SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
SUMMER 2009
EDUC 473W-4
DESIGNS FOR LEARNING: READING
E400
Liz Wood
Email: ewoodcsfu.ca
Office Hours:
Thursdays prior to class or by appointment
Class:
Thursday 5:30- 9:20 AQ 5025
Texts:
• Cunningham, P.M. Moore, S.A., Cunningham, J. W., & Moore, D.W.
(2004).
Reading and writing in elementary classrooms: Research based
k-4 instruction
(5th.ed).
Toronto: Pearson.
[CMCM]
• Rasinski. T.V., & Padak, N.D.
(2001).
From phonics to fluency: Effective
teaching of decoding and reading fluency in the elementary school.
Toronto: Allyn .
& Bacon [R&P]
• Additional reading from photocopies on file in CET and /or available
online.
Course Description:
The ability to read effectively is fundamental to success in school. Thus,
providing students with high quality instruction that enables them to become
effective readers is one of the most important challenges faced by teachers. This
course focuses on how best to meet this challenge. Consequently, the course
explores the research supported principles that guide effective instructional
practices in reading. Students will have opportunities to learn, model and
discuss various methods of instruction and evaluation designed to develop the
reading skills of students.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of semester:
• You will create a year-long instructional plan in reading for the grade
level/course you are preparing to teach;
• You should be able to identify, evaluate and select appropriate
instructional materials and methods of instruction based on the phases of
reading development, cognitive processes related to reading and factors
relevant to the context of your classroom;
.
?
I
• You should be able to collect, analyze and interpret assessment data that
provides information regarding student's levels of development in literacy
and be able to use this information to guide the planning process.
Proposed Schedule of Topics
Date ?
Topics
&
Readings
May 7 Introduction
Putting students at the centre of teaching
• Joel, C. & Minden-Cupp, C.
(1999).
One down and
80,000 to go: Word recognition instruction in the
primary grades.
The Reading Teacher, 53 (4) 332-335.
*bring a novel/ book to next class you would consider reading to/with your class. Be
prepared to say why you think it would be a good choice.
May 14
The Flawed Search for a Perfect Method of Instruction
• Duffy, G. G. & Hoffman,J. V.
(1999).
In pursuit of an illusion:
The flawed search for a perfect method.
The Reading Teacher 53(1),
10-16.
(online and stacks)
Developmental Stages! Phases of Reading
*organize groups for strategy demonstrations
May 21
Alphabetics
&
Phonemic Awareness
• CMCM Ch. 4,
pp.
86-97
• R&P: Ch.4
* group meetings for strategy demonstration assignment
May 28
Word Identification
• CMCM Ch. 4, pp. 58-63, 84-86, 97- 118
• R&P: Ch.5&6
* Chapter Review Due. Topic: Phonemic Awareness
* guest speaker i
*organize groups for resource collection assignment
S
?
S
June
4
Fluency
• CMCM: Ch.
3,
pp.
55-57, 63-80
•
R& P: Ch. 14
• Group meetings strategy demonstration assignment
Date ?
Topics and Readings
June 11
?
Comprehension
• CMCM: Ch. 7
• Neufeld, P. (2005). Comprehension instruction in content area classes.
The
Reading Teacher,
59 (4), 302-312. (available online, Stacks or CET)
Strategy Demonstration groups 1& 2
June 18 ?
Planning for Balanced Literacy Instruction
• Fitzgerald, J. (1999). What is this thing called "balance"? The Reading Teacher,
53, 100-107. (Online, CET or stacks)
• CMCM: Ch. 10
pp.
289-303
• R&P: pp. 3--8
Strategy Demonstration groups 3 & 4
Chapter Review Due. Topic: Reading Comprehension
June
25 ?
Midterm Exam
*Group Meetings: Resource Collection Assignment
July 2
?
Vocabulary and Prior Knowledge
CMCM: Ch. 5
Strategy Demonstration groups 5& 6
* Group meetings: Resource Collection Assignment
July
9
?
Data Collection, Analysis & Interpretation
• CMCM: Ch. 9,
pp.
