You are on page 1of 7

EDUC 225: Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum

University of California, Santa Cruz


Summer 2015
Instructor Contact Information:
Rebecca Bergey, M.Ed.
Phone: 202-656-3834
Email: rbergey@ucsc.edu
Skype: Rebecca.Bergey
Office Hours: Virtual Meetings by Appointment
Course Meetings
Section 1: Mondays, Wednesdays 8:00am-12:00pm
Section 2: Mondays, Wednesdays 1:00pm-5:00pm
Course Description
Intended for students pursuing a single subject credential, this required course, EDUC 225,
provides a theoretical and practical foundation for teaching reading within content area
instruction in middle school and secondary classrooms. Teacher candidates will learn researchbased literacy instruction and teaching strategies that support content-based reading and writing,
and academic language skills for the full range of students including struggling readers, students
with special needs, English learners, speakers of non-standard English, and advanced learners.
Class meetings include whole group, small group, and inter-discipline discussions,
demonstrations, and practice of teaching methods. By the end of the quarter, teacher candidates
will have demonstrated an understanding of all CTC Program Standards 7-B through the
development of a rigorous Curriculum Unit in their respective content areas, using a wide variety
of course readings, activities, discussions and assignments as delineated in the syllabus below.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the quarter, students will:
Have a grasp of the social and cognitive aspects of literacy acquisition across the
curricula
Identify and consider the relevant literacy characteristics and demands of his/her
discipline
Understand how to use a variety of strategies, methods, and materials, based on
knowledge of students with diverse literacy needs, including struggling readers, students
with special needs, English learners, speakers of non-standard English, and advanced
learners.
Have an awareness of each of the CTC Program Standards listed in 7-B
Design a curriculum unit that addresses the literacy demands of the Common Core
standards for their content areas through instructional strategies, student text selection,
assessment, and differentiation in order to meet diverse students literacy needs.

Required Reading
All required reading can be found in electronic form on eCommons. You can also find a book
copy of several of the readings on Course Reserve at the library.
Please bring assigned readings to class either in electronic format or print a hard copy.
Grading
Grades will be given using the following criteria:
Preparation and Participation: 10%
Student group presentation: 20%
Check-in for final project: 10 %
Unit Project: 60%
General Information
Logging in to eCommons
To log into eCommons, you must obtain and use a CruzID Gold password. For more
information, and to obtain the password, visit
http://its.ucsc.edu/services/accounts/change_gold_password.php
Once you have your CruzID Gold password, you can log into eCommons by visiting this site:
http://ecommons.ucsc.edu/ Support for Students:The best way for students to request support
for eCommons is to contact the ITS Help Desk: Online: http://itrequest.ucsc.edu/ Phone: (831)
459-HELP, / Email: help@ucsc.edu In-Person: Kerr Hall Rm. 54 - M-F 8am to 5pm
Academic Integrity
By enrolling in the university, students are automatically agreeing to abide by policies, including
those on academic misconduct. Academic integrity and scholarship are core values that should
guide our conduct and decisions as members of the UCSC community. Plagiarism and cheating
contradict these values, and so are very serious academic offenses. Penalties can include a
failing grade in an assignment or in the course, or suspension or expulsion from the university.
Students are expected to familiarize themselves with and follow citation practices
(http://nettrail.ucsc.edu/ethics/index.html) and the university's Rules of Conduct regarding
student conduct and discipline: http://www2.ucsc.edu/judicial/handbook.shtml.
Disability Resource Center
If you qualify for classroom accommodations because of a disability, please get an
Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and submit it to
Professor Bernasconi or Kipps in person outside of class (e.g., office hours) within the first two
weeks of the quarter. Contact the DRC at 459-2089 (voice), 459-4806 (TTY), or
http://drc.ucsc.edu for more information on the requirements and/or process.
Counseling & Psychological Services
The beginning of a quarter can be a particularly stressful time for students. Counseling and
Psychological Services has support systems in place. Please dont hesitate to contact either of us
if you feel you would benefit from some additional support during the quarter.

