Fall+2010+Syllabus

toc =EDUC 4338: Teaching Reading in the Middle Grades = Mondays 5:00-8:00 PM

Instructor: Honor Moorman Office Hours: before class and by appt. Text Mssg./Cell Phone: 210.364.1867 Preferred Email: hmoorm (at) neisd (dot) net

Course Description
This course is designed to help you develop your understanding of the theory and practice of teaching literacy in grades 4-8. In addition, this course will explore how to apply this knowledge to the teaching of reading and writing across the content areas.

In Education 4338 you will. ..
 * Gain an understanding of the state and national standards that comprise the middle-grades English language arts and reading curriculum.
 * Develop a repertoire of teaching strategies for helping students develop their literacy skills.
 * Discover, practice, and apply research-based instructional approaches and techniques that are effective for teaching English language arts and reading in the middle-grades classroom.
 * Learn how current pedagogical theory and research inform “best-practice” models and methods for teaching English language arts and reading to a diverse community of students.
 * Acquire the content and professional knowledge needed to prepare you for the TExES (Texas Examination of Educator Standards), which is required for educator certification in Texas.
 * Engage in the habits of mind necessary to become an effective and reflective teacher.

Objectives
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Specifically, this course will focus on the components of effective reading instruction as well as the reading and language arts competencies that all teachers of grades 4-8 should have:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Oral Language
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Foundations of Reading
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Word Analysis Skills and Reading Fluency
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Reading Comprehension
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Written Language
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Study and Inquiry Skills
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Viewing and Representing
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Assessment of Developing Literacy

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Required Texts
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 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Selected journal articles and other publications from NCTE and IRA, accessible through your [|student membership], which gives you access to all NCTE journal articles more than 2 years old, and your [|student subscription to Voices from the Middle] for current and recent middle-level articles.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Selected chapters from the following texts, which we will share (no need to purchase them)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Beers, Kylene. [|When Kids Can’t Read]: What Teachers Can Do. Heinemann. 2003.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Daniels, Harvey and Steven Zemelman. [|Subjects Matter]: Every Teacher’s Guide to Content-Area Reading. Heinemann. 2004.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Gallagher, Kelly. [|Deeper Reading]: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12. Stenhouse, 2004.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Young adult novel of your choice

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Attendance
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Your participation in this class is an important aspect of your learning. Please contact me immediately in case of illness or emergency. Your final grade may be lowered as a result of two or more absences. Make-up work will be handled on an individual basis.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Requirements
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In order to successfully complete this course, students will fulfill the following requirements:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Attend class and participate fully in class discussions and other activities.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Actively read the assigned texts and post key ideas from your readings to the class wiki prior to each class meeting.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explore and review at least three online resources for the teaching of reading. Write a review of each website including a summary of its content and your evaluation of its usefulness and applicability to your future teaching context. Share your reviews on the class wiki.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Read a self-selected young adult novel and write a book review. Give a book talk, conduct a read-aloud, and post your book review to the wiki.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teach a 15-minute mini-lesson that includes a reading-writing connection appropriate to the subject matter you plan to teach in the future. Submit your lesson plan including full citations for your sources.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Develop a lesson plan that includes before-, during-, and after-reading strategies to support students in making meaning from and with a text.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Create a multi-media research project on a topic of your choice related to reading instruction in the middle grades. Share your multi-media project with the class (in lieu of a final exam).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grading Policy
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Your final grade for the course will be calculated as follows: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10% Attendance and class participation <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">20% Weekly posting of key ideas from your readings <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10% Written reviews and presentation of online resources for the teaching of reading <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10% Young adult novel: book review, book talk, and read aloud <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">10% Mini-lesson incorporating a reading-writing connection <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">15% Lesson plan including before-, during-, and after-reading strategies <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">25% Multi-media research project on topic related to reading in the middle grades

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standards
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teaching Reading in the Middle Grades will focus on the following State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC) Standards for English Language Arts and Reading, Grades 4-8:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard I. Oral Language
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers of students in grades 4-8 understand the importance of oral language, know the developmental processes of oral language, and provide a variety of instructional opportunities for students to develop listening and speaking skills.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard II. Foundations of Reading
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers of students in grades 4-8 understand the foundations of reading and early literacy development.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard III. Word Analysis Skills and Reading Fluency
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand the importance of word analysis skills (including decoding, blending, structural analysis, sight word vocabulary) and reading fluency and provide many opportunities for students to practice and improve their word analysis skills and reading fluency.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard IV. Reading Comprehension
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand the importance of reading for understanding, know the components of comprehension, and teach students strategies for improving their comprehension.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard V. Written Language
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand that writing is a developmental process and instruction that helps students develop competence in written communication.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard VI. Study and Inquiry Skills
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand the importance of study and inquiry skills as tools for learning and promote students development in applying study and inquiry skills.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard VII. Viewing and Representing
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand how to interpret, analyze, evaluate, and produce visual images and messages in various media and to provide students with opportunities to develop skills in this area.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard VIII. Assessment of Developing Literacy
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers understand the basic principles of assessment and use a variety of literacy assessment practices to plan and implement instruction.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standards, continued
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In addition, this course strives to meet the following [|Trinity University Department of Education] Standards:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To Know
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Foundational knowledge—engaging in serious study in the liberal arts and sciences that lead to an educated mind and a spirit of inquiry <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Content knowledge—demonstrating mastery of the subjects that will be taught

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To Teach
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pedagogical content knowledge—being able to share the structures of subjects taught and their underlying organization in ways that promote deep student understanding, learning, and use <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Developmental knowledge—knowing and understanding how students develop socially and emotionally and how this knowledge can be used to enhance the quality of living and learning in schools <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Instructional knowledge—knowing how to create, synthesize, organize, present, and assess by teaching for understanding and teaching for skill development

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To Understand
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Democratic knowledge—modeling democratic values in behavior, organization for learning, teaching, and building a sense of community

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To Commit
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Professional knowledge—cultivating and demonstrating the habits of mind that distinguish professional work from ordinary work