PARTICIPATION. The first and by far most important requirement of this course is your regular attendance, punctuality, and participation in the series of e-class individual activities, group activities, and discussion forums. Online participation activities (i.e., activities, assignments, or quizzes) will be administered with NO possible MAKE-UPs. These participation activities total TEN POINTS toward your course grade.
2. READING MODELS, APPROACHES, TECHNOLOGY CRITIQUE ASSIGNMENT.** Select a reading model, process, technology practice that you have seen in practice in your own education or in your field experiences. Explore the practice by reading critically two scholarly articles, interviewing a teacher in the field about the practice, and by reviewing the processes and materials of the practice. Taking all this information together, write a précis discussing the reading model/practice in light of students’ background experiences, including race, culture, language development, learning styles, etc. and the potential of the reading model/practice to help teachers help individual students develop reading and critical thinking skills. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit toward your course grade.
3. Language Experience Teaching Activity. Select a topic of interest to your students–particularly struggling readers–and design one language experience lesson/activity script. Follow the guidelines provided in class. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit toward your course grade.
4. Working with words Activity: Rhyming. Design and construct ONE “direct instruction” mini-lesson script and activity sheets that teaches students to recognize or produce words that rhyme (Guidelines and directions will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver this in your field experience classroom. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit toward your course grade.
5. Working with words Activity: Segmenting. Design and construct ONE “direct instruction” mini-lesson script and activity sheets that is designed to help students break words into their component (phonological) speech parts (Guidelines and directions will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver this in your field experience classroom. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit toward your course grade.
6. Working with words Activity: blending. Design and construct ONE “direct instruction” mini-lesson script and activity sheets that teaches students to identify a word on the basis of hearing the discrete phonemes (sounds) that make up the word (Guidelines and directions will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver this activity in your field experience classroom. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit.
7. GUIDED READING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITY: CONTENT AREA FOCUS.** Identify, design, and apply a hands-on teaching process/lesson to help students learn to read content area textbooks for gathering factual knowledge and subject-matter concepts. (Guidelines and directions will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver this activity in your field experience classroom. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit.
8. Guided Reading comprehension Activity: PREREADING. Select a reading selection (leveled reader) that is appropriate for the students in your classroom. Design TWO guided reading activity plans (e.g., picture walking, predicting, vocabulary building, choral reading, ERTing, acting out the story) to prepare, guide, or reinforce students’ comprehension of what they read. One of the texts must be multileveled and modified to accommodate struggling readers. (Guidelines and procedures will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver one of these guided reading activities in your field experience classroom. Each activity is worth TEN points, for a total of TWENTY POINTS of credit.
9. Guided Reading comprehension Activity: metacognition. Select a piece of students’ literature that is appropriate for the students in your classroom. Create ONE guided reading activity designed to foster students’ reading metacognition. When creating this process, keep in mind the goal of helping students take control of their comprehension of text by gaining more awareness of what they do cognitively when they encounter text. (Guidelines and procedures will be provided in class.) Prepare the teaching materials needed and deliver this guided reading activity in your field experience classroom. This activity is worth TEN POINTS of credit.