EASTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY

Spring 2003

Department: Education Course Number: ECE 355 Title: Reading and Writing in the Primary Years

Instructor: Dr. Theresa Picard

Phone: 465-0069

Office Hours: Eastern Hall # 5 Email: Picardt@easternct.edu

Tuesday 12-2

Wednesday 10-12

Friday 12-1

Other times by appointment only.

Catalog Description: An examination of reading, writing, and oral language development from ages 5 to 8, including ways that teachers can support this growth through shared reading, language intervention, the environment, and a planned, balanced reading and writing curriculum. Promotes the integration of reading, writing, and verbal and nonverbal communication in all areas of the classroom and across the curriculum.

Course Purpose: Prepares students to facilitate reading, writing, and oral language development in children from kindergarten through third grade. This includes opportunities to develop strategies for integrating reading, writing, and communicating within all areas of a literature-based curriculum. Constructivist methods for development of a print-rich environment, book sharing, and teacher-child discourse are examined. Issues in bilingual/multicultural education and special education are presented. Microcomputer applications and the role of software programs in language and literacy development are addressed. Issues and strategies for a providing a balanced reading and writing curriculum within a constructivist framework, are addressed.

Student Outcomes: By the end of the course the students will be able to:

1. Understand and explain theoretical models of how children acquire reading, writing, and communicative competence.

2. Practice traditional and constructivist approaches to promoting reading, writing, and language, based on these models.

3. Describe classroom scheduling and environments which are supportive of literacy growth focusing on physical setting, routines, and transitions.

4. Use knowledge of how children develop and provide literacy experiences that support the physical, social, emotional, language, cognitive, and aesthetic needs of children.

5. Understand national standards in reading, writing and language arts, including those of IRA and NCTE, the Connecticut Common Core of Teaching, Standards for Improving Reading Competency, and NAEYC Standards and Code of Ethics.

6. Discuss the components of a curriculum to support literacy growth, including the use of literature, environmental print, writing, and language experience.

7. Demonstrate the ability to develop and integrate meaningful literacy activities into other areas of the curriculum through the use of themes, learning centers, and the "project approach."

8. Use and explain the rationale for developmentally appropriate methods in engaging children in reading and writing activities through play, small group projects, cooperative learning, open-ended questioning, and problem-solving experiences.

9. Describe ways to support literacy growth among children of diverse cultures, supporting home language preservation, and creation of an anti-bias, multicultural environment for literacy and language.

10. Describe ways to modify environments and literacy experiences to meet the needs of all children, including individuals with disabilities and developmental delays.

11. Understand, practice, critique, and adapt direct instructional strategies prevalent in public schools, including reading groups, guided reading activities, and published reading writing, and language arts series.

12. Observe, record and use authentic, performance-based assessment of children's reading and writing.

13. Understand traditional, formal methods of reading assessment and use data from these in conjunction with authentic observations to plan curriculum and adaptations.

14. Describe methods and strategies for involving parents and families in assessing and planning for individual children and developing a collaborative relationship between home and school.

15. Discuss appropriate uses of technology and software in supporting reading and writing , including assistive technology for children with disabilities.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Clay, Marie. (2000). Running Records for Classroom Teachers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Graves, Donald. (1994). A Fresh Look at Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Strickland, Dorothy. (1998). Teaching Phonics Today: A Primer For Educators. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Taberski, Sharon. (2000). On Solid Ground: Strategies for Teaching Reading K-3. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

OPTIONAL TEXTS:

Au, K.H., Mason, J.M. & Scheu, J.A. (1995). Literacy Instruction for Today. NY: Harper Collins.

Au, K.H. (1993). Literacy Instruction in Multicultural Settings. TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1) Attendance

Attendance is essential. Any more than one absence will affect your grade by one whole grade level. For example, if you have two absences and a grade of 90, than your final grade may be 80. If you must miss any session, please notify me in advance if possible. Please refer to the Education Department Attendance Policy (attached).

