WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY

TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM

“Educational Leaders for Constructive Social Change”

EDUC 541

English/Language Arts in the Upper Elementary Grades

Fall 2014

Wittenberg University Teacher Education Program Mission Statement
Wittenberg’s Teacher Education Program strives to integrate the ideals
of moral responsibility, social consciousness, and vocational commitment
into the lives of teachers in such a way that their character, competence, and
community involvement establish them as leaders for constructive social change.

Kiley Anderson August 26 – October 14

4:30 – 7:00 p.m.

phone: 937-631-4162 Blair 108 (class)

The Six Golden Rules of Writing:
Read, read, read, and write, write, write.
~Ernest Gaines
“Classic.” A book which people praise and don’t read.
~Mark Twain

Coursedescription

This course provides an overview of the English/language arts content and curriculum found in Ohio’s 4th-6th grade classrooms. Specific topics will include the foundations of reading, language in writing, and visual literacy, and communication skills. Special attention is focused on developmentally appropriate pedagogy.

Prerequisites: EDUC 303 (early childhood); EDUC 304 and 305 (middle childhood).

Required texts

  • Hampton, S., & Resnick, L. B. (2009). Reading and writing with understanding: Comprehension in fourth and fifth grades. Pittsburgh, PA: New Standard.
  • Rog, L. J. (2011). Marvelous minilessons for teaching intermediate writing, grades 4-6. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
  • Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts / Literacy

Supplemental texts

  • Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2006).The daily 5: Fostering literacy independence in the elementarygrades. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
  • Boushey, G., & Moser, J.. (2009). The café book: Engaging all students in daily literacy assessment and instruction. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.
  • Culham, R. (2003). 6+1 traits of writing: The complete guide for grades 3 and up. New York, NY: Scholastic.
  • Culham, R. (2006). 100 trait-specific comments: A quick guide for giving constructive feedback on student writing. New York, NY: Scholastic.
  • Culham, R., & Wheeler, A. (2008). Writing to prompts in the trait-based classroom: Content areas. New York, NY: Scholastic.
  • Hoyt, L. (2008). Revisit, reflect, retell: Time-tested strategies for teaching reading (updated ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Course instructional objectives

Knowledge:

  • Demonstrate understanding and application of the language arts of reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing.
  • Demonstrate understanding and application of the scope and sequence of an effective English/language arts program of study.
  • Demonstrate knowledge about common characteristics of middle level literature genres, including fiction, non-fiction, drama, and poetry as well as various instructional strategies and materials that support the teaching of this literature
  • Demonstrate understanding of current theory and practice in the teaching of writing.

Skills:

  • Design and demonstrate lessons, including methods, activities, materials, and assessments that demonstrate best practice in the English/language arts and that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards—English Language Arts/Literacy (CCSS).

Dispositions:

  • Engage in reflective practice
  • Engage in continuous reading and writing as a form of professional development

Alignment with department outcomes

The teacher candidate:

2. Demonstrates the ethics and values associated with the teaching profession.

3. Demonstrates thorough content knowledge.

4. Plans effective instruction.

5. Implements instructional practices that support the achievement of all learners.

6. Uses assessment to guide classroom instruction and evaluate learning.

9. Demonstrates global awareness of sensitivity towards issues affecting schools, communities, nations, and the world.
English/language arts endorsement course assignments(see additional handouts for assessments and grading)

Assignment / Points
Reading project--Independent Reading (recorded on reading log)
Outcomes 3, 9 / 70
Writing Minilesson
Outcomes 3, 5, 6 / 70
Listening and viewing project—analyzing commercials
Outcome 3 / 30
Visual representation project—planning a student project
Outcomes 3, 4, 5, 6 / 50
Speaking Project—Hot Seat!
Outcomes 3, 6 / 50
Professionalism—preparation, class participation
Outcome 2 / 30
TOTAL / 300
A+ / 98-100% / B+ / 88-89% / C+ / 78-79%
A / 93-97% / B / 83-87% / C / 73-77%
A- / 90-92% / B- / 80-82% / C- / 70-72%

All assignments are to be word-processed with a standard 12 point font (Arial or Times New Roman). Correct writing conventions (grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.) are expected. Follow the format and submission guidelines included with each assignment.

Independent Reading (70 points) Refer to the handout—Your completed log can be uploaded to Moodle anytime you complete the assigned readings and reflections on or before Tuesday, October 7th. Your text selections will serve as the basis for a number of other assignments in this course.

Writing Minilesson (70 points) You will present one of the mini-lessons presented in Marvelous Minilessons for Teaching Writing, Grades 4-6. Refer to the handout—Your mini-lesson will be presented onTuesday, October 7th.

Listening and viewing project—analyzing commercials (30 points)

For this assignment, you will select a television commercial that might be viewed by students in grades 4 - 6. Browse some of their favorite television channels (e.g., Disney Channel, ABC Family, Nickelodeon) and see the kinds of advertisements featured in the shows on those channels. Then tape one of the commercials OR search on Google YouTube to see if you can find the commercial. View the commercial numerous times to focus on the images, focus on the sounds, and view with sounds and images together. Complete your Listening / Viewing sheet for the commercial. The assignment will be due Tuesday, September 16th.

Visual Representation Project (50 points)

For this assignment, you will design a language arts visual representation project for 4th - 6th grade students. The visual representation can take any form of your choice—a PowerPoint presentation, poster, diorama, mural, advertisement, travel brochure, comic strip, and so on.

Your project will contain these elements for scoring:

  1. Your planning sheet for the project—10 points
  2. Scoring rubric for the project—15 points
  3. Directions to the students—15 points
  4. Writing mechanics for the rubric and directions—10 points

The completed project will be shared with the class on Tuesday, September 30th.

Speaking Project—Hot Seat(50 points)

For this assignment, you will write assume the persona of a major character from one of the text(s) written by your selected author. Refer to the handout (pages 73-74 from Tompkins) and the information provided on Moodle as you assume the identity of the character.

You will be assessed on these components:

  1. “Staying in character” during the presentation—speaking and answering questions in the first person as if you were the character; providing accurate answers
  2. Supporting the presentation with costume and/or artifacts
  3. Conducting the summarization portion of the presentation

Hot Seat presentations will beTuesday, October 14th.

Attendance and participation(30 points)

Discussion and interaction are the heart of this class. Many activities require collaborative and cooperative efforts, and your presence and preparedness at each session are imperative. Due to the condensed nature of this summer course, it is important that you attend all class meetings, thoughtfully discuss issues under consideration, engage in class activities, and maintain a positive attitude toward peers and the class itself. If there is a problem with class attendance, please contact the instructor as soon as possible to make arrangements for a make-up assignment.

Cell phones, pages, and electronic devices: All electronic devices are to be shut down or set to silent mode and not be evident during class time. This includes text messaging, iPods, or other electronic mediums. If you must accept an emergency call during class time, please let the instructor know at the beginning of class.

Academic integrity

The Wittenberg Honor Code applies to this class. You will be asked to pledge each assignment by submitting the following statement:

“I affirm that my work upholds the highest standards of honesty and academic integrity at Wittenberg, and that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized assistance.”

Please remember that utilizing any information from any source (including on-line sources) without citing your indebtedness to that source is plagiarism. This includes any assignments, assessments, tools, lesson plans, rubrics, or graphic organizers that you locate on line and utilize for assignments or lesson plans. You are encouraged to use teaching resources from on-line sites; however, you must give credit to each source with an appropriate electronic citation.

EDUC 541English/language arts in the upper elementary grades Course Syllabus - 1