Syllabus
Master of Science in Education
EDU 740: Supporting Literacy Development for All Learners – Fall A 2015
Credits - 3
Description
This course will address the foundational knowledge that teachers of literacy need in order to understand the reading and writing process for students. In this course, teachers will be exposed to major theories, research, and best practices in the literacy field. Teachers will be asked to draw upon this theoretical and practical knowledge to think about issues of instructional practice. Through engaging inquiry experiences, teachers will become active participants in developing a strong foundational base for literacy instruction for all learners in their classrooms.
A required course in the MSEd with a concentration in Literacy program or Reading Specialist program or may be taken as a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies
Will be delivered asynchronously on-line
Materials
Learning Objectives and Outcomes
Overall Course Objectives
(module specific objectives will be specified throughout the course)
Course Objectives
For each course in this program there are overall program goals. Below is a chart of how the overall program goals match the key assessments for this course. In addition, in each module there are smaller learning objectives. These will be specified at the beginning of each week’s introduction along with how these match the broader program goals.
| Course Objectives | Student Learning Outcome | Key Assignments | IRA Standards for Reading Professionals | Connection to INTASC |
| Students will articulate foundational knowledge about literacy instruction as it relates to reading development, differentiation, and motivation. | Students will demonstrate their understanding of the foundation of reading by completing a quiz. Students will read research articles and summarize main points for others in their group. | Quiz 1, 2, & 3Research Jig Saw | Standard One: Foundational Knowledge | Standard 4 (j,k,l,m,n) |
| Students will select and implement instructional approaches based on evidence-based rationale, student needs, and purposes for instruction. | Students will demonstrate that they can create instruction based on the principles of learning to read by creating an Instructional Connection Showcase. | Instructional Connection | Standard Two: Curriculum and Instruction | Standard 10(f,g,h)NETS-T Standard 5Standard 3 |
| Students will explore the role of creating a literate environment supports literacy development for all students. | Students will synthesize material from various sources to make recommendations and engage in discussion based on a case study. | Case Study | Standard Three: Literate Environment | Standard 5(a, c, f I, k, n,o)Standard 8(a,e,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,o) |
| Students will be an active and contributing member of a learning community to learn new content and further understanding about the foundation of literacy for all students. | Students will create a timeline marking moments of their own learning development as a foundation for learning. Students will engage in a discussion where they synthesize their learning from the chapter. | DiscussionPersonal Timeline | Standard 10(a,b,d,e,f,g I, ) |
Assignments
Timeline of Your own Literacy Development (10 Points)
In this class we will be covering the foundation of literacy development. For this first assignment you will be asked to create a timeline documenting some significant moments in your own personal literacy development. You will be sharing this with others in order to establish a learning community. You will also be drawing upon this reflection as you learn about how children learn to read and write.
Quizzes 3 quizzes each at 5 points (15 Points)
There will be three quizzes during this course. The first two quizzes will cover foundational knowledge and terms that you need to know when discussing early reading and language development. The third quiz will be more practical based. These quizzes are meant to mirror the types of questions that you would see on PRAXIS or licensing exams to test your knowledge. They are a good opportunity for you to demonstrate what you have learned in a more objective fashion (and mirror the types of assessment that we often require of our students).
Discussions 2 each at 4 Points (8 Points)
You will work in grade level groups to discuss the text and class material. An expectation guide will be provided. This is an opportunity to share what you have read and your own experiences and simultaneously hear other’s thoughts and points of view. These class discussions are a wonderful way to process information and deepen our learning.
Case Study 2 each at 10 points (20 Points)
The case studies are designed to help you think more deeply about a literacy concept. Each case study has multiple parts that will engage you in working through a literacy issue. You will be working in your group to complete the case study. Each case study will last one week. A specific case study description will be found in the Learning Activities folder of the module where you will be engaging in this case study.
Instructional Connections (22 Points)
While it is imperative that we understand the foundation of literacy development, our jobs as teachers is to take this knowledge and then create meaningful learning experiences for our students. In this assignment you will be asked to take what you are learning and share how you would use this knowledge to plan instruction. You will be given an assignment description and will share this with the whole class.
Research Jig-Saw (25 Points)
This assignment is based on a jig-saw technique where learning is distributed amongst group members and then shared in different groups. You will be members of two groups—an Expert Group- where you will share similar content, and Your Grade Level group where you will share what you have learned with others who have taken on different articles.
Grading Policy
Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:
Grade Breakdown
| Assignment | Point Value (total 100 points) |
|---|---|
| Timeline | 10 |
| Quizzes | 15 |
| Discussions | 8 |
| Case Study | 20 |
| Instructional Connection | 22 |
| Research Jig-Saw | 25 |
Grade Scale
| Grade | Points Grade | Point Average (GPA) |
| A | 94 – 100% | 4.00 |
| A- | 90 – 93% | 3.75 |
| B+ | 87 – 89% | 3.50 |
| B | 84 – 86% | 3.00 |
| B- | 80 – 83% | 2.75 |
| C+ | 77 – 79% | 2.50 |
| C | 74 – 76% | 2.00 |
| C- | 70 – 73% | 1.75 |
| D | 64 – 69% | 1.00 |
| F | 00 – 63% | 0.00 |
Schedule
Use this template for planning purposes- it will help you see when things are due and what topics will be covered. Actual dates will be posted in the Course Calendar. More detailed description of each module will be found in the course.
