Teaching Reading to Diverse Learners – EDUC 318

Course Description

This course provides pre-service teachers with a solid foundation in effective reading instruction in PreK-8 elementary and middle grade classrooms. The course addresses the five foundational components of reading, namely phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Students survey research based teaching strategies, literacy approaches, instructional materials, and reading assessments for the purpose of planning effective literacy instruction for all learners.

Rationale

The process of learning to read requires the application of knowledge and skills that promote early literacy development. Literacy instruction should focus on the simple view of reading with comprehension as the product of decoding and linguistic comprehension skills. Pre-service teachers for elementary and middle grade classrooms must be equipped to select evidenced-based and culturally relevant literacy materials, assess students’ literacy skills, and to provide Science of Reading literacy instruction for all students. Additionally, pre-service teachers must address the specific differentiated literacy needs of struggling readers, English language learners, and diverse language speakers.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. The candidate will formulate a thread in response to the following prompts: beliefs and approaches to literacy instruction including the science of teaching reading; diverse learner literacy needs; text selection and rationale for struggling readers; and demonstration of a comprehension strategy and reflection. Each thread must be 300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the candidate will reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 100 words. (CLO: A, B, C, E, F)

Context for Learning Assignment

In preparation for edTPA in student teaching, candidates will practice edTPA Task 1. The candidate will review and reflect on the classroom environment, literacy curriculum and assessments, and differing student literacy needs including struggling readers, English Language Learners, and students with other disabilities as part of the planning process for edTPA Task 1. (CLO: A, B, D, E)

edTPA Planning Assignment

In preparation for edTPA in student teaching, candidates will practice edTPA Task 1. The candidate will plan a learning segment of three scaffolded literacy lessons related to reading comprehension strategies and skills for a specific learning context. (CLO: A, B, D, E)

Literacy Assessment Project Assignment

The candidate will practice informal assessments to screen and monitor literacy development in phonemic awareness, letter recognition, decoding, fluency, comprehension, and spelling. The candidate will complete all assessment templates provided in the Literacy Assessment Packet. The candidate will score the assessments and reflect on the data results. The candidate will write a reflection of at least 300 words. (CLO: A, D, F)

edTPA Lesson Plan Assignments (2)

In preparation for edTPA in student teaching, candidates will practice edTPA Task 1. The candidate will write three scaffolded literacy lesson plans on reading comprehension strategies and related skills using a lesson plan template. Lesson plans are differentiated to meet the needs of struggling readers, English language learners, students with other disabilities, and diverse leaners. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E)

Fluency and Vocabulary Presentation Assignment

The candidate will select a short story, book chapter, poem, or play to read aloud. The selected passage must be appropriate for lower elementary, upper elementary, or middle grades students. The candidate will video-record his/her reading and submit. The candidate will watch the video and complete a reflection on their reading of the passage with prosody and provide rationale for fluency instruction. The candidate will select vocabulary from the reading to teach to a targeted group of students and then a vocabulary strategy for teaching the vocabulary words, write a rationale response to justify the selection, and create an anchor chart for teaching the words. (CLO: A, D, F)

Comprehension Strategy Demonstration Assignment

The candidate will select an evidence-based comprehension strategy and demonstrate how to differentiate research-based
comprehension strategies for use across K-8 classrooms. The candidate will include evidence-based research to write a 400-word description of the strategy. Candidates will identify print and digital texts for teaching the strategy as well as questions to use with the texts. Candidates will prepare a demonstration of how to use the strategy across grade levels. The presentation is video recorded and used for self-assessment and peer feedback in one of the Discussions. (CLO: A, B, D, E)

edTPA Planning Commentary Assignments (2)

In preparation for edTPA in student teaching, candidates will practice edTPA Task 1. The candidate will complete the literacy planning commentary for the selected comprehension strategy and related skills for the three scaffolded edTPA lesson plans. The commentary will be used to justify the planning process in relation to the diverse students’ needs in the Context for Learning, instructional resources, and assessments. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F)

Word Analysis Quizzes (3)

The candidate's knowledge and understanding of phonics, phonemic awareness, and word analysis skills are assessed through a series of three quizzes. Each quiz has 50 questions from the assigned chapters in Leu & Kinzer (2017). Each quiz will be open- book/open-notes. Candidates will have 1 hour and 50 minutes to complete the quiz. (CLO: A, B, C, D)

Literacy Quizzes (3)

The candidate's knowledge and understanding of the foundational components of reading (phonological awareness (including phonemic awareness), phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension),science-based literacy approaches and instruction, literacy assessments, diverse learners, and emergent literacy are assessed through three quizzes. Each quiz has 25 questions from the assigned chapters in Vacca, et al. (2018). Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes. Candidates have 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete the quiz. (CLO: A, B, C, D)