266- 281
• R&P: Ch. 16
Strategy Demonstration groups 7& 8
*
Resource collection assignment due
July 16 ?
No Class
Planning for final project recommended
July 23
?
Reading- Writing Relationships
• Shanahan, T. (1988) The reading-writing relationship: Seven Instructional
Principles.
The Reading Teacher,
41, 636-647
• CMCM: Ch.8
. ?
S
R& P: Ch. 13
July 30
?
Reading & Learning Disabilities
• Hall, Susan L. & Moats, Louisa C.
(1999).
Reading Difficulties and Disabilities.
Straight Talk About Reading
(reading will be provided by instructor)
•
Final projects due
Assignments:
Note:
All assignments MUST be typewritten and in hardcopy (not digital) form
• Chapter Reviews (2@ 5% each)
?
10%
• Midterm Exam ?
20%
• Strategy Demonstration (group) ?
15%
• Professional Resource Collection
?
20%
• Final Project
?
35%
Grading Scale:
Letter
Percentage
Definition
Numerical
Grade
Grade*
Equivalent
A+
93-100
Excellent
4.33
A
89-92
Performance
4.00
A-
86-88
3.67
B+
83-85
Good
3.33
B
79-82
Performance
3.00
B-
76-78
2.67
C+
73-75
Satisfactory
2.33
C
69-72
Performance
2.00
C-
66-68
1.67
D
56-65
1.00
F
0-55
Unsatisfactory
0.00
Performance
• percentage grades will only be used for midterm exam
S ?
S
Late Assignments:
• Assignments are to be handed in at the beginning of class on the day they
are due.
• For each day after the due date a letter grade will be deducted from the
assessed grade for that assignment.
Assignments:
Chapter Reviews:
(2@ 5% each)
?
Due: May 28
&
June 18
You are required to write 2 chapter reviews dealing with topics related to reading
instruction.
Due Dates/ Topics
1. May
2
80
•
Phonemic Awareness
2. June
18th
Comprehension
Length: Reviews must not exceed 2 double- spaced type written pages.
Please use
12-
point font.
Your Review MUST include:
• Title page with your name, date, instructor etc.
• Proper reference information for the chapter being reviewed
• Purpose of the chapter
• Summary of the major points
• Your critical analysis of the information presented in this chapter (i.e. What did
you think of the chapter and why did you think this)
Evaluation Rubric:
Please refer to the assessment criteria distributed in class.
Professional Resource Collection (20%)
?
Due: July 9
The purpose of this group assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to begin the
process of developing a resource collection in the area of reading. Development of the
resource collection will require you, will require you, along with a group of your
classmates, to acquire
I
create, and organize a set our resources that can be used to
support your instructional efforts in reading in the coming years. Groups will be
organized by grade level and subject area.
Your resource collection will be evaluated with the following questions in mind:
• Has the group included a
1-2
page reflection of the collection in which areas of
strength and areas that need additional work are clearly identified?
• Does the collection include resources for at least 3 of the topics covered in the
course (eg fluency, word identification, reading development etc.)?
• Are the resources included in the collection in keeping with up-to-date research
or best practice in literary instruction and evaluation?
• Is the collection simply a compilation of what we have covered in class, or has
the group made an effort to seek out and include additional resources in the
different areas?
S ?
S
• Is the collection neat, well organized, and presented in a fashion that will be
interpretable in the future?
Strategy Demonstration:
(15%),
grade will be based on the group effort
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to become familiar
with a particular instructional strategy and to plan and deliver a mini-lesson introducing it
to your peers. Further, as a result of these demonstrations you will be introduced to a
variety of strategies that you can take with you into the field.
Groups of students (approx. 4) will demonstrate literacy instructional strategies to the
class and lead a brief critical discussion.
Presentations will consist of:
Modelin g :
Approximately 20 minutes should be spent modeling your groups strategy to
the rest of the class. The content of the presentation should be associated with the
grade level and subject area of your choice. Importantly, content selection must be
appropriate for the strategy you are modeling. For example, you may not model a
literature response strategy using a chemistry text.
