Course Syllabus for Reading and Writing in the Elementary Grades

I am assistant professor at the University of Calimichigami and I have been assigned by my Dean to design a new 3-credit course on reading and writing in the elementary grades. This course that takes advantage of my special expertise with new literacies. 

I am expected to provide students with preparation experiences in research-based effective practice instruction including both foundational reading skills (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) that have always been important as well as the new literacies I believe are required to effectively read, write, and communicate with Internet technologies. I am assuming these students are either juniors or seniors and have had course work in assessment and individual differences in learning, as well as regular field experiences in the schools.  Calimichigami has a laptop initiative in place; all students will come to class with laptops and the room is wireless. They are talented students with GPA’s above 3.0 (the minimum level for acceptance into the Elementary Education program). These students will be in classroom field experiences beginning the fourth week of classes, for one day each week. I am expected to integrate the CTELL cases into my syllabus to some extent. I am expected to run at least a portion of this course online, in a WebCT or similar environment.

My syllabus meets the Category II standards (The Classroom Teacher) as these appear in Standards for Reading Professionals International Reading Association, 2003) Online: http://www.reading.org/resources/issues/reports/professional_standards.html

My course outline includes the following:

• A syllabus for a 3-credit, 15-week course.
• The textbook selected and a rationale for this choice (or a packet of readings, that replaces the textbook; these may be online, offline, or some combination).
• Selected readings beyond the textbook, if you choose to use one.
• Assignments and a brief description of weekly, in class activities.
• Assessment criteria for assigning student grades.
• A schedule.

View My Course Syllabus