Course Assignments:
1. Student Presentation:
Students will work in content area groups to create a student presentation on an
instructional strategy related to the topic of the day. Groups will be expected to think
about the concepts learned in class and design a lesson that incorporates understanding of
those concepts with a specific instructional strategy. The presentation should take about
20-30 minutes and should include demonstration of the instructional method as well as an
explanation of the rationale for using it.
2. Unit Plan check point
Each student must submit work on the final project for review and feedback from the
instructor. You may choose which aspect you would like feedback on prior to turning in
the final project and plan to turn in your work for that aspect on the date listed on the
syllabus.
July 1: choice of texts, annotated bibliography
July 6: reading comprehension strategy
July 8: vocabulary
July 13: writing
Think carefully about which aspect you would like feedback on and sign-up by June 26th.
3. Final Project
The Final Project is a unit plan that addresses literacy in your content area. The unit
should contain the following elements.
a. Objectives aligned to CCSS or NGS standards with a focus on literacy demands
of your content
b. Description of the context of the class which you are teaching (one paragraph)
c. Unit overview (outline of key components and daily agenda)
d. Choice of 4-5 text samples that you will use. Insert an excerpt of the text as well
as an annotated bibliography using the class template.
e. Example of how you will address vocabulary development (may be an entire
lesson plan or a part of a lesson plan)
f. Example of how you will incorporate instruction to support reading
comprehension (may be an entire lesson plan or a part of a lesson plan)
g. Example of how you will incorporate instruction to address writing (may be an
entire lesson plan or a part of a lesson plan)
h. Example of one assessment that addresses literacy goals of the unit
Course Schedule

Date

June
22

Essential
questions
(Topic in
bold)
What is the
role of literacy
in my
content?

What factors
influence
reading
comprehensio
n?
What diverse
and multiple
literacy
experiences
do students
bring to the
classroom?
How do
teachers own
experiences
and
assumptions
about literacy
shape student
learning?

June
29

Assignments
due this
class

Readings to be done in class:

What are
content area
teachers
expected to
know and be
able to do to
support all
students
proficiency?
June
24

Readings (Please read the text listed on each date for


that class. Be prepared to discuss the readings in
class.)

What makes a
text

Shanahan, C. (2012). How disciplinary experts read. In


Adolescent literacy in the academic disciplines, pp. 6990.
IRA podcast- Elizabeth Moje- Disciplinary Demands:
(up to 14 minutes)
http://www.reading.org/downloads/podcasts/IIMoje.mp3
Adolescent literacy: A position statement. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
**Read:
p.3- 5 Who are these adolescent literacy learners?
p. 5-13 What adolescents deserve
Snow, C. E., & Biancarosa, G. (2003). Adolescent
literacy and the achievement gap: What do we know
and where do we go from here?. New York: Carnegie
Corporation.
**Read p 6-7 Four sources of differences. You may
skim the rest, but we will address instructional strategies
later on.
Enright, K. A. (2011). Language and literacy for a new
mainstream. American Educational Research
Journal, 48(1), 80-118.
Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable harm: Fulfilling the unkept
promise of educational opportunity for Californias long
term English learners. Long Beach, CA: Californians
Together.
**Review this reading again pp. 1-12
Hagood, Margaret: Using Discourse Study as an
Instructional Practice with Adolescents to Develop 21stCentury Literacies of Critically Conscious Citizens in
Best Practices in Adolescent Literacy Instruction (pp.
62-79). New York: Guilford Press.
The Standards Approach to Text Complexity in
Common Core State Standards for English Language

Go to the
Common
Core or Next
Generation
Science
Standards
websites and
choose 2-3
standards
that you will
focus on for
a curriculum
unit.
Bring these
to class (can
be
electronically
).

challenging?
What do
students need
to be literate
for my
content?
How does a
teachers
choice of text
shape student
literacy
experiences?

Arts & Literacy in Social Studies, Science, and


Technical Subjects, p. 4-12
Fang, Z., & Pace, B. G. (2013). Teaching with
challenging texts in the disciplines. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 57(2), 104-108.
Content area readings: Read the chapter that pertains to
your content area from Adolescent Literacy in the
Academic Disciplines
Blanchard, J., & Samuels, S. (2015). Common Core
State Standards and Multiple-Source Reading
Comprehension. In Research-Based Practices for
Teaching Common Core Literacy (pp. 93-105). New
York: Teachers College Press.
View the module below on quad-text-sets:
http://www.comprehensivereadingsolutions.com/quadtext-sets/

July
1

What are ways


that teachers
can use
instructional
strategies to
support
reading
comprehensio
n?