Critical Discussion
Approximately 10 minutes of the presentation should be used to
engage your classmates in a brief discussion o. of the purpose of the strategy, its
intended audience, the rationale behind it, and its strengths and limitations.
Lesson Plan:
You must provide your classmates and the instructor with a complete and
detailed lesson plan for the lesson you model. Please bring copies for everyone in the
class.
Strategies will be selected from the list below in consultation with the instructor.
Evaluation Rubric:
Please see the assessment criteria handed out in class, which indicates how your
demonstrations will be evaluated.
Strategies
Phonics
&
Word Identification
Analytic Method
Word Walls
Shared Writing
I
Language
Experience-Approach Activities
Fluency
Readers Theatre
Response to Literature
Literature Circles
Story Grammars & Story Maps
S ?
S
Comprehension
Reciprocal Teaching
Question-Answer Relationships
Vocabulary Development
Semantic Mapping
Word sorts
Final Project —Instructional Plan
(35%)
?
Due: July 30
The purpose of this individual assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to
develop and receive feedback on a plan for how reading instruction will be organized
and delivered in a primary, intermediate, or middle /high school class. Completion of this
project will require you to demonstrate that you can apply the content we have covered
in this course. For instance, you will be have to demonstrate an understanding of
literacy development you might reasonably expect to encounter, and how you will
evaluate and tack students literacy development.
Gettin g
Started:
• Select a grade level and if you will teach middle or high school, a course you
hope to teach.
• Identify the levels of literacy development you might reasonably expect to
encounter in your students (see below).
• Based on the developmental levels you can expect to find in your class and what
we have covered in this course, provide a long-range plan of how you will provide
appropriate reading instruction for the students in your class and monitor their
progress across time.
Grade Levels and Developmental Stages:
• Early Primary: Stages
I
(Literacy Roots) -3 (confirmation, fluency, ungluing from
print)
• Late Primary/ Early Intermediate: Stages 2 (Initial Literacy) -4 (reading and
writing for learning the new)
• Late Intermediate & Middle/ Secondary: Stages 3 (confirmation, fluency,
ungluing from print) - 4 (reading and writing for learning the new)
Thin
g
s You Should Address:
• You must provide some type of program overview.
• The content your instruction (what will you teach?)
Some possibilities: phonemic awareness, word id. sight word development,
fluency instruction. Comprehension strategies, vocabulary development,
• The methods you will use to provide this instruction (ie. How will you teach these
things)
Broad timelines for instruction (when will teach what? What is the progression of
?
........
instruction?)
• Grouping for instruction (i.e. What kinds of grouping structures will you use?)
• Progress monitoring (i.e. How will you track student's development across time?)
• Program components (i.e. classroom-based instruction/ home-based instruction)
• Additional things to consider: motivating students to read, making text reading
necessary for students
S ?
S
Evaluation:
Your final project will be evaluated with the following questions in mind:
• Is the program well thought out and articulated?
•
Is the grade level
I
course clearly specified?
• Are the expected reading levels of students clearly identified?
•
Does the plan provide a coherent overview of what reading instruction will look
like in the identified classroom/course?
• Has the student included all the elements necessary for addressing the reading
instruction needs of students at the developmental levels expected at this grade
level?
• Are the various methods that will be used to provide instruction appropriate and
clearly articulated?
•
Has the student adequately considered issues surrounding grouping for
instruction (e.g. homogeneous and mixed ability groupings, size of groups etc.)?
• Does the plan include appropriate procedures for monitoring student progress
across time?
In addition to our class text the following resources may be of assistance and
have been put on reserve at Bennett library:
Tierney, R. J. & Readebce, J. E. (2005).
Reading strategies and Practices: A
compendium
(5th
Ed.).
Toronto: Allen & Bacon.
Popp, Marcia S. (2005). Teaching language and literature in
elementary classrooms: a resource book for professional
development (2nd. Ed) Mahwah, N.J.: L Eribaum Associates
