W, 5:30 - 8:20 p.m.
Understand the components of literacy, including reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing, and how they are related.
Understand children’s language and literacy development and how to identify and accommodate for factors that impact student language and literacy learning.
Understand aural/oral/visual literacy processes and skills (i.e. types of and purposes of listening, speaking, and viewing; phonological awareness processes and concepts of print awareness; types of and purposes for oral expression activities.)
Know the developmental reading processes from birth to age eight and how to best foster literacy at each stage of development.
Know and understand the writing process, as well as developmental early writing and the stages of writing development.
Know about and use children’s literature to foster reading, language, and vocabulary development for each stage of reading from birth to age eight.
Know how to encourage parents to use and apply family literacy skills.
Understand how to assess student strengths and needs in order to document student progress in language and literacy development.
Class Participation and Professional Conduct, 10% of grade: Merely attending class is not sufficient to earn the class participation credit, but you must be present in order to participate. Unexcused absences will affect your participation grade. Come to class prepared and ready to actively participate in each class session: ask questions, answer questions, share your knowledge and experiences, and actively participate in whole class and small group discussions and activities. Read any assigned course materials, bring the appropriate texts and course materials to every class session, and take responsibility for your share of discussion. One of the privileges of a community of learners is gaining feedback from others as you learn. Take advantage of this privilege—ask others to proofread your assignments, study with members of the class, and discuss ideas with group members. Evaluation criteria: a) actively engage others in constructive discussion, questioning, and querying during class sessions to assist in the development of self-reflective practice, 50 points, and b) group evaluations of participation based on discussion rubrics, 50 points. If there is no group discussion evaluation required for a specific date, participation grades for that date will be based 100% on the student’s class discussion participation as described in (a), or, if noted by the professor, on participation in another type of activity.
Children’s Literature Sample for Phonological Awareness, 15% of grade: Locate and bring to class a children’s literature sample of two children’s picture books that you can use to help children develop phonological awareness. Your sample should not include books discussed by the professor or your classmates. Include books and activities that focus on any two different aspects of phonological awareness (see the Opitz book, pp. 6-7 and the handout in Blackboard, formerly WebCT). Phonological awareness includes word awareness, syllable recognition, or phonemic awareness (rhyme recognition, phoneme matching, and phoneme manipulation, etc.). One book and paper should focus on the aspect of phonemic awareness; the other book and paper should focus on either word awareness or syllable awareness. The Opitz book is a resource that will help you locate books which focus on specific phonological aspects. You may use books listed by Opitz, but you may not use the same activities for the book that Opitz uses. Do not use any Dr. Seuss books for this assignment. Instead, look for recent picture books, such as Caldecott winners or honor books, that have been published within the last 20 years.
You will prepare a paper, one and one half to two pages, one-inch margins, double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman font (like this syllabus) for each book you choose. The paper includes four parts:
A rubric is provided to assist you with the written paper. Each written paper will be evaluated according to the rubric requirements and the assignment information in the syllabus.
Group Discussion of Children’s Literature Sample for Phonological Awareness Written Paper and Children’s Book, 5% of grade: You will discuss the books from your literature sample in groups according to the course schedule in the syllabus. To earn the discussion points, you must be present in class for the scheduled discussion and you must bring the children’s book to class. No points for discussion will be awarded if you are not in class OR if the children’s book is not brought to the scheduled discussion and shared during the discussion. You must include the book and the written paper in the discussion. Evaluation criteria: 2.5% per book.
Chapter Assignments and Activities, 20% of grade: Researchers indicate that reading and writing are interconnected and that writing about reading helps improve comprehension. There will be two written chapter assignments. The purpose of each written chapter assignment is to assist you in learning information from specific chapters. Each chapter assignment will be worth ten percent. More information on these assignments will be given at a later date.
Midterm and Final Exams, each 25% of grade: The midterm exam addresses the first half of the course material. The final exam is over the remainder of the course. Both exams are multiple choice, and you will need a scantron form for each exam. Prepare for and complete the mid-term exam and the final exam. You will be successful with these exams if you keep up with the required readings, actively participate in class sessions, review and study course materials, and apply critical thinking skills at all times.
GRADES: Grades are determined by weighing the course requirements in the following manner:
Participation in a variety of class and group activities 10%
Phonological awareness literature sample written papers 15%
Discussion of phonological awareness literature sample 5%
books and papers with group
Written chapter class assignments 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 25%
Grading Scale:
90 - 100 = A
80 - 89 = B
70 - 79 = C
60 - 69 =D
All assignments are due according to the syllabus.
Assignments are due as assigned.
Attendance: Attendance for this class is required. Professional teachers are dependable, reliable, and responsible; therefore, students enrolled in an education course are expected to be in attendance, on time for class, and to stay for the entire class. Absence, tardiness, and leaving early are considered evidence of lack of dependability and will be noted for each class session. Students who are more than 10 minutes late to class or who leave class early will be counted absent for the class session. Students who are less than 10 minutes late to class, but who are chronically tardy, will lose 10 percentage points (equivalent of one letter grade) from their final course grade. Students may be dropped from the course by the professor if a student misses more than three classes.
The content of this course is presented via lectures, readings, class discussions, modeling and demonstrations, case study scenarios, and small group activities. Your attendance and participation are required to obtain a complete understanding of course material. It is your responsibility to make up any missed work. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to obtain notes, class announcements, assignments, and handouts from another student prior to the next scheduled class time. Pair up with someone in class to collect handouts and take notes if necessary. Excused absences will be approved on a case by case basis only.
Cell Phones: Please turn off all communication devices (cell phones) during class. Please use your cell phones on break and not during class.
Syllabus Changes: This syllabus is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class or via e-mail.
Disability Access: Students with disabilities who believe they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to notify the professor and to contact the MSU Counseling and Disability Office at 940 – 397 – 4618.
Plagiarism Statement: Plagiarism (submitting another person’s work as your own or using another person’s words without giving them proper credit) is academic dishonesty and will be considered grounds for failing this course (see Student Handbook). By enrolling in this course, the student expressly grants MSU a “limited right” in all intellectual property created by the student for the purpose of this course. The limited right shall include but shall not be limited to the right to reproduce the student’s work product in order to verify originality, authenticity, and for educational purposes.