Description: / This course addresses how literacy strategies are used in each of the secondary school disciplines of social studies, mathematics, science and the foreign languages. Candidates will learn how to create lessons suitable for all types of learners in their content specializations. In addition, candidates will learn how to utilize a variety of technologies for secondary school students (grades 7 to 12) in their respective content areas. This course should be taken concurrently with a field experience.
Credit Hours: / 3 semester hours
Required or elective: / Required
Faculty members who teach the course: / Marilyn Russell, Dianna Greivenkamp, Chet Laine
Prerequisites:
Textbooks: / Vacca, R.T., Vacca, J.A.L., & Mraz, M.E. (2010). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Other resource materials: / Pitcher, S.M., Albright, L.A., DeLaney, C.J., Walker, N.T., Seunarinesingh, K., Mogge, S., Headley, K.N., Ridgeway, V.G., Peck, S., Hunt, R., & Dunston, P.J. (2007). Assessing adolescents' motivation to read. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 50(5), 378-396.
IRIS Center for Training Enhancements: http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/
National Institute for Literacy. (2007). What content teachers should know about adolescent literacy. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.
Morrell, E. (2008). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. New York: Routledge.
Beers, K., Probst, R.E., & Rief, L. (Eds.). (2007). Adolescent literacy: Turning promise into practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Learning Outcome:/ How is this outcome assessed?
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• explain reading and composing processes and define concepts of disciplinary literacy; / Participate in Blackboard Discussion Groups: Small groups will gather to engage in long-term discussions of the texts. Participants will be evaluated on the frequency and quality of their discussion board participation. Participants are required to post a minimum of two substantial postings each session, including one that begins a new thread and one that responds to an existing thread. Postings that begin new threads will be reviewed based on their relevance, demonstrated understanding of course concepts, examples cited, and overall quality. Postings that respond to other participants will be evaluated on relevance, degree to which they extend the discussion, and tone.
Specific Strategies for Different Content Areas: Using the resources provided, candidates will investigate the reading and writing requirements for specific content areas, and explore together how to support students in developing their literacy skills in content area learning. As an activity, participants will write their own “stories” about a literacy skill they teach (or have taught) in a content area based on the readings.
• create and implement lesson plans for grades 7 to 12 utilizing reading, writing and learning strategies appropriate to specific content areas; / Mini-Lesson: Using data gathered from your Analysis of Student Work (New Teacher Center, 2002), design a mini-lesson and implement it with your target students.
• facilitate secondary students’ draw upon their past experiences, sociocultural backgrounds, interests, capabilities, and understandings to make meaning of texts; / Create a Census, Map and Calendar: Carefully describe the students in your classroom, how your cooperating teacher organizes his or her classroom, and the routines that he or she follows.
Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile: Administer and interpret the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (Pitcher, et al., 2007) to your target students. Identify their past experiences, sociocultural backgrounds, interests, capabilities, and understandings to make meaning of texts.
Analysis of Student Work: Administer and interpret the Analysis of Student Work (New Teacher Center, 2002), to your target students.
• integrate into students’ learning experiences a wide variety of strategies to interpret, evaluate and appreciate texts and assess the effectiveness of such strategies in promoting student learning in specific disciplines at the high school level; / Intervention: Using data gathered from your Analysis of Student Work (New Teacher Center, 2002) and Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (Pitcher, et al., 2007), design a lesson based on a standard in your discipline and implement the lesson with your target students. Analyze the results identifying those who are (a) far below the standard, (b) approaching the standard, (c) meeting the standard and (d) exceeding the standard. Finally, describe what you learned about your students and describe how you might differentiate your instruction and re-teach to the standard.
• design learning experiences that encourage students to demonstrate their ability to read and respond to a range of texts of varying complexity and difficulty; and / Creating a Content Area Lesson Plan: Candidates will create and share content area lesson plans, and review the essential concepts of the course. They will explore several lesson plan models and assessment resources. As a final activity, participants will use the lesson plan template to design a lesson that uses a strategy for helping students with content area reading and/or writing. Finished templates will be shared in the discussion board.
