ROB 201B  Wednesday 4:30-7:00  Spring 2001
Instructor: Stacey Leftwich
Telephone: Ext. 3821
Office Hours: T 12:30-1:30  W 2:30-3:30  TH 12:30-1:30
Webpage: http://usersrowan.edu/~leftwich
E-mail: leftwich@rowan.edu

Required Text:
Au, K. H., Mason, J. M., & Scheu, J. A. (1995). Literacy instruction for today. New York: Harper Collins.

Required Materials:
A spiral notebook which will be used as a response journal. After each reading, you are to write about an activity or idea you would use in your classroom. Time will be given during class for your peers to respond to your journal entry.
 

Focus of Course:
The focus of this course is to acquire a background in current theory and instructional practices related to emerging literacy, word identification, comprehension, study skills, and recreational reading. The relationship between reading and the other language arts is stressed. Additionally, students become familiar with methods, materials and technology for teaching reading, measuring reading achievement, and managing a reading program in the elementary classroom.

Tentative Course Schedule:
1/17 Course Overview

1/24 Chapter 1
Class Focus-Literacy Instruction: A Historical Overview

1/31 Chapter 2
Class Focus-Instruction for Beginning Readers

2/7 Chapter 3
Class Focus-Responding to Literature

Due: Literacy Autobiography

2/14 Chapter 4
Class Focus-Reading Comprehension

2/21 Midterm

2/28 Library Seminar

3/7 Chapter 5
Class Focus-Vocabulary Development and Spelling Instruction

3/14 Chapter 7
Class Focus-Formal and Informal Assessment

3/21 Spring Recess

3/28 Chapter 9
Class Focus-Teaching Students with Special Needs

4/4 Group Project Presentation

4/11 Group Project Presentation

4/18 Group Project Presentation

4/25 Group Project Presentation

5/2 Final Exam (5:00-7:00)
 

Literacy Autobiography (10 points)

You will be required to write a 5 page autobiography of yourself as a reader and writer. It can be with or without artifacts (e.g., photos, drawings, illustrations, tapes, earlier writings, report cards, letters) that represent important events or insights. If you choose to use artifacts, be sure that they have a purpose. In other words, be sure that they are discussed in your paper. Also, if using artifacts, be sure to attach or store them conveniently for me to carry. You must answer the following questions, although you need not limit your autobiography to only these ideas:

1. What do you remember about your early literacy experiences?
2. What do you remember about your literacy experiences in school?
3. What influence, if any did these experiences have on your current reading and writing?
4. What do you think about your own or potential teaching philosophy and practice in light of these experiences
5. What relationships do you see between your literacy experiences and your decision to become a teacher?

Read Aloud and Summary (5 points)
At least once during the session, you will be required to read a children’s book aloud to the class. The read aloud should take no more 10 minutes. A two-page summary should accompany the read aloud. The summary should be written in paragraph form and should contain the following information:

1. Title and author of the book.
2. Approximate grade level of the book
3. Brief synopsis of the book.
4. How do you think you would use this book in a classroom?
5. What about this book appealed to you as a reader?

Due: The summary is due on the day of the selected read aloud. Read aloud TBA

Group Project-Critique of Professional Articles (20 points)

You will participate in a "Collaboration Group." Groups should consist of four to five members. Because many of you are from various backgrounds, I would hope that your group membership would reflect diversity (e.g., teacher, business professional, caretaker).

Together you and your group members will choose a literacy topic. The topic can

be an extension of a literacy area discussed in class or a literacy area of the group’s interest. Think of a question (e.g., How can technology be incorporated into reading and writing?, What strategies can be used to teach comprehension?, How is phonics taught in a whole language classroom?). Using at least six sources, write a 10-15 page paper that will help you answer your question. Two sources must come from two different literacy/educational professional journals. Two sources must come from two different literacy/educational research journals and two sources must come from the Internet. The Internet source should be information other than an article found in a periodical.

First you must identify your literacy topic, question and readings (in an introduction). Then you must summarize and discuss how the information from these readings addressed the answer to your question as well as how the information learned would be useful in your literacy teaching. It is not enough for you to say that you liked or disliked an article. You must say why and think deeper. If something makes sense in light of your experiences then it is your responsibility to expand upon those reasons. There is no "right" answer or no right way to understand the ideas or the readings. The critique is a medium for you to think seriously and communicate your thinking. A reference page must accompany the paper. The reference page should be written in APA style (See handout).

                    PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS

The last few weeks of class you and your group members will conduct a presentation of your learning and share how this learning can be used to teach reading in the elementary schools. The presentation should be used to inform your classmates of your topic and to stimulate a professional dialogue. It may be helpful to prepare open-ended questions so that a discussion will occur. However, use your creativity.

You should work collaboratively on this project in all aspects. I suggest you gather, discuss, and write the critique as a group. Each group member is expected to be knowledgeable of the six sources.

Everyone must be present for all presentation sessions! Planned vacations will not excuse you. Points will be deducted from your final grade if you do not attend class for the presentations. Some journals to consider for this project can be found on my website.

Expectations of Papers
Papers should be grammatically correct and typed (double space with a type size no larger than 12) or points will be deducted.

Papers are due on the due dates (this means in my hand, not under my door or in my mailbox). If you do not hand a paper in ON or BEFORE the due date you will receive a full point deduction for each day late (this includes the weekend). Papers are not accepted after the third day and this will result in receiving a 0 for the assignment.

Grading
Grading is done on a points system. The following is the breakdown for points and letter grade equivalent. NOTE: All grades are rounded at .5 and above tenths decimal place.

A= 94-100 A-= 93-90

B+= 87-89 B= 84-86 B-= 80-83

C+= 77-79 C= 74-76 C-= 70-73

D+= 67-69 D= 64-66 D-= 60-63

F=59 and below