Office Hours:  Tuesday and Thursday -   3:30 - 5:00 
Friday - 9:00 - 4:00 
By Appointment
Electronic Hours:  Evenings 7:00 - 10:00 

Navigation for this page: 

"Turning good into great takes energy, but the building of momentum adds more energy back into the pool than it takes out. Perpetuating mediocrity is an inherently depressing process and drains much more energy out of the pool than it puts back in. In the end, it is impossible to have a great life, unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work."
James C. Collins

Prerequisites:  ELED 250, 340, LTCY 320

Course Description:  A second course in reading designed to offer a detailed view of the principles, materials, and methods of instruction for primary (K-4) school children.  Field experiences in public schools and/or other appropriate settings away from campus are required in this course.  Students are responsible for arranging their own transportation to designated or assigned sites.

Rationale:  This course will provide elementary education majors with the skills necessary to teach reading and writing concepts in ways that are developmentally appropriate for elementary students.  The content will expand current understanding of reading and writing concepts and include a variety of teaching strategies to meet the needs of all children.

Required Textbooks:

Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction by Donald R. Bear (Author), Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, Francine Johnston ISBN: 0-13-183813-X Publisher: Prentice Hall Copyright: 2004 Format: Paper; 120 pp Published: 06/09/2003 Click HERE to get information on WordSort - The Word Study Software.  This is FREE companion software for Words Their Way - YOU WILL WANT THIS!

Informal Reading Inventory : Preprimer to Twelfth Grade by Paul C. Burns and Betty D. Roe Paperback 5th Sprl edition (October 1998) Houghton Mifflin College; ISBN: 0395903467

Literature-Based Reading Activities by Ruth Helen Yopp, Hallie Kay Yopp  Paperback - 160 pages 3rd edition (August 23, 2000) Allyn & Bacon; ISBN: 0205319637

Valmont, W. (2003). Technology for Literacy Teaching and Learning. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. Format:Textbook Paperback, 1st ed. ISBN: 0618068554 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: April  2002 Click HERE for on-Line materials for this text:

Optional, but very helpful, text from LTCY 320:

Teaching Reading in Today's Elementary Schools, 8th ed
Burns, Paul C.
Roe, Betty
Smith, Sandra
ISBN: 0618169814 © 2002

On-line materials for the text:  http://college.hmco.com/education/burns/teach_read/8e/students/index.html 

or other text from a section of 320 not taught by Dr. Petty.

This text will be used for the following topics of study:  Assessment, Managing for Instruction, Special Needs modifications to instruction. 

Course Objectives and Assessment:  Teacher education students can demonstrate knowledge of reading and writing concepts and developmentally appropriate instruction by providing evidence for each of Kentucky's New Teacher Standards (NTS):

        I.        Designs/plans instruction
        II.       Creates/maintains learning climates
        III.     Implements/manages learning climates
        IV.    Assesses and communicates learning results
        V.     Reflects/evaluates teaching/learning
        VI.    Collaborates with colleagues/parents/others
        VII.   Engages in professional development
        VIII.  Knowledge of content

Course Disposition(s) Statement:

The teacher values the development of the students' critical thinking, independent problem solving, and performance capabilities.

The teacher values the role of students promoting each others learning and recognizes the importance of peer relationships in establishing a climate of learning.

The teacher appreciates the cultural dimensions of communication, responds appropriately, and seeks to foster culturally sensitive communication by and among all students in the class.

The teacher is committed to using assessment to identify student strengths and promotes student growth rather than to deny students access to learning opportunities.

The teacher is committed to reflection, assessment, and learning as an ongoing process.

Critical Student Performances:

Electronic Literature-Based Instruction
Administering and Interpreting an Informal Reading Inventory

Instructional Methods and Activities:

Lecture, demonstrations, discussion, group work, reading, written assignments, Web-supported, field experiences

Special Instructional Materials:

computer disks, children's literature 

Core Objectives
Supporting Objectives

Course Topics:

        Philosophies of Reading Process
        Word Identification
        Comprehension
        Vocabulary
        Literature in the Classroom
        Content Area Reading
        Writing Process
         Technology
        Assessment
        Interventions

Required Components (Written work must be stored electronically for portfolios):

        Field Experience
            Writing Process Lesson
            Various other reading strategies (Experiences in Teaching Reading)
        Administration of Assessment Measures
            Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) - implementation, interpretation, and report
            Analytic Spelling Inventory (Words their Way)
        Cognitive Tests

KERA Elements Addressed:

        1.  Curriculum
                    Learner Goals
                    Performance Tasks
                    Integrated Curriculum
        2.  Performance Assessment
        3.  Expanded use of technology
        4.  Primary program (seven attributes)

Evaluation and Grade Assignments:  Assessments will include written assignments, cognitive tests, evaluation of lesson plans, and performance events.  The student must achieve minimum competency, otherwise the course must be repeated.  GUIDELINES FOR EACH ASSIGNMENT WILL BE EXPLAINED AS IT IS INTRODUCED.