• explain how reading comprehension strategies are flexible for making and monitoring meaning in both print and nonprint texts and teach a wide variety of such strategies to all students. / Text Structures: Candidates will explore text structures, or the organizational arrangements a writer chooses to present written information. Candidates will also experiment with some online activities they may wish to use in the classroom. Using the resources available in this course, candidates will study the research on text structure, including the importance of signal words for different structures. Finally, candidates will choose from a variety of online activities and will try out the activity with a target student who struggles with reading.
Alignment with Transformational Initiatives: In view of this conceptual framework and our urban mission, the goal for our Transformation Initiative is to improve the performance of students in high needs schools by preparing educators who recognize the moral imperative to meet the needs of each student. We will prepare educators who are committed to each student, caring about each individual, and competent in evidence-based and data driven instruction. In this course, Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014), we address the following TI Themes:
Theme: Helping candidates come to terms with unintentional barriers and bias. Candidates in this course, Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014) are seeking an Ohio Adolescent to Young Adult teaching license (grade 7 to 12) in science, social studies, mathematics or an Ohio multi-age teaching license in a foreign language. This course is taken concurrently with a field experience and candidates will critically examine unintentional barriers and bias, dangerous assumptions.
Theme: Help candidates create A "third space", an alternative space, different from the "first space" of students’ home, community, and peers and the "second space" of school. The assignments in Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014) are designed to help candidates identify ways to merge first and second spaces, to create a space in which the “official” space of school is transformed by the “unofficial” brought to school by the students. This is particularly true in their expanding view of “texts” (e.g., new literacies, digital technologies, media literacy). Coming to understand the media lives of contemporary young people is a step toward learning to merge first and second spaces. Barton and Tan (2009) found that when students’ funds of knowledge were used in the classroom through the creation of a third space, their participation and learning increased.
Theme: Implementing a reliable and valid Teacher Performance Assessment to improve the consistency and quality of teacher effectiveness. The TPA system consists of two components: (1) Embedded Signature Assessments and (2) the culminating Teaching Event, the common portfolio assessment that is completed during student teaching. This course, Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014), provides opportunities to design signature assignments that reflect the key components of the Teacher Performance Assessment (e.g., differentiating instruction, aligning objectives with activities and assessments, providing meaningful feedback to students, reflection).
Theme: Implementation of research-based strategies. The assignments in Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014) require candidates to provide a justification for teaching each learning segment to a particular group of students, with special attention to students with special needs. Candidates must indicate how specific research/theory guided their selection of specific strategies and materials to help their students develop the strategies and skills for understanding, interpreting, and responding to texts that are needed to meet the learning objectives. The assignments in this course are tied particular target students, with particular attention to students with special needs. The strategies employed in the design and implementation of the activities are based on sources such as Richard Allington’s What really matters for struggling readers: Designing research-based practices; Deshler, Palincsar, Biancarosa and Nair’s Informed choices for struggling adolescent readers: A research-based guide to instructional programs and practices; and research and research reviews by Nist and Simpson. The texts used in the course unpack research-based strategies for the candidates.
Theme: Academic language development: The assignments in Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014) require candidates to identify the language demands embedded in each learning segment (e.g., relevant genres, key vocabulary or phrases for the concepts being taught and linguistic features that enable students to understand or produce the oral and/or written texts in the learning segment).
Theme: Reflection: Ohio Adolescent to Young Adult candidates practice reflection in Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014). They must consider what they learned about their teaching (e.g., What is working? What is not? For whom? If you could teach these lessons again, what would you change? Why?) The candidates are asked to consider teaching and student learning with respect to content, text structure and academic language development (How does this reflection inform what you plan to do in the next lesson?).