| Module | Topic | Learning Objectives | Learning Activities | Assessment Due Dates |
| 1 | Establishing a learning community
Reflecting on our own reading and writing development |
Students will create a timeline marking moments of their own learning development as a foundation for learning. |
|
Personal Literacy Timeline (10 Points) Sunday, September 6 |
| 2 | How do we learn spoken language? | Students will engage in a discussion where they synthesize their learning from the chapter. |
|
Discussion (4 Points) Sunday, September 13 |
| 3 | How do we learn to read? | Students will demonstrate their understanding of the foundation of reading by completing a quiz. |
|
Quiz #1- the basics (5 Points) Sunday, September 20 |
| 4 | How do we teach reading? | Students will engage in a discussion where they synthesize their learning from the chapter. |
|
Discussion (4 Points) Sunday, September 27 |
| 5 | How do we teach reading? | Students will demonstrate that they can create instruction based on the principles of learning to read by creating an Instructional Connection Showcase. |
|
Instructional Connection (22 Points) Quiz #2- Phonics (5 Points) Sunday, October |
| 6 | How do we recognize reading problems? | Students will synthesize material from various sources to make recommendations and engage in discussion based on a case study. | Read Sousa Chapter Five (5) |
Case Study #1 (10 Points) Sunday, October 11 |
| 7 | What does the research say about the foundations of literacy? | Students will read research articles and summarize main points for others in their group. | Read selected articles (provided in Blackboard) |
Research Jig Saw (25 Points) Sunday, October 18 |
| 8 | How do we put it all together to support all students? | Students will synthesize material from various sources to make recommendations and engage in discussion based on a case study. | Read Sousa Chapter Six (6) |
Case Study #2 (10 Points) Quiz #3 (5 Points) Friday, October 23 |
Student Resources
Accommodations
Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.
Policies
Assignments/Evaluation
The assessments in this course were designed to meet a number of objectives. First, some of the assignments are created to gauge your active participation in the course. Unlike face-to-face courses where we can visibly monitor your engagement- in this course we need to use things like discussion boards points to make sure that you are an active participant with this material. There are also some assignments that are created to give you an opportunity to synthesize what you are learning and create a new product to demonstrate this learning. The assignments in the class have been carefully constructed to match the content in the course and to grow your learning as a literacy professional.
Late Assignments and Re-submitting assignments
For each day an assignment is late, five points (5) will be deducted from the final score. There are times, however, when a late assignment may be accepted by a professor without a deduction but only if this has been cleared with the instructor before the assignment is due. Also, instructors reserve the authority to make this decision about accepting late assignments on a case by case basis. In addition, every assignment must be completed. If an assignment is not turned in it will lose points until it is submitted.
Also under some circumstances a student may be able to redo an assignment given the instructor’s discretion. However, when an assignment is redone it cannot receive full points and must be completed within one week of receipt of initial grade.
Grading Expectations A= Exemplary Work!
Maintaining a high quality graduate program is a commitment of UNE. In doing so the university believes that the grade of an A should be reserved for exceptionally strong academic performance. Students who provide exactly what a rubric requires are different from those who do the same but go beyond the basic requirements in writing, expression of ideas, and integrated information; the exemplary students. In this course an A will be only given to students who exhibit exemplary work. Each assignment will have a rubric that establishes what an exemplary performance would look like for each task. Instructors will be looking for this exemplary work and will not be handing out A’s for those who just merely meet the expectation.
Teaching Methodology to Be Used
This is an online course and therefore will be using technology to deliver instruction. Each week there will be a guiding question that will drive the readings, the response, and the activities. There will be a number of ways that you will participate through this course as well as a number of ways that you will be assessed. When new technology is introduced there will be a tutorial provided to help you understand how to access this tool. We do have the expectation that you will have access to high speed internet that will allow you to download and view audios, videos, and web tools.
Instructors’ Responsibilities
There is a team of fantastic professional educators who are teaching this course. Each course has a lead instructor and a concentration leader. This literacy concentration’s leader is Dr. Lane W. Clarke a faculty member at the University of New England. As a team we are committed to your learning and providing quick and thoughtful feedback. While we are all committed to returning emails within a twenty four hour time frame and also providing speedy feedback and grading of assignments we each have different styles of communication and availability. We will establish this in our introductions specific to each class.
Also to learn more about our team visit our Literacy Concentration Website- there you will find more information and welcome videos from regular members of our teaching team. https://sites.google.com/a/une.edu/mseliteracy/
What students can expect of me:
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Students’ Responsibilities
Learning is a two way street and while the instructors have responsibilities in this class to deliver quality instruction, grade your assignments in a timely fashion, answer questions and support when needed; you as a student also has responsibilities. First, this is your learning experience and you need to be a proactive learner, however, there will be times when you have questions.
There are a few ways for you to receive assistance when you need help.
- First, you can use the Course Mail function to email the instructor. This is an email between you and the instructor.
- Each instructor also has used the discussion board as a virtual office if there is a question that you think others might find useful.
- And finally, there is a Help menu for questions of a technical nature that will inevitably come up in the course.
What I expect of you:
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Attendance Policy
Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.
Late Policy
Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.
Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.
Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.
Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures
The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.
UNE Course Withdrawal
Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.
Academic Integrity
The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
- Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
- Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
- Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
- Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.
Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.