Syllabus

Course Description

Objectives

• Describe the learning characteristics of children and how they change as readers and writers from
  birth to grade 3
• Define the various levels of literacy development
• Describe appropriate instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency,
  vocabulary, and comprehension identified as essential literacy standards by the National Reading Panel
• Identify appropriate assessment strategies for determining development of literacy learners
• Conduct a variety of methods for differentiating instruction for struggling and emergent literacy learners
• Identify the concepts surrounding the definitions of "new literacies," and how to organize
  instruction with multi-modal methods of communication
• Cite research supporting effective literacy instruction for beginning readers and writers

Curriculum Design

Emergent Literacy Development is a forty five-hour, 3 graduate credit course taught online.

Time Requirements

This course is offered over a period of 15 weeks. Modules are completed over the 15-week period pending length of assignments per week.

Skill and Hardware Requirements

Students may use either a Macintosh computer or a PC with Windows 2000 or higher. Students should possess basic word processing skills and have Internet access as well as an active email account. Students also are expected to have a basic knowledge of how to use a Web browser, such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc.

Course Materials

The required textbook for this course is: McGee, L M, and Richgels, D. J. (2008) Literacy's beginnings: Supporting young readers and writers (5th ed.) Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, Boston. Class website and Internet resources

Course Outline

Introduction: Introduction & Overview

Objective:In this beginning exercise, students and the instructor will introduce themselves in the forum. The students have this first week to acquaint themselves with the format of the course, the textbook, and the methods of communication.

Module One: Understanding Young Children's Literacy Development

Objectives:

• Review current research on infants and language learning
• Appraise the relationship between language and learning
• Assess the stages of language development

 

Module Two: Literacy Development Birth to Three Years

Objectives:

• Create anecdotal records that includes home environments that promote literacy development
  
• Explore the concept of interactive book experiences and the influence on literacy growth
• Select Internet resources appropriate for early literacy learning

Module Three: Novice Readers and Writers Three to Five Years

Objectives:

• Examine learning and language characteristics of young learners age 3 - 5 years
  
• Identify how meaning is constructed
• Examine how novice learners demonstrate knowledge and understanding of alphabetic principles, sounds/phonemes, and units of spoken language
  
• Distinguish developmental characteristics of novice writers

 

Module Four: Experimenting Readers age Five to Seven Years

Objectives:

• Implement best practices in assessment of experimenting literacy learners
• Evaluate how "self generated" writings can aid the teacher to assess the individual child's literacy growth

 

Module Five: Reading Development of Six to Eight Year Olds

Objectives:

• Create a checklist of learning characteristics of conventional readers ages 6 to 8 years of age
• Examine traditional and current concepts of decoding, spelling and research recommended practices for instruction in these literacy components

 

Module Six: Literacy Rich Classrooms

Objectives:

• Evaluate elements that create a rich literacy environment
  
• Examine methods for organizing literacy environments
• Appraise methods for physically arranging classrooms conducive to efficient literacy development

 

Module Seven: Language and Literacy Learning in Preschools

Objective:

• Evaluate characteristics of exemplary pre-school literacy programs

 

Module Eight: Supporting Literacy Learning in the Kindergarten

Objectives:

• Evaluate the teacher's role in early literacy development
  
• Identify appropriate classroom environment and structures for early literacy learning
• Examine developmentally appropriate physical and emotional environments conducive to early literacy development
• Enumerate a variety of appropriate instructional strategies and activities for early literacy learning

 

Module Nine: Literacy Learning in First Grade

Objectives:

• Create appropriate instructional strategies that support young literacy learners
• Evaluate the literacy standards or desired outcomes for first grade literacy programs

 

Module Ten: Literacy Learning in Second Through Fourth Grades

Objectives:

• Create teaching and learning activities and strategies that best support literacy learners
• Create methods for assessing literacy growth in grades 2 through 4

Module Eleven: Working with Diverse Literacy Learners

Objectives:

• Define diverse literacy learners and identify their learning needs
• Identify factors that create literacy difficulties and put learners at risk
• Analyze research supported "best practices" for modifying instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners

 

Module Twelve: Using Assessment to Guide Instruction

Objectives:

• Design comprehensive assessment models for evaluation of literacy development
  
• Identify components of comprehensive assessment models
  
• Evaluate alternative research based assessment techniques
• Examine informal assessment instruments

Module Thirteen: Recommended Instruments and Techniques for Assessing Literacy

Objectives:

• Explore the research base and current recommended "best practice" in assessing young children's literacy growth
• Critique formal and informal measurement instruments in current use for assessing literacy growth
• Develop a plan for assessment

Course Requirements:

Requirements	Points
Forum Discussions	50
Weekly Assignments	130
Position Paper # 1	10
Position Paper #2	10
Total	200

Grades
200-186 - A
185-170 - B
169-154 - C

Student Academic Integrity

Participants guarantee that all academic class work is original. Any academic dishonesty or plagiarism (to take ideas, writings, etc. from another and offer them as one's own), is a violation of student academic behavior standards as outlined by the Teacher Education University catalog and is subject to academic disciplinary action.

Bibliography

Anthony, J. L., Lonigan, C. Driscoll, K. Phillips, B. & Burgess, S. (2003) Phonological sensitivity: A quasi-parallel progression of word structure units and cognitive operations. Reading Research Quarterly, 38, 470-487.

Clay, M. M. (1998) By different paths to common outcomes. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, Pub.

Cummins, J., Chow, P. U Schecter, S. (2006) Community as curriculum. Language Arts, 83, 297-307.

Hadaway, N. L., Vardell, S. & Young, T. (2002) Literature-based instruction with English language learners, K-12. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

McGee, L. M. & Morrow, L. M. (2005) Teaching literacy in kindergarten. New York: Guilford Press.

McGuinness, D. (2004) Early reading instruction: What science really tells us about how to teach reading. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Morris, D. & Slavin, R. (Eds.) (2003) Every child reading. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

National Reading Panel (2000) Report of the National Reading Panel. Washington, D. C: National Institutes of Health.

Richgels, D. J. (2003) Going to kindergarten: A year with an outstanding teacher. Landham, MD: Scarecrow.

Turbill, J. (2003) Exploring the potential of the digital language experience approach in Australian classrooms. Reading Online. http://www.readingonline.org/international/turbill7/  Retrieved August 12, 2007.

U. S. Congress (2001) No child left behind act of 2001. Public Law 107-110. 107 Congress. Washington, D. C: Government Printing Office.

Xu, S. & Rudledge, A. (2003) Chicken starts with ch! Kindergarteners learn through environmental print. Young Children, 58, 44-51.

Teacher Education University reserves the right to adjust and adapt this syllabus as necessary.