Alignment with Conceptual Framework:
This course addresses these institutional standards, in particular, candidates of the University of Cincinnati are committed, caring, competent educators
· with foundation knowledge, including knowledge of how each individual learns and develops within a unique developmental context.
· with content knowledge, able to articulate the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and the structures of their discipline.
· who successfully collaborate, demonstrate leadership, and engage in positive systems change.
· who demonstrate the moral imperative to teach all students and address the responsibility to teach all students with tenacity.
· able to address issues of diversity with equity and posses skills unique to urban education including culturally responsive practice.
· able to use technology to support their practice.
· who use assessment and research to inform their efforts and improve student outcomes.
· who demonstrate pedagogical content knowledge, grounded in evidence- based practices, and maximizing the opportunity for learning, and professionalism.
Alignment with Specialized Program Association:
Disciplinary Literacy in the Secondary School (LSLS4014) is aligned with the Ohio reading mandate and the guidelines of the International Reading Association.
· Candidates demonstrate their knowledge of reading processes.
· helping students to draw upon their past experiences, sociocultural backgrounds, interests, capabilities, and under-standings to make meaning of texts
· Integrate into students' learning experiences a wide variety of strategies to interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts and assess the effectiveness of such strategies in promoting student learning
· carefully designed learning experiences that encourage students to demonstrate their ability to read and respond to a range of texts of varying complexity and difficulty;
· Demonstrate how reading comprehension strategies are flexible for making and monitoring meaning in both print and nonprint texts and teach a wide variety of such strategies to all students;
Alignment with Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession:
The Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession is the bases for two seminars: Secondary Practicum Experience II (SEC 5026) and Secondary Practicum Experience II (SEC 5026). Candidates for the Ohio Adolescent to Young Adult and Multiage Foreign Language teaching licenses complete these seminars while engaged with 7-12 students in field experiences. The syllabi for these two experiences address the Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession and these standards are reflected in the Collaborative Assessment Logs and Goal Setting Agreements completed by candidates in these practicum experiences.
Alignment with State Requirements:
In this course candidates learn to apply Ohio’s Academic Content Standards in daily planning, managing learning environments, and methods for effective instruction.
http://www.ode.state.oh.us/GD/Templates/Pages/ODE/ODEPrimary.aspx?page=2&TopicID=1699&TopicRelationID=1696
Attendance Policies: Students are expected to attend all required class sessions, to actively participate in class and in the Blackboard learning environment, and to complete all assignments in a timely manner. Infrequent and inconsistent attendance, participation, and work completion will negatively influence the benefits that may be obtained from the course as well as lead to a lower grade. If it is necessary for you to miss class due to extenuating circumstances, it is your responsibility to obtain class notes, assignments, and/or handouts from Blackboard and/or from a classmate as well as to become aware of any announcements that were made in class. You do not need to report your absence to the instructor; it is your responsibility to determine what was addressed in the class.
Academic Integrity Policy The University Rules, including the Student Code of Conduct, and other policies of the department, college, and university related to academic integrity will be enforced. Any violation of these regulations, including acts of plagiarism, cheating, or falsifying field work will be dealt with according to the severity of the misconduct. Dishonesty in any form may result in a failing grade in a course and/or suspension or dismissal from a program (e.g., graduate or undergraduate).
Electronic Communication Policy: University of Cincinnati Information Technologies (UCIT) provides access to email for all students, faculty and staff. Email is an official method of communication at the University of Cincinnati. Students, faculty and staff are responsible for the consequences of not reading college related communications sent to their official UC email address. This is also used to post official messages and university, college and program announcements. As users of listservs, Blackboard websites, and other forms of electronic communication, candidates in this course agree to participate in a professional manner. In particular, not to harass other users of information technology services or facilities; not to attempt to disrupt, degrade, or interfere with the normal operation of any information technology service or facility; not to post or forward humor or “chain-letter” messages, or any defamatory, abusive, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.