Reading in the Primary Grades
LTCY 420
Spring 2007
Instructor: Tadayuki Suzuki (Ph.D.)
Office: Tate Page Hall 355
Office Phone: 270-745-2418
Scheduled Meeting Times: 10:20 am to 11:40 am (TPH 304)
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm or by appointment
Email: tadayuki.suzuki@wku.edu
Prerequisites: ELED 250, 340, LTCY 320
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Requirements for Field Experience:
These documents must be on file with Sheila Raines in Teacher Services, Tate Page Hall 408, before you can begin your field experience. It is your responsibility to confirm that all of the documents are on file in the beginning of the semester.
This course requires 20 hours of field experiences (10 days supervised and 6 hours of unsupervised service learning). In order for me to provide you with a final grade, you MUST complete the required field hours (KY state requirement) and all of the course assignments. Your critical performance assignment (the Informal Reading Inventory) needs to be uploaded before the semester is over.
Course Description: A second course in reading designed to offer a detailed view of the principles, materials, and methods of instruction for primary (K-4) school children. Field experiences in public schools and/or other appropriate settings away from campus are required in this course. Students are responsible for arranging their own transportation to designated or assigned sites.
Rationale: This course will provide elementary education majors with the skills necessary to teach reading and writing concepts in ways that are developmentally appropriate for elementary students. The content will expand current understanding of reading and writing concepts and include a variety of teaching strategies to meet the needs of all children.
Course Objectives and Assessment: Teacher
education students can demonstrate knowledge of reading and
writing concepts and developmentally appropriate instruction by
providing evidence for each of
I. Designs/plans instruction
II. Creates/maintains learning climates
III. Implements/manages learning climates
IV. Assesses and communicates learning results
V. Reflects/evaluates teaching/learning
VI. Collaborates with colleagues/parents/others
VII. Engages in professional development
VIII. Knowledge of content
Course Disposition(s) Statement:
The teacher values the development of the
students' critical thinking, independent problem solving, and
performance capabilities.
The teacher values the role of students promoting each
other’s learning and recognizes the importance of peer
relationships in establishing a climate of learning.
The teacher appreciates the cultural dimensions of communication,
responds appropriately, and seeks to foster culturally sensitive
communication by and among all students in the class.
The teacher is committed to using assessment to identify student
strengths and promotes student growth rather than to deny
students access to learning opportunities.
The teacher is committed to reflection, assessment, and learning
as an ongoing process.
Instructional Methods and Activities:
Lecture, demonstrations, discussion, group work, reading, written
assignments, Web-supported, field experiences
Special Instructional Materials:
computer disks, children's literature
Core
Objectives
Supporting Objectives
Course Topics:
Philosophies of Reading Process
Word Identification
Comprehension
Vocabulary
Literature in the Classroom
Content Area
Writing Process
Technology
Assessment
Interventions
KERA Elements Addressed:
1.
Curriculum
Learner Goals
Performance Tasks
Integrated Curriculum
2. Performance Assessment
3. Expanded use of technology
4. Primary program (seven attributes)
Required Textbooks:
1. Words Their Way: Word Study for
Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction (3rd edition)
by Donald
R. Bear
(Author), Marcia
Invernizzi,
Shane
Templeton,
& Francine
Johnston
ISBN: 0-13-111338-0
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2004
Format: Paper; 120 pp
Published: 06/09/2003
2. Informal
by Paul
C. Burns
and Betty D. Roe
ISBN-10: 0618495983
Paperback 7th Sprl edition (October 1998)
