Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Focuses on developing knowledge, skills and strategies to create a rich and stimulating language arts program in the elementary classroom. Issues in reading, writing, speaking and listening will be examined through current theory and teaching practice.

COURSE DETAILS:

This course is an overview of the theory, research, and practice of literacy and language arts teaching in primary and junior settings. The six key dimensions of Language Arts –speaking, listening, writing, reading, representing, and viewing –will frame the course content. The focus will be on understanding literacy as a social practice and designing learning opportunities for elementary students in authentic ways that are integrated across curricular content. A variety of teaching methods that develop children’s literacy skills and strategies will be discussed as well the importance of questioning and constructing meaning through a critical, multiliteracies lens.

The guiding principles above integrate important elements of literacy learning, represent literacy as social practice (Luke, 1991), and incorporate sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985) and critical literacy theory (Freire, 1987). As students become literate they use and transform texts. Freebody and Luke’s (1990) Four Resources model envisions literacy learners as 1) code breakers, 2) meaning makers, 3) text users, and 4) text critics.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

RECOMMENDED READING: