EDUC 2134 Language and Literacy in Early Childhood

Abstract

The purpose of this course is to continue an exploration of literacy in the early elementary grades, which includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will learn about phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension — the five components of reading from the National Reading Panel (2000) — and various methods of teaching and assessing these components. Students will learn about the Science of Reading instruction, the challenges of Balanced Literacy, Basal Reading, and the importance of a systematic phonics program. The fieldwork component will enable students to observe and reflect on best practices in literacy education. ___ Essential Understandings (Big Ideas) The best resource in the literacy classroom is a well-prepared teacher who understands how literacy develops in children and has a variety of instructional strategies and materials in her repertoire and knows how and when to use each of them.