Education 304

I. Course Title: Methods for Teaching Elementary Language Arts

II. Course Number: EDUC 304

III. Credit Hours: 3 credits

IV. Prerequisites/Corequisites: EDRD 314; 2.5 GPA in previous course work.

V. Course Description: 

The language arts integrate a complex set of skills through which children learn how to study the world, pursue the topics and ideas that interest them, compose ideas and arguments, and express their ideas in creative ways.  This course focuses on principles and practices of comprehensive approaches to language arts instruction and the social and global contexts in which they are embedded and provided. Students will learn how children acquire and develop literacy skills, how to assess those skills, and how to plan effectively to ensure their growth and development.  Through best-practice strategies and high-quality children’s literature, students will study ways to effectively integrate oral language (speaking and listening), reading, writing, word study, and critical and visual literacy to meet the needs of diverse students.

VI. Detailed Description of Content of the Course:

The course, along with field experiences in pre-K through grade 6 classrooms, is designed to provide teacher candidates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions essential to implementing a comprehensive approach to language arts instruction. Course content is organized around the following seven strands:  

Learner Development and Theory

• The role of Equilibration in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
• Information Processing Model of memory
• Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding
• Developmental stages of oral language and communication skills
• Characteristics and stages of writing development
• Developmentally appropriate practices for students in pre-K through grade six

Learner Differences

• Accepting, valuing, and reinforcing students’ diverse home language and discourse styles
• Understanding and implementing literacy instruction that is culturally responsive
• Characteristics of the stages of second language development and instructional supports for second language learners

Instructional Design

• Integration of listening, speaking, writing, reading, viewing, and visual representation in the PK-6 grade classroom
• Working towards national, state, and local literacy standards by which students will be assessed
• Demonstrate applications of technology as appropriate to enhance instructional design
• Professional use of standard forms of the English language in oral and written forms

Instructional Strategies

• Understanding and implementing best practice teaching and learning approaches for literacy
• Understanding and implementing best practice approaches to second language literacy instruction
• Understanding and implementing best practices for writing instruction including writers’ workshop
• Understanding and implementing best practices for vocabulary instruction

Aligned Assessment

• Understanding the relationship between assessment practices and developmentally appropriate literacy instruction
• Assessment and evaluation of writing process, author’s craft, and conventions/mechanics
• Utilization of assessment results for planning instruction

Specific Content Knowledge

• Writing instruction based on the word of experts such as Calkins, Fletcher, Spandel and Culham
• Vocabulary instruction informed by theorists such as Beck, McKeown, and Kucan
• Language Acquisition support guided by theorists such as Krashen and Cummins

Observation and Reflection

• Opportunities to hone observational skills and identify strategies included in effective episodes of language arts instruction
• Opportunities to reflect on performance and engagement of students in pre-K through grade 6

VI. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course:

The course format will include modeling, lecture, demonstration, small-group work, active student participation, reflection papers, analysis of case studies, analysis of developmental stages evidenced in student work samples, lesson planning, performance assessment, writing samples created by the teacher candidates along with observation and micro-teaching episodes in field experience placements.

VII. Goals and Objectives of the Course:

Goals, objectives, and assignments address the Virginia Department of Education regulations for preparing early/primary and elementary educators and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) and National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards.

Candidates successfully completing this course will demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and dispositions to:

1. Understand core content, skills, and processes for teaching English and the language arts, as articulated in the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL), and Virginia’s Foundation Blocks for Early Learning: Comprehensive Standards for Four-Year-Olds.

2. Develop communication skills (to include speaking, listening, and media literacy) and proficiency in standard English for diverse learners, including those who speak other languages and dialects.

3. Integrate the arts, storytelling, drama, choral and oral reading to promote communication skills, as well as creative thinking and expression among children.

4. Teach skills in critical thinking so that children learn how to interpret and analyze an array of texts, media messages, and visual representations.

5. Introduce principles of universal design for learning (UDL) to create learning experiences that meet the needs of diverse learners, including those who are gifted, learning the English language, or have disabilities.

• a. Effective methods of vocabulary instruction and concept development 
• b. Explicit instruction on the writing process: planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing
• c. Modeling and teaching of reading comprehension skills, (including questioning, predicting, inferencing, summarizing, clarifying, evaluating, and making connections), so that students learn to monitor their own understanding and learning.
• d. Effective strategies for teaching students to view, interpret, analyze, and represent information and concepts in visual form with or without the spoken or writ ten word.

6. Study and create lesson/unit designs that teach students to compose cohesively for a variety of purposes in the narrative, descriptive, persuasive, and explanative modes, with effective written expression and accurate usage and mechanics.

7. Introduce technology and media to model and teach their effective use as tools for process and product (research, collaboration, publication, and communication), including how to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the validity of information.

8. Align learning objectives, assessment measures, and feedback to ensure student progress and make instructional decisions, especially in writing and oral communication.

9. Create learning environments that foster an appreciation for a variety of literature, integrate global perspectives, celebrate the power of writing and authorship, and sustain intellectual curiosity.

VIII. Assessment Measures:

Formative and summative assessment in this course will include, but is not limited to, the following:

• Measures of preparation, participation, and active engagement in whole and small group projects using student self-reflection tools and teacher-created rubrics;
• Evaluation of written assignments (writing samples across genres, lesson plans) with regards to content, mechanics, and conventions of formal English;
• Observation of micro-teaching lessons in pre-K through grade 6 classrooms;
• Demonstration of technology utilization for the development of instructional materials and research; and
• Quizzes and examinations.

Other Course Information

None

Review and Approval

March 01, 2021