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RE 3900 SPRING 2009 CALENDAR |
Class meeting dates: |
| Topics | Core Questions, Readings, Tasks |
| Introductions | Core Questions: What is this course and why? What teaching and learning experiences have we had with kids who have disabilities? What have we learned from them? What do we want to learn in this class? Related Tasks: (a) Complete KWL on literacy instruction for children with disabilities. Maximum time allowed one hour. (b) Discuss practicum possibilities. (c) Complete phone tree; (d) Morris and colleagues model of beginning reading. |
| Literacy Assessment | Core Questions: What should you assess and why? Related Readings: (a) Read Rasinki, ch. 13, for a description of classroom-based strategies. (b) Here are ERSI handouts: Morris's article, alphabet assessment, basal words, decodable words, Katie p. 1, p. 2, p. 3 (updated version on Tar Heel Reader), My Home p. 1, p. 2, p. 3, p. 4 (updated version on Tar Heel Reader), Screening p. 1 and p. 2, spelling scoring guide, and teacher directions p. 1 and p. 2. (c) Respond to the blog questions after class and by Monday at the latest. (d) Here are two literacy attitude scales: reading and writing; (e) your notes on our kids; (f) notes on interpreting IRI assessment; (g) notes on interpreting the developmental spelling assessment; (h) notes on ERSI & QIWK; |
| Reading Comprehension | Core Questions: What is reading comprehension? How can it best be taught to struggling readers? Related Readings: (a) Read Kopp & Erickson, Guided Reading chapter (pp. 63-84), for strategies and lesson structures to support student comprehension before, during, and after reading; (b) Read Rasinski, ch. 8 (fiction) and ch. 9 (non-fiction) for more strategies that support comprehension before, during, and after reading; (c) question asking/answering notes. |
| Writing | Core Questions: What is writing and how is it effectively taught to struggling readers? Related Readings: (a) Read Kopp & Erickson, Writing chapter (pp. 85-109), for key issues, strategies, and activities to support learning to write; (b) Read Rasinski, ch. 10, for additional strategies to support writing and learning to write; (c) Hanser's excellent overview of alternative writing tools for students with significant disabilities. |
| Letters, Sounds, and Words | Core Questions: How do children learn letters, sounds, and words? What is fluency? Why does it matter? How can it be taught? Related Readings: (a) Read Kopp & Erickson, Working with Words chapter (pp. 110-131) to identify effective strategies for teaching decoding/spelling and sight words; (b) Read Rasinski, ch. 5, to learn a variety of strategies to teach phonics and words; (c) Hanser & Erickson for description of integrated word/communication program for beginners; (d) phonemic awareness notes. Resources: H Ideas and weblinks. |
| Motivation | Core Questions: How and what do you teach in order to support children in choosing to read when they don't have to? Related Tasks: (a) Read Kopp & Erickson, Self-Selected Reading chapter (pp. 41-62) for a general structure and strategies to support interest in reading; (b) Read Rasinski, ch. 3, for underlying issues in, and classroom conditions that support, reading motivation; (c) Download, read about, and complete the Garfield surveys of reading and writing attitudes. |
| Emergent Literacy | Core Questions: What is emergent literacy? What skills and understandings need to be developed to support children's progress to conventional literacy. Related Tasks: Read Rasinski, ch. 4, for teaching methods to support learning in students who are emergent literate; Resources: Tar Heel Reader and Star Fall websites. |
| Technology Supports for Literacy | Core Questions: How can technology be integrated into the teaching and learning of literacy? Related Tasks: (a) Check out the site Free Assistive Technology for downloadable goodies that cost you nothing and may help the kid(s) you're struggling with.- |
| Vocabulary | Core Questions: How is vocabulary acquired? How can it be taught efficiently? Related Tasks: (a) Read Rasinski, ch. 7, for issues and methods of developing students' vocabulary; (b) Go to Teacher Created Materials, download the relevant materials, and listen to Rasinski's Episode 3, podcast on using Making Words to Build Vocabulary. |
| Collaborating with Families | Core Questions: What can families do to support literacy? How can teachers support families of students with whom they work? Related Tasks: Read Rasinski, ch. 12, for issues and strategies to communicate and collaborate effectively with families. |
| Reading Fluency | Core Questions: What is reading fluency? Why does it matter? How is it best taught? Related Tasks: (a) Read Rasinski, ch. 6, to learn ways of teaching and supporting the development of reading fluency. (b) Go to Teacher Created Materials, download the relevant materials, and listen to Rasinski's (i) Episode 1, podcast on the basic elements of reading fluency; (ii) Episode 2, podcast on the value of repetition to reading fluency, (iii) Episode 4, podcast on Readers' Theater as a fluency instructional technique. |
| Literacy and the IEP | Here are sample IEP goals, objectives, and data-collecting tools: emergent literacy, kindergarten, IEP ideas, IEP ideas for students with significant disabilities, and a sample data collection tool. |
| Getting to Know People with (Reading) Disabilities | Core Questions: What are the experiences and perspectives of people with disabilities on learning to read and write? How do schools and communities (fail to) support learning challenges? Related Tasks: (a) Here is Don Johnston's online autobiography. Don learned to read in 9th grade and now runs a highly successful assistive technology company. (b) Here is Andrew Sheehan's first person perspective on severe learning disabilities related primarily to writing and his schools' varied responses. Andrew graduated with honors from Villanova University. Here's the hypothesis-testing procedure we used with Andrew's case. (c) Don't forget your epal writings, work samples, and videos linked to the e-pal rubric. Here's a link to a Youtube video of Joey emailing his e-pal. |
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"The Retarded Children Play Baseball" by Wesley McNair Never mind the coaches who try of the large-faced boy shape of a ball, even though and right fielders going deeper and drop at their feet. Both teams or fly that when it happens leaps off to let the batter by. and consider the game like the shortstop, who stands transfixed |
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Last modified by Dave Koppenhaver on
1/21/09. |