Education 741
Improvement of
Reading
Fall 2003
JoAnne Katzmarek, Ph.D.
459 College of Professional Studies
715/346-3292
jkatzmar@uwsp.edu
Hours: M & T 1-2 and by appointment
Text: Pressley, Michael. (2002). Reading instruction
that works: The case for balanced teaching. New York: Guilford Press.
Course Description:
The various trends and programs in developmental reading,
reading curriculum, and related research.
Competencies:
The course will provide you with the opportunity to develop
the following competencies:
- To become knowledgeable about current and historical
perspectives of literacy education.
- To become knowledgeable about the instructional
approaches of literacy education.
- To begin to build a strong knowledge base of literacy
education by reading professional journals and publications and interacting
with professionals.
- To demonstrate the ability to inquire into current
topics and make thoughtful decisions while teaching and assessing literacy.
- To be able to initiate, participate in, and/or apply
research on literacy.
- To become knowledgeable about the Standards for the
English Language Arts.
Wisconsin Teaching Standards:
The course will focus on the following Wisconsin Teaching
Standards:
- Teachers know the subjects they are teaching.
- Teachers know how children grow.
- Teachers understand that children learn differently.
- Teachers know how to teach.
- Teachers are able to plan different kinds of lessons.
Course Requirements:
- Course Journal: You will be required to keep a
course journal during the semester. Guide questions will be provided on a
separate handout concerning these journal writings.
- Report on Research Reading: Choose one of the
books from the list provided. After reading the book, plan to talk with the
class about the book. Cover at least these main points in your discussion:
bibliographic information, main research ideas of the book, implication of the
research on classroom practice, your critique of the book and its ideas. Plan
to bring multiple copies of a one page (maximum) typed summary of your ideas,
so that each of us will have an index of the book for our files.
- Literacy Autobiography: Write a first person
narrative account of how you became a literate person. See the separate
handout for explanations of this assignment.
- Report on Classroom Action Research: To report
on Classroom Action Research, you would study some aspect of literacy
instruction and learning in your classroom and report on what you learned from
the study. See separate handouts for detailed explanations.
- Attendance and Participation: You are expected
to attend all class sessions and participate in the discussion activities.
Please check with me about any conflicts you have with class dates. Each of
you will be asked to share a children’s book and a professional book (Book
Talks) that you have read and would recommend to the rest of us.
Evaluation:
Course Journal 100 points
Literacy Autobiography 100
Research Project 100
Report on Research Reading 50
Attendance & Participation 50
TOTAL 400
384-400
A
376-383
A-
368-375
B+
352-367
B
344-351
B-
336-343
C+
312-335
C
304-311 C-