There are TWO (2) CRITICAL PERFORMANCES for this course:  Electronic Literature-Based Instruction and Administering and Interpreting an Informal Reading Inventory.  These assignments MUST be posted to the Electronic Portfolio before a final grade can be given for this course.  These assignments need to be produced electronically either in MS WORD (doc), in Rich Text Format (rtf), HTML, or PowerPoint (PPT) so they can be uploaded to the Electronic Portfolio and opened by your instructor.  Submission of WORKS files or WordPerfect files is not acceptable.  

ASSIGNMENTS (click on each of the following for specific explanations and instruction regarding the assignments):

1.  Electronic Literature-Based Instruction (100 points) 
The purpose of this assignment is to allow LTCY 420 students to demonstrate technology literacy and to share literary instruction, resources, and links to other educational websites.  An additional purpose of this assignment is to provide LTCY 420 students with an opportunity to plan a WebQuest focusing on literacy instruction using quality trade books. 

2.  Administering and Interpreting an Informal Reading Inventory (75 points) 
Teachers in primary classrooms are predominantly responsible for helping their students acquire good literacy skills.  Both in Kentucky and nationwide, the goal is for students to read on grade level by the third grade.  Therefore, teachers need to be able to determine which areas of literacy are areas of strength and which are areas for improvement.  The informal reading inventory is an assessment tool which can aid the primary teacher in determining word knowledge, listening abilities, and independent, instructional, and frustration levels of reading ability.   

3.  Experiences in Teaching Reading (100 points) 
Students will teach reading in the classroom using a variety of methods focusing on strategies (word recognition, comprehension) that students need to be successful readers and writers.  Students will teach four (4) reading lessons using 4-Blocks framework of instruction and at least one phonics lesson using manipulatives developed in LTCY 320.

4.  Analytic Spelling Inventory and Word Sort (50 points) 
Use Words Their Way to administer a spelling inventory, interpret results, plan instruction, and teach a word sort lesson.  

5.  Read Alouds (50 points) 
Demonstrate your ability to read aloud as a means of modeling, motivating, and sharing your LOVE of good literature.  You will plan and expertly execute five (5) read alouds from a variety of types of children's books:  historical fiction, information books, fiction, poetry, etc.  ONE of the read alouds must be INTERACTIVE.  More information will be provided in class. 

6.  Cumulative Exam (75 points) 
Chapters included on this exam and the date of the exam will be announced in class.  

7.  Professionalism (10 points)
Professionalism is an important requirement for all teachers.  It is usually demonstrated by a set of behaviors which indicate your commitment to your profession.  Those behaviors will be expected during this class.  

8.  Me Box (15 points) 
In any field-based experience, we must be prepared to introduce ourselves to students.  To help "smooth" the process of introductions it is helpful to have a plan or strategy that is fun and helps everyone relax.  "Me Boxes" consist of a decorated box (or a facsimile thereof) in which you have collected items that tell something about you that might be appropriate and of interest to your students. 

  9.  Book Club (25 points)
The purpose of this activity is to provide students with positive experiences in reading.  In remaining consistent with our focus on the social and collaborative nature of learning, we are establishing "book clubs" whereby students reading the same book can discuss/debate and share their own thinking about the topics addressed in the reading.

** Note concerning ALL lesson plans and teaching experiences:  Before teaching the lesson you must give the classroom teacher a copy of your lesson plan (the URL to your WebQuest). Failure to follow these guidelines could result in delayed scheduling of your teaching experience.

Recipe for SUCCESS:  Get organized.  Get a calendar.  Get a watch.  USE the calendar and the watch.  READ the material before you come to class.  I am NOT going to tell you what the book says.  I am going to engage you in grand conversations and discussions about WHAT it says.  

Total Class Points:                    500 + 50 Block Points = 550 total class points

Plagiarism Policy:

To represent ideas or interpretations taken from another source as one's own is plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious offense. The academic work of students must be their own. Students must give the author(s) credit for any source material used. To lift content directly from a source without giving credit is a flagrant act. To present a borrowed passage after having changed a few words, even if the source is cited, is also plagiarism. 

In PLAIN ENGLISH:  Do not (NOT) turn in work to us that you copied from someone else, that belongs to someone else, or that you did not personally write every word of yourself.  With past literature units and other materials from LTCY 420 posted on the Internet the temptation might be for you to "borrow" some of the writing and present it as your own.  I urge you to resist that temptation.  No plagiarism or cheating will be tolerated. 

For information about plagiarism: what it is and how to recognize it and avoid it, see
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

http://www.pampetty.com/plagiarism.htm

The Fine Print:  The following statements should be noted carefully.

