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
Learner Differences
Instructional Design
Instructional Strategies
Aligned Assessment
Specific Content Knowledge
Observation and Reflection
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.
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:
Other Course Information
None
Review and Approval
March 01, 2021