38-6131 Methods & Materials for Teaching Language Arts at the Elementary & Middle School

This course examines the components of a balanced literacy for communication program for grades K-8, including listening, speaking, reading, writing and thinking. Based on current research, teacher candidates explore and contrast historical and current approaches to the teaching of reading. They become familiar with processes for developing oral language, phonemic awareness, sound/symbol correspondence, vocabulary development, reading for comprehension and fluency, and writing to respond to reading and express meaning. Candidates develop proficiency in planning oral and written language learning activities, in diagnosing and assessing students’ competencies, organizing balanced literacy programming for students at different levels of development, developing materials for literacy lessons and applications across all content areas of the curriculum. They consider the context of the bilingual-bicultural child in adapting instruction for these and other diverse learners. Teacher candidates are required to engage in literacy field experiences in K-8 classroom settings to extend their understanding of effective language arts teaching.

3 Credits