2) Class Participation

We will come to class session prepared to participate actively and in an informed manner through discussion and response. A professionalism rubric will be given to you (attached) at the beginning of the semester and will be used to evaluate your class professionalism including participation, attendance, and dispositions. At the end of the semester you will use this rubric to self-evaluate your classroom behavior and I will be completing the rubric for each of you as well. Although for core II the rubric is completed in this course, your behavior in all core II classes will be considered. Students who receive more than one score of 2 or 1 may be asked to discuss their class behavior with all early childhood faculty before continuing on to core III.

3) Readings

We will read all assigned readings as well as reading material of your own choice, according to the time frame on the syllabus. Due to the amount of content in this course it is critical that you keep up with the assigned readings. If it appears that students are falling behind in the readings, an exam may be administered.

4) One-pagers and One-pager Responses. You will write weekly papers on topics of your own choosing although they must be based on your readings. You may also include responses referring to classroom work, practicum experiences, research, questions, concerns, triumphs, failures, or anything else you deem fit. These will be no more than one page, single-spaced. These will not be polished pieces, but writings that allow you to reflect, respond and create consistently. They will not be graded except in that you did them. One-pagers can serve as excellent organizing and rough draft material for your larger writing projects. Each week you will make five or six copies: one for yourself, one for me, and one for three or four of your colleagues. Your colleague’s writing may be the most important material you read.

Each week you will also respond to one other person’s one-pager, in the form of a paragraph. You will have two copies per week: one for the writer, and one for me.

5) Four Field Experience Assignments

You will participate in four teaching/learning experiences with students. Be sure to discuss these assignments and their due dates with a teacher immediately so that you both allocate time to work with the students. A letter to the teacher will be provided the first class and you must go over it with your teacher and return it signed by the teacher no later than 2 weeks into the semester. Once you have finished each experience, you create a report describing what you did and evaluating your experience. Each paper will be approximately three typed, double-spaced pages (you will not have one-pagers due on these dates). Your papers must demonstrate your knowledge of the assessment tool, the skill being assessed, and your understanding of the readings/research. You will also include any materials you and/or the student used during the experience. If possible, include samples or copies of students' responses. (You will find a description of each field experience assignment below.) A rubric for each assignment will also be provided.

6) Annotated Bibliographic Entries

You will annotate 25 books. These books must represent all types of diversity: cultural, ethnic, SES, gender, family, and sexual orientation.

Description of Four Field Experience Assignments:

1. READING AND WRITING INTERVIEWS

Using the sample reading and writing interviews distributed in class, administer each one to 2 students in the class. Transcribe all answers to all questions. Your transcriptions should be attached to your written report. Compare and contrast each student's answers. How are the answers alike and different? What do the answers tell you about each student as a writer and as a reader? See attached handout. DUE ON Feb. 20

2. ADMINISTRATION OF A RUNNING RECORD

You will conduct two Running Records with one student according to the guidelines demonstrated in class. Your student should be a first or second grader, or an older student who is reading at a first or second grade level. One Running Record should be on a familiar text and the other on a text the student has not seen. Your report will discuss what you have learned about the student as a reader. You must attach the text and scoring sheet that you used. See attached handout. DUE ON March 20

3. SHARED READING SESSION

This is a collaborative assignment and involves your other core II courses. It will be covered in great detail in class. Basically for this course, it will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of a shared reading experience, evaluate and then re-teach. We will discuss more as we go. DUE the last class

4. INDIVIDUAL WRITING CONFERENCE

You must conduct an individual Writing Conference with a student, or a small group of students using the guidelines and suggestions outlined in the Graves book and discussed in class. It does not matter at what stage in the writing process you conduct the conference. Your report will include a transcription of what was said during the conference and an analysis of what learning you think took place. You will want to discuss what was good about the conference and any changes you might make if you were to do the conference again. In your paper be sure to demonstrate your understanding of the Graves text including process writing, writing workshop, and writing conferences. Include copies of any student writing upon which the conference was based. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE ON April 17

COURSE EVALUATION:

Evaluation is the cornerstone of the whole class. Teaching and learning are processes of continual self-reflection, self-evaluation, and personal goal setting: we document our progress weekly through our portfolios and other venues, and use what we learn to guide our subsequent action. You will be given time in class on days when assignments are returned to you to write a reflection on what value you place on the assignment, what learning took place, and what you might do differently next time. The evaluation breakdown is as follows:

Professionalism: Attendance/participation 10 POINTS

FIELD EXPERIENCE PROJECTS 20 POINTS EACH

Shared Reading Session (Including m/c bibliography)

Reading & Writing Interviews

Running Records

Individual Writing Conference

ASSIGNED READINGS 10 POINTS

Reading the assigned readings is crucial to understanding the content of this course. Understanding the reading/writing process and being able to use research-based methodology is so important in early childhood teaching. When a student falls behind in the readings it becomes evident in the one-pagers, class discussions, and assignments.

I am reserving 10 points of your overall grade for readings. Since doing the reading is an expectation of any course this is really a gift. If, however, it is evident that one person is falling behind he/she may lose these points. If many are falling behind I may consider administering a final exam.

COURSE SCHEDULE

DATE	TOPIC	ASSIGNMENT
1/23	Introduction. What Do We Know about Literacy?
1/30	Defining Reading: Theory for Practice	Read: Taberski, Chapters 1 & 2 Anderson, “What in the World is Constructivism?” Hand In: One-pager
2/6*	Running Record Demonstration	Read: Taberski, Chapters 5 & 6 Clay, entire text Hand In: One-pager One-pager response *Hand in assignment form with teacher signature
2/13	Literacy Learning in Early Childhood Politics: The Push Down Effect	Re-read: “Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children” (IRA Position Statement). “Literacy Development and Pre-First Grade” (Childhood Education) To be announced Hand In: One-pager & response Have reading and writing interview completed
2/20**	Organizing for Literacy Instruction Reading Methodology	Read: Taberski, Chapter 3 TBA Hand In: one pager & response **Due: Reading & Writing Interviews
2/27	Reading methodology continued	Read: Taberski, Chapters 11 & 12 2002 IRA Position Statement Hand In: One pager & response
3/6	Word Identification: Phonics and Beyond	Read: Strickland, entire text Taberski, Chapter 9 Routman and Butler, “Why Talk About Phonics?” Hand In: One pager & response Have Completed: First teaching of Cooperative Project
3/13	Helping Students Make Meaning from Texts (Comprehension and Other Strategies) Discussion about Running Records	Read: Taberski, Chapters 7, 8, &13 [Vacca, Vacca, & Gove: “Reading Comprehension”] Have Completed: Running Record sessions with students and analysis
3/20**	Progressive Writing Instruction, Part 1	Read: Graves, Preface and Part I-Chapters 1-6 Hand In: One pager & response **Due: Running Records Cont. to work on Cooperative Project
3/27	No Class- Spring Break
4/3	Progressive Writing Instruction Part 2	Read: Graves, Part II & III-Chapters 7-17
4/10	Progressive Writing Instruction Part 3	Read: Graves, Part IV-Chapters 18-22 Routman and Maxim, “Invented Spelling: What It Is and What It Isn’t” Hand In: One-pager & response
4/17**	Literacy to Literacy Instruction Across the Curriculum A Multicultural Perspective	Reading to be announced Hand In: One-pager & response **Due: Writing Conference Assignment
4/24	Basal Approaches and Materials	Read: Shannon, Broken Promises: Reading Instruction in Twentieth Century America: “The Deskilling and Reskilling of Teachers of Reading” Henke, “Beyond Basal Reading: A District’s Commitment to Change” To be announced Hand In: One-pager & response
5/1**	Evaluation Means Finding Value Summary Presentations Book Share	Read: “High Stakes Assessment in Reading” (IRA Position Statement) Rief, “Finding the Value in Evaluation: Portfolios” To be announced **Due: Cooperative Project Presentation **Annotated Bibliography