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2014). Comprehension in


Secondary Schools. In Best Practices in Adolescent
Literacy Instruction (pp. 137-153). New York: The
Guilford Press.
Snow, C. E., & Biancarosa, G. (2003). Adolescent
literacy and the achievement gap: What do we know
and where do we go from here?. New York: Carnegie
Corporation.
**Read Instructional Approaches Informed by
Research pp. 7-11

Student
group
presentation
Reading
comprehensi
on
Check-point
choice of
texts

Choice readings:
1. Aukerman, M. (2006). Who's Afraid of the Big
Bad Answer? Educational Leadership, 64(2),
37-41.
2. Boyles, N. (2012) Closing in on Close Reading.
Educational Leadership, 70(4), 36-41.
3. Or choose one of the comprehension strategies
mentioned in Fisher and Frey and find a related
article or chapter to read for more information.
July
6

What is the
role of

Zwiers, J. (2014). Understanding How Students Use


Language. In Building academic language: Essential

Bring my
multiple

vocabulary in
content area
teaching and
learning?
How can oral
language
development
support
literacy
development?

practices for content classrooms, grades 5-12 (pp. 120). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Oral Language: choose one
1. Horowitz, R. (2015). Oral Language: The
Genesis and Development of Literacy for
Schooling and Everyday Life. In ResearchBased Practices for Teaching Common
Core Literacy (pp. 57-75). New York:
Teachers College Press.
2. Lloyd, S. L. (2004). Using comprehension
strategies as a springboard for student talk.
Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48, 114124.
3. Reznitskaya, A. (2012). Dialogic teaching:
Rethinking language use during literature
discussions. The reading teacher, 65(7), 446456.

discourse
map for
discussion
today
Student
group
presentation
Vocabulary
or oral
language
Check-point
reading
strategy

Vocabulary: choose one


1. Thompson, K. , Romn, D.X. , Wientjes, G. &
Hakuta, K. (201 2). The Effects of a Web-Based
Vocabulary Development Tool on Student
Reading Comprehension of Science Text.
Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational
Research, 3(2), 272-300. doi: 1 0.4471
/remie.201 2. 1 5
2. Romn, D., & Hakuta, K. (2010). Supporting
text comprehension and development using
Wordsift. National History Education
Clearinghouse (NHEC): TeachingHistory.org
Access at: http://teachinghistory.org/teachingmaterials/english-language-learners/24552
3. Romn, D., Wientjes, G., Thompson, K., &
Hakuta, K. (2009). WordSift: An interactive
web-based vocabulary tool.
NCELA: Accellerate!,1(4), p. 14-16

July

How is

Bazerman, C. (2004). Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity

Student

writing
instruction
related to
literacy
development?
How can
teachers
support
meaningful
writing tasks?

Systems: How Texts Organize Activity and People. In


What Writing Does and How It does It (pp. 309-339).
New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Choice reading: Choose and read one of the following
chapters.
1. Newell, G., VanDerHeide, J, &Wilson, M.
(2013). Best Practices in Teaching Informative
Writing from Sources. In Best Practices in
Writing Instruction. (pp. 141-165). New York:
Guilford Press.

group
presentation
Writing
instruction
Check-point
vocabulary

2. Klein, P.,& Meichi Yu, A. Best Practices in


Writing to Learn. In Best Practices in Writing
Instruction. (pp. 166-189). New York: Guilford
Press.
July
13

How can I
assess literacy
development
in a content
class?

Gillis, V., & Van Wig, A. (2015). Disciplinary Literacy


Assessment. A Neglected Responsibility. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 58(6), 455-460.
Castek, J., & Coiro, J. (2015). Understanding What
Students Know. Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, 58(7), 546-549.

Student
group
presentation
assessment
Check-point
writing

Fu, D., Lamme, L. L., Hubbard, R. S., & Power, B. M.


(2002). Assessment through conversation. Language
Arts, 79(3), 241.
July
15

How do I
incorporate
literacy
development
into content
area teaching?

Presentations
of Final
Projects

You might also like