Content Area Reading Methods

Course Description

Includes content, methods, and materials for teaching reading across the curriculum. Teacher candidates will learn instructional strategies for integrating reading in the content area. Teacher candidates are required to complete five hours of observing and assisting in a public school classroom as directed by the instructor.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the background and skills necessary to teach the following K-12 Language Arts content and standards in the cross-cultural, linguistically diverse classroom: a. Comprehension skills. b. Conventions of grammar and syntax. c. How to use story elements such as character, setting, mood, incident, structure to interpret text d. How to distinguish between literal and figurative language and infer appropriate meaning during reading. e. Genre (e.g. poetry, fiction, non-fiction) f. How to use reading strategies appropriate to text and purpose (e.g. annotating, quoting, alluding to text, rethinking initial response) g. How to recognize breakdowns in comprehension, and repair these breakdowns by asking questions, seeking clarification, and summarizing h. How to infer ideas from text. i. How to interact thoughtfully with texts that represent diversity in language, perspective and/or culture. j. How to pose questions and answer those questions using text. k. How to respond to texts from a variety of stances: initial, understanding, personal, interpretive, critical. l. How to develop and evaluate inferences, predictions, and arguments based on a variety of texts. m. Communicate thoughts and ideas clearly orally and in writing.
• Acquire techniques to effectively use technology to access to the core curriculum.
• Properly identify students’ prior knowledge, select appropriate instructional objectives, and measure student growth.
• Compare and contrast formal and informal methods to assess students’ needs and achievements, as well as an awareness of cultural and linguistic limitations of assessment practices and instruments.
• Acquire skills to foster the ability of students to evaluate text, think analytically, and reach sound conclusions.
• Recognize the importance of fostering a positive self-esteem in all students by providing suitable reinforcement and feedback.
• Demonstrate familiarity with the current practices in assessment.
• Demonstrate classroom management strategies such as: organizing and arranging a classroom, managing student work and maintaining accountability as it relates to the teaching of language arts.
• Identify a list of web sites that could be used to enhance language arts instruction.

Prerequisites

• TED305
• TED320