Syllabus for SEDU 461
Specific Methods for Teaching Secondary English/Language Arts
Buena Vista University
Post Baccalaureate Certification Program
Course Description
This course will address the standards and resources of the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association that represent the teaching of English/Language Arts at the secondary level, consideration of curricular and ethical issues specific to English/Language Arts, exposure to the classroom resources and instructional strategies available in the field, and a review of the assessment approaches specific to the discipline. Students will be required to demonstrate learned knowledge through the development of course materials that could be used in a secondary English/Language Arts classroom.
Course Competencies
Course competencies establish what is to be learned in a course. The competencies for this course are drawn from the BVU Education Program goals, Iowa Department of Education guidelines, and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) principles endorsed by the Iowa Department of Education.
At the end of this course, the student will:
1) have developed an awareness of the various curriculum materials available to the teacher of English/Language Arts and have been afforded an opportunity to analyze and to evaluate these materials. INTASC 1
2) have prepared, evaluated, and revised lesson plans related to the teaching of various components of the English curriculum.
3) have developed an awareness of the potential alternatives to the traditional English canon and have had an opportunity to react to those alternatives.
4) have explored various assessment strategies related to the presentation of the English curriculum
5) have developed an awareness of some of the potential problems related to the English/Language Arts classroom through an examination of the standards and some of the resources of the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association and explored various solutions to those problems.
6) have addressed some of the philosophical and social implications involved in a decision to teach English/Language Arts to middle school/high school students.
Textbook:
Antinarella, J. and K. Salbu (2003) Lessons, Strategies and Activities for Teaching
Secondary English. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Student membership in either the National Council of Teachers of English, or the International Reading Association is strongly encouraged.
Expectations:
1. You will be expected to read the assignments, demonstrating a thoughtful consideration of the material in classroom discussion and written responses. You will keep a response log on the text assignments and applicable handouts consisting of first draft, personal exploration of the readings.
2. You will create a literacy biography in which you discuss the events and circumstances in your evolution as a reader and a writer.
3. You will create ten lesson plans, each with a focus related to the textbook chapter we will be discussing. Lesson plans must include an annotated resource bibliography. Components of these lessons will be micro-taught in class. Following the videotaped component, you will watch the tape and then respond in writing to your presentation as well as to your peer evaluations of the lesson component. I will respond to the rough drafts of each lesson plan and then return the plans to you for revision and resubmission. Your grade will be based on the final drafts of these lesson plans.
Course Outline:
Week #1 Reader Response
Week #2 Classroom Environment
Standards and resources of
the National Council of Teachers
of English/International Reading Association
Week #3 Reading Strategies Reading lesson plan due
Week #4 and Week #5 Lesson Planning Beginning of the year lesson plan due
Week #6 Teaching Vocabulary Vocabulary lesson plan due
Curricular and Ethical Issues related
specific to English/Language Arts
Week #7 Designing Workshop Classrooms
Week #8 Teaching Literature Writing lesson plan due
Classroom resources in the field
Week #9 Voice in writing
Week #10 Heterogeneous grouping Diversity lesson plan due
Instructional strategies in the field
Week #11 Demonstrations and Simulations Demonstration lesson plan due
Microteaching
Week #12 Teaching Poetry Poetry lesson plan due
Week #13 Teaching Grammar Grammar lesson plan due
Microteaching
Week #14 Teaching Young Adult Lit Young Adult lesson plan due
Week #15 Teaching Research Research lesson plan due
Demonstrate learned knowledge
through the development of
course materials
Week #16 Portfolios and assessment
Assessment approaches specific to the discipline