3. Literature-Based Reading Activities
by Ruth
Helen Yopp,
Hallie
Kay Yopp
ISBN: 020544248X
Paperback - 176 pages 4th edition
Allyn & Bacon
4. Course
5. Handouts will be given as needed.
Suggested Textbooks:
All Children Read Teaching for Literacy in Today’s Diverse Classrooms
by Charles Temple, Donna Ogle, Alan Crawford, & Penny Freppon
ISBN: 0-321-06394-5
Publisher: Allyn and Bacon
Copyright: 2005
Literacy for
the 21st Century A Balanced Approach (4th
Edition)
By Gail Tompkins
ISBN:
0-13-119076-8
Publisher: Pearson
Merrill Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2006
Course Requirements:
1. Professionalism (50 points)
a. Professionalism (25 points)
b. Class participation (25 points)
2. Field Experiences (130 points)
a. Supervised Field Experiences (100 points)
10 Short lesson plans (50 points) &
10 Field reflection papers (50 points)
b. Unsupervised Field Experiences (30 points)
At least 6 hours, 3 different types of activities
Signatures from your filed teachers are required (*)
3. Me Box (20 points)
a. Presentation (10 points)
b. Reflection paper (10 points)
4. Generating Exam Questions (50 points, 5 points * 10 times)
5. Spelling Inventory (50 points)
6. Informal Reading
Inventory
(100 points) (Critical Performance)
7. Kid Watching (100 points)
8. Exams (100 points)
Mid-term Exam (50 points)
Final Exam (50 points)
One Critical Student Performance: Your
written work must be stored electronically for portfolios:
Administering and Interpreting an Informal Reading Inventory
Here is the link for the Electronic Portfolio: http://edtech.tph.wku.edu/~eps/
Evaluation and Grade Assignments:
Assessments will include written
assignments, cognitive tests, evaluation of lesson plans, and
performance events. The student must achieve minimum
competency, otherwise the course must be repeated. No grade
can be issued until all field hours have been completed.
GUIDELINES FOR EACH ASSIGNMENT WILL BE EXPLAINED AS IT IS
INTRODUCED.
Total Class Points: 600 total class points:
| Grade | Percentage | Points |
| A | 93 - 100% | 558-600 |
| B | 85 - 92% | 510-557 |
| C | 77 - 84% | 462-509 |
| D | 70 - 76% | 420-461 |
| F | 69% and below | 419 and below |
Important:
It is expected that ALL assignments will be submit on their
due dates. Late assignments will be penalized 20% of their
possible point value if submitted within two consecutive days of
their due date. Further penalties will be assessed for
assignments turned in beyond that point.
I am not supposed to discuss your grade (any grade) in this course through e-mail. Be aware that I cannot respond to you if you e-mail me regarding your grade.
During the semester I will announce in class
the last date by which late work can be submitted for a grade in
the course. This policy is instituted primarily to prevent
students from becoming overloaded at the end of the semester. However,
please do not work ahead of the instructor.
Once your assignment is graded, your assignment grade is final.
I will not let you resubmit your work again in order to improve
your assignment grade. No revision will be accepted for the
written assignments in this course.
Your final grade is final. It is not negotiable.
I am happy to
answer your questions regarding your course assignments. However,
please do not e-mail me an unedited draft or an unfinished paper
in order to receive feedback from me. Once you submit your
assignment, I have to grade your assignment.
I am not available
online over the weekends (normally from Friday afternoon through
Sunday evening) or on holidays. However, most assignment
due dates are on a Monday. That means that you have to ask
questions well in advance. Avoid asking questions at the
last minute or on the weekends or holidays.
ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN MICROSOFT WORD, RICH
TEXT FORMAT, OR POWERPOINT (WHEN APPROPRIATE! Please get
permission from the course instructor!).
You are required to attend all field experience days. Any absence may affect your final grade. If you miss any time in the field, you must make that time up by planning an alternative time with me and your field teacher within a week. I have to receive written notification by you (e-mail is fine) that you have made up the time. Any falsification of field time will endanger your continuance in this course and possibly your program of study at WKU.
All assignments will be graded for content and mechanics.
Please keep a copy of all assignments handed in. In the highly unlikely event that an assignment is lost, you will need to provide another copy in a timely manner.
Remember to put a signature in a sign-up sheet each time when you attend a class meeting and go to your field site in order to prove your attendance. It is your own responsibility to do so.
My expectations are high, but my goal is for you to be successful and to leave this university with the skills you need to be the best reading teacher possible.
I reserve the right to request additional
descriptions in order to clarify disability accommodations from a
student in the beginning of the semester. It is the
student’s responsibility to clarify his or her disability
accommodations in the first week of the semester. I am
happy to work with the student who needs the disability
accommodations. However, once the semester starts, it is
the student’s responsibility to adjust to the situations,
inform me of the progress in the course and decide the
capabilities of continuing to take this course.
If you do not intend to take this course or
keep taking this course, you MUST DROP the course immediately.
If you stay in this course without fulfilling the course
requirements until the end of the semester, you may jeopardize
your status as a student such as losing your financial aids or
scholarships and / or plunging your GPAs. You are fully
responsible for whatever happens if you fail to take this action.
Incomplete:
The previously-stated policy on late work applies even in circumstances when the student is given an incomplete ("X") for failure to upload an assignment to the Electronic Portfolio System. Students who want an incomplete for another reason must contact the instructor and make that request, which may or may not be granted, depending on the instructor's judgment. According to the catalog (Undergraduate Catalog p.28/Graduate Catalog, p.13) a grade of “X” (incomplete) is given only when a relatively small amount of work is not completed because of illness or same other reason satisfactory to the instructor. An “I” received by a student will automatically become an “F” unless removed within twelve (12) weeks of the next full term (summer excluded). The grade of “X” will continue to appear as the initial grade on the student's transcript, along with the revised grade.
