3000

This course includes an in-depth study of children’s and adolescent literature, as well as techniques for using literature to build knowledge and skills in EC-8 classrooms. Extensive reading and examination of books and genre are required. Other areas addressed include writing in a variety of forms and models for various purposes and audiences, integrating technology, applying critical thinking skills, applying English writing conventions and viewing and representing through media literacy.

This field-based course is designed to provide foundation knowledge and strategies for understanding and promoting literacy development in young children through grade two. Using a balanced approach, reading, writing, and oral language skills are taught as developmental processes. Emphasis is upon beginning reading instruction and concentrates on developmentally appropriate teaching strategies and assessments designed to directly teach and assess phonological and phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle, word analysis and decoding, reading comprehension, and reading fluency, as well as principles for creating a literacy-rich classroom environment and strategies for promoting life-long readers.

A course designed to familiarize students with the 4-8 Reading/Language Arts Teacher Standards, as well as the TEKS appropriate to specific content areas. Focus is upon direct, explicit teaching of strategies to improve reading comprehension of a wide range of materials, increase reading vocabulary, and develop written communication skills to support reading in all curriculum areas. Other areas addressed include the teaching of study and inquiry skills, the promotion of oral language and listening skills, and the integration of instructional technology for the advancement of student achievement. Students are also introduced to the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual characteristics of the middle school learner and ways to enhance parent communication at this level. A minimum fifteen-hour field experience in a middle school setting is required.

This field-based course is designed to prepare the pre-service teacher to apply direct, explicit teaching of reading and language arts within a comprehensive language arts program. The course is organized around the five components of an effective reading program, including phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The pre-service teacher explores comprehension strategies as well as the use of literature as an instructional tool. Further focus is on the writing process with emphasis on writing conventions, oral language, grammar, usage, spelling and punctuation to support the literacy process. 45-60 hours of field-based experience are required.