Syllabus

Master of Science in Education

EDU 742: Study Skills & Content Area Literacy Instruction for All – Spring A 2016

Credits - 3

Description

This course will provide teachers with the foundational knowledge of how to meaningfully integrate content area literacy into their classrooms. Teachers will be immersed in the most current research surrounding teaching our students to be active consumers of a variety of texts in the content area classroom. Each learning module will be devoted to answering an inquiry question that is based in research and best practice. Teachers will be expected to engage with this material as well as be active learners themselves by demonstrating how this would look in their practice as they deliver effective literacy instruction.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Department of Education Mission Statement

To develop-through research, service, and innovative teaching-reflective teachers and school leaders who are competent and caring lifelong learners.

Guiding Principles of the Conceptual Framework of the Department of Education

• Rigorous mind (RM)
• Compassionate heart (CH)
• Competent demonstration (CD)
• Reflective stance (RS)

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. This chart will detail the following:

• Course Objectives:    These are what we hope you will learn through this course.
• Student Learning Outcomes: this is what you will do to demonstrate that you have met this course objective.
• Program Objectives: These are some overarching take-aways that we hope you will gain through participation in this program. These are found in each course and can be found on the Literacy Concentration Website.
• INTASC Standards: The state of Maine has adopted these standards for all practicing teachers. These standards have been developed through a consortium of states and specify what all teachers should be able to do. There is an extra standard for Technology as well (National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) that also is required in Maine.
• IRA Standards for Reading Professionals 2010: These standards sets forth the criteria for developing and evaluating preparation programs for reading professionals.

Course Objectives	Student Learning Outcome	Key Assignments	IRA Standards for Reading Professionals	Connection to INTASC	Connection to Department Mission
Students will demonstrate that they can take content concepts and present effective instructional strategies that engage students in active learning using tools of the discipline and relevant technology.	Students will create a literacy lesson that reflects their understanding of effective content area literacy through strategy demonstration. Students will explore a collaborative technology tool and create a lesson to help students practice this skill in a Collaborative Technology Tool Walk Through.	Strategy Demonstration	Standard 2	Standard 4 & 5	Competent Demonstration
Students will evaluate learning materials to create effective content area learning experiences for diverse learners.	Students will create materials to aid in literacy instruction through the Informational Text Set and Live Binder.	Informational Text Set Live Binder	Standard 2 Standard 6	Standard 4 & 7	Competent Demonstration
Students will evaluate learning materials to create effective content area learning experiences for diverse learners.	Students will be able to analyze texts in order to plan effective literacy instruction.	Text Complexity Project	Standard 1 Standard 6	Standard 9 & 10	Competent Demonstration   Rigorous Mind
Students will be an active and contributing member of a learning community to learn new content and further understanding about how to teach content area literacy.	Students will demonstrate their ability to summarize, synthesize, and apply information from a variety of sources to engage in discussions with group members.	Discussion Board Participation	Standard 1 Standard 6	Standard 9 & 10	Rigorous Mind   Reflective Practitioner
Students will be an active and contributing member of a learning community to learn new content and further understanding about how to teach content area literacy.	Students will analyze a scenario and make recommendations about best practice through the Text Analysis Project.	Text Analysis Project	Standard 1 Standard 6	Standard 9 & 10	Competent Demonstration   Rigorous Mind

Assignments

Course Quiz

To familiarize you with the course, during Week 1, you will be asked to take a quick 2-point quiz on the syllabus. You may retake the quiz if you aren’t happy with your score.

Threaded Discussions

Through threaded discussions, instructors can monitor student engagement with course information. In this course, you will participate in several grade level group discussions according to the text that you have chosen.

Strategy Demonstration    

For this assignment you will begin to think about how these strategies could look in your classroom. Over the course of our time together, you will select one strategy that you have tried, would like to try, or are just interested in, and you will present it to the class through a strategy demonstration. 

Collaborative Technology Tool Walk Through

Collaboration using technology is an important part of 21st century learning, as it opens up possibilities for global sharing and provides an opportunity to experience a wide range of perspectives. For this assignment, you will learn more about a collaboration tool and determine how it could be used in your classroom.

Informational Text Set Project

The Common Core State Standards are very clear that there should be more emphasis on informational texts, and the standards also strongly encourage teachers to use multiple texts on the same topic to encourage comparative and evaluative reading and writing by students. This assignment asks you to select a topic that is relevant to your subject area and to generate a list of resources that can be used to teach this topic. You will share your list with others in your grade level group through file share so that others can use your resources as well.

Text Complexity Project

Text complexity is important that we know how to determine a text’s complexity, so we know how to match our texts to our readers and can increase the rigor of the texts that we use in the classroom. In this assignment, you will identify the complexity of a piece of text.

Text Analysis Assignment

For this assignment, you will apply what you have learned in order to analyze a non-fiction text selection. You will determine what students would need to know to be successful in reading this text and make suggestions for teaching with the text. You will also share your ideas with your grade level groups.

Live Binder Assignment

For this assignment, you will use LiveBinder to organize and share online resources that you find about information literacy.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Points Value (total 100 points)
Introductory Quiz	2
Threaded Discussions	4 @ 3 Points = 12
Collaborative Technology Tool Walk Through	15
Text Complexity Project	18
Informational Text Set Project	18
Text Analysis Project	10
Strategy Demonstration	15
LiveBinder Creation	10

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