1.  You are required to attend all field experience days.  Any absence may impact your block grade.  IF you miss any time in the field you must make that time up by planning an alternative time with your teacher.  I have to receive written notification by you (email is fine) that you have made up the time.  Any falsification of field time will endanger your continuance in this course, in block, and possibly your program of study at WKU. 

2.  All full-day activities must be attended IN FULL.

3.  ALL ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE GRADED FOR CONTENT AND MECHANICS.

4.  Please keep a copy of all assignments handed in.  In the highly unlikely event that an assignment is lost, you will need to provide another copy in a timely manner.

5.  Late assignments will be deducted 10% of the total possible score.  An additional 10% will be deducted if the late assignment is not turned in within the following week.

6.  My expectations are high, but my goal is for you to be successful and to leave this university with the skills you need to be the best reading teacher possible.

The previously-stated policy on late work applies even in circumstances when the student is given an incomplete ("X") for failure to upload an assignment to the Electronic Portfolio System. Students requesting an incomplete for another reason must contact the instructor to ask for an incomplete, which may or may not be granted, depending on the instructor's judgment regarding the circumstances of the student's request. According to the catalog on Undergraduate Catalog p.28/Graduate Catalog, p.13, “A grade of ‘X’ (incomplete) is given only when a relatively small amount of work is not completed because of illness or other reason satisfactory to the instructor. “An ‘X’ received by a student will automatically become an “F” unless removed within twelve (12) weeks of the next full term (summer excluded). The grade of ‘X’ will continue to appear as the initial grade on the student’s transcript, along with the revised grade.

Please turn off all cell phones.

Disability Accommodations Statement:
"Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room 445, Potter Hall. The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745-5004 V/TDD. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services."
 

Allington, R.L., & Walmsley, S.A. (1995). No quick fix. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press.

Atwell, N. (987). In the middle: Writing, reading, and learning with adolescents. Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook.

Calkins, L. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Clay, M.M. (1979). The early detection of reading difficulties. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Cunningham, P.M. (1991). Phonics they use: Words for reading and writing. NY: Harper-Collins.

Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. NY: New Press.

Henderson, E. (1990). Teaching spelling (2^nd Ed.). Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Kobrin, B. (1988). Eyeopeners! NY: Penguin Books.

Morrow, L.M. (1997). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write. Boston, MA: Allyn & 
     Bacon.

McMahon, S.I., & Raphael, T.E. (1997). The book club connection: Literacy learning and classroom talk. NY: 
     Teacher’s College Press.

Routman, R. (1991). Invitations: Changing as teachers and learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Journals:

Elementary School Journal Reading Research Quarterly

Language Arts The Journal for Adolescent & Adult Literacy

Reading Improvement The Journal for Literacy Research

Reading Psychology The Reading Teacher

Reading Research & Instruction Reading Horizons

Website Addresses:

Teacher-oriented sites:

Kentucky Department of Education http://www.kde.state.ky.us

International Reading Association http://www.reading.org

Children’s Literature Web Guide http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown

ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading English & Communication http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/index.html

Booklist (reviews) http://www.ala.org/booklist/

Pam Petty's Educational Website http://www.pampetty.com 

Sites of Interest to LTCY 420 Students:  http://www.pampetty.com/420links.htm

Summary of Essential Practices:  http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/ela/e_literacy/summary.html#chart1  

K-5 Balanced Literacy

Balanced Literacy -  K

Education World ® - Curriculum Reading Aloud -- Are Students Ever Too Old

Literacy Teaching Ideas

Reading Workshop

IPL Kidspace Story Hour

Literacy - Online Literacy Resources

Literary Calendar Reference Portal

NNCC Better Kid Care Reading Aloud

Reading and Books

Phonics - Spelling Reading - Reading Spelling - Writing Speaking

Reading and Language Arts Resources on the Internet

Reading Comprehension - Muskingum College

Ride the Reading Roller Coaster

APA Citation Machine - http://landmark-project.com/citation_machine/cm_book.php3 (only as good as what you enter ... remember:  don't enter FULL first names - initials only)

Good Teaching:  The Top Ten Requirements

Principles of Composition

Child-oriented sites:

Kids on the Web http://www.zen.org/~brendan/kids.html

Jan Brett’s Home Page http://www.janbrett.com

Ann Arbor District Library Kid’s Page http://www.annarbor.lib.mi.us/kidspg/kidspg2.html

Dr. Pam Petty
Special Instructional Programs, Literacy
Western Kentucky University
Tate Page Hall, 363
Campus Telephone:  290-745-2922
Home Telephone:  615-735-9198
Home Email:  pam@pampetty.com
Campus Email:  pamela.petty@wku.edu
Personal Homepage:  http://www.pampetty.com

11/02/2004 02:02:25 PM