Disability Accommodations Statement:
"Students with disabilities who require accommodations
(academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this
course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services,
Room 445, Potter Hall. The OFSDS telephone number is (270)
745-5004 V/TDD. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly
from the professor or instructor without a letter of
accommodation from the Office for Student Disability
Services."
Smoking Policy:
Kentucky Administrative Regulations prohibit
smoking on school property other than in designated areas and
only by faculty and staff. Parking lots are school property.
Violation of this policy may result in termination of the
field-based teaching experience.
Plagiarism Policy:
To represent ideas or interpretations taken
from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a
serious offense. The academic work of students must be their own.
Students must give the author(s) credit for any source material
used. To lift content directly from a source without giving
credit is a flagrant act of plagiarism. To present a
borrowed passage after having changed a few words, even if the
source is cited, is also plagiarism.
In PLAIN ENGLISH: Do not turn in work
to me that you copied that belongs to someone else, or that you
did not personally write every word of yourself. With past
literature units and other materials from LTCY 420 posted on the
Internet, you might be tempted to borrow some of the writing and
present it as your own. I urge you to resist that
temptation. No plagiarism or cheating will be
tolerated.
For information about plagiarism, what it
is, and how to recognize it and avoid it, see
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html
http://www.pampetty.com/plagiarism.htm
Description of Assignments
1. Professionalism (50 points)
(Participation Dates: 1/22-5/2/07)
a. Professionalism (25 points)
One of the most important aspects of becoming a teacher is learning appropriate professional behavior. Professionalism is expected in both the college classroom and your field experience classroom.
Class meeting professionalism includes:
College classroom professionalism includes: arriving and departing class at the appropriate time, coming prepared by having chapters already reviewed and assignments ready to turn in to the professor, and treating both classmates and professor in a respectful manner in both classroom discussions and emails.
If you are late more than 30 minutes, I will consider you absent from that class meeting. If tardiness is repeated, I will start to deduct 5 points for each occurrence from your professionalism score.
Turn off your cell phone in class and at the field site. I will immediately deduct 5 points for each occurrence from your professionalism score.
Field experience professionalism includes:
ALWAYS arriving at the time agreed upon with your field experience teacher. If an emergency arises and you cannot be there, be sure to contact your placement. If you are more than 30 minutes late, I consider that you miss one field experience. You MUST make that time up by planning an alternative time with me and your field teacher within a week.
Dressing appropriately - This means NO sweat pants, flip-flops, or bellies showing. You are no longer a student in this setting, but rather a potential teacher. Preferred dress includes tucked-in shirts with skirt (not too short) or pants for women and collared shirts and slacks for men. Jeans are not acceptable for both women and men.
Show initiative in the classroom. Don’t just sit there. Ask the teacher what you can do. Notice students that might need additional assistance with an assignment. Be proactive!
You will be at the elementary school as a teacher trainee. Please be responsible for your statements and behaviors there.
b. Class participation (25 points)
This course is built upon an actively engaged community of learners. Central to your success in this course is your reading of selections before class so that you can be involved in class discussions. Several short assignments will involve you teaching your fellow classmates what you have learned in your own personal research and study. Establishing and working within small groups will also be an important component of this class.
If you fall asleep in class, I will warn you once. However, if you repeat this behavior, all of your class participation points (25 points) will be unconditionally subtracted.
Plagiarism will never be tolerated and will result in you unconditionally receiving zero (0) point for professionalism.
All students are expected to engage in professional behavior when conversing with classmates, faculty, and the instructor of the course. For example, if you have concerns or questions related to the course, you should contact me directly.
Professionalism points will be awarded based on your continuous engagement in class, professional demeanor in all areas, and graciously assisting others.
2. Field Experiences (130 points)
(Participation Dates: 1/22-5/2/07)
Supervised Field Experiences (10 class
periods) &
Unsupervised Field Experiences (6 hours, 3 different types of activities)
You are required to complete an additional 6
hours of service in your assigned elementary school other
than the allocated 10 class periods of field time. During
these hours, you must be involved in at least 3 different
activities. Once all hours are completed, please turn
in verification (with classroom teacher’s signature) and a
observation note on the activities in which you participated.
Students in this course will spend 4 hours (out of 6 hours) of their service learning observing two different ELL students, and conducting interviews with them and their teachers at the Parker Bennett Curry Elementary School (PBC) for their Kid Watching Assignment (Assignment # 7). They will also use their 2 hours (out of 6 hours) for one of the after-school programs at PBC or one of the following:
1) assist individual student, 2) plan/organize field trip, 3) supervise field trip, 4) involve students in reflection activity after field trip, 5) assist in after school activities such as fall festival or book fair, 6) attend faculty meeting, and/or 7) attend PTO meeting, 8) other activities as approved by professor.
a. Requirements for Supervised Field
Experiences
Short Lesson Plans (5 points * 10 = 50 points) and Field Reflection Papers (5 points* 10 = 50 points) (Total Points: 100 points)
You MUST submit your lesson plans and field
reflection papers. Check the course calendar. Further
direction will be given in class on the first day in the
semester. You MUST upload your lesson plan and reflection to
Blackboard by the due date. It is your responsibility to
make this arrangement. If you fail to submit your lesson
plan by the due date, 5 points will be subtracted each time.
Partial credit will not be given if you miss the due date,
because I consider the submission part of class attendance and
participation.
NOTE:
You MUST keep all of your lesson plans and
reflections at least until you receive your final grades.
Each submission proves your attendance and participation in the
field experiences. You MUST be able to show them to me
whenever I ask to see them. If you cannot find and resubmit
some of your lesson plans when I request them, you MUST go back
to your field site and make up the work. Again, it is your
own responsibility to make this arrangement as needed.
Click Here for the Lesson Plan Format
b. Requirements for Unsupervised Field
Experiences (30 points)
1. 3 Observation notes
2. 3 signatures from the field supervisors
NOTE: I will not be able to give you the points unless you submit above verification.
3. Me Box and Reflection (20 points) (Due
Dates: Me Box: 1/24/07, Reflection: 2/5/07)
In any field-based experience, you must be prepared to introduce
yourself to students. To help smooth the process of
introductions, it is helpful to have a plan or strategy that is
fun and helps everyone relax. "Me Boxes" consist
of a decorated box (or a facsimile thereof) in which you have
collected items that tell something about you that might be
appropriate and of interest to your students. You will use
your Me Box to introduce yourself to our college classroom (10
points). You will also use it to introduce yourself to your
field experience classroom. After your first visit to your
field experience classroom, you will write a 1-2 page reflection
on your Me Box (10 points) and how it was received by your
elementary students.
4. Generating Exam Questions (50 points)
(Participation Dates: 1/22-5/2/07)
It is expected that you will read and
reflect on required course readings prior to each specific class
session. In this course, you are required to generate the
exam questions and upload them to Blackboard 10 times. Further
direction will be given in class. Some of the questions are
included in your mid-term and/or final exam. If you fail to
submit the questions by the due date, 5 points will be subtracted
each time. Partial credit will not be given if you miss
the due date, because I consider the submission part of class
attendance and participation.
5. Analytic Spelling Inventory and Word Sort (50
points)
(Due Date: 3/21/07)
Use Words Their Way to administer a spelling
inventory, interpret results, plan instruction, and teach a word
sort lesson.
6. Informal Reading Inventory
(100 points) (Critical Performance) (Due Date: 4/9/07)
Teachers in primary classrooms are predominantly responsible
for helping their students acquire good literacy skills. Both in
Click Here for the Formal Report Form
Click Here for Some Good Examples
Since this assignment is a critical performance, all of you are required to upload this assignment to the Electronic Portfolio before the semester is over. Here is the link: http://edtech.tph.wku.edu/~eps/.
7. Kid-Watching Assignment (100 points)
You are required to conduct a kid-watching
assignment with two different ELL students at
1. Observations (10 points) (Due Date:
4/23/07)
2. Prior Research (20 points) (Due Date:
4/23/07)
Language analysis
Sociolinguistic and cross-cultural analysis
3. Annotated Bibliography Entries (20
points) (Due Date: 4/25/07)
Multicultural trade books (picture books and chapter books)
2 different annotated bibliographic entries
4. Data analysis from Interest Inventory and
Findings from Interviews (students and teachers), writing
samples, and Instructional Suggestions (20 points) (Due Date:
4/30/07)
5. Reflective summary (20 points) (Due Date:
5/2/07)
6. Signatures from the field teachers
7. Class presentation: Powerpoint
presentation (10 points) (Due Date: 4/31 or 5/2/07)
NOTE: Further directions will be given in class.
8. Exams (100 points) (Mid-term Exam:
3/19/07, Final Exam: 5/11/07)
Both mid-term and final exams will be given in this course. The mid-term consists of two types of questions: true or false and multiple-choice questions. The final exam consists of three types of questions: true or false, multiple choice and short answers. Specific guidelines will be provided in class. Students are not allowed to open their texts and notes during the tests.