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Teaching Reading in the ESL Classroom

CIMTE 442/BIL ED 593
Fall 1998
 

Instructor: Holbrook Mahn
Times: Thursday 4:00-6:30 PM
Credit Hours: 3
Place: Student Services B24
Office Hours: Thursday 1:00-2:30 and to be arranged 
Hokona 212 
Phone 277-7981; home: 881-7981
e-mail: hmahn@unm.edu

Course Description and Rationale:
This course will examine theories of language and literacy acquisition to provide a theoretical foundation for the pedagogical approaches to the teaching of reading in the ESL. Students will have an opportunity to put these theories into practice by developing and teaching a lesson in an ESL classroom. 

Objectives:
1. To become familiar with recent theory and research in the teaching of ESL reading by first examining the process of literacy acquisition in the first language and then examining the similarities and differences in second language literacy acquisition. This will provide the foundation for the exploration of sound teaching practices.
2. To develop sensitivity to the complexities of the reading processes of all students.
3. To understand the similarities and differences of the reading processes for students learning to read English as a second language.
4. To explore the processes of bilingual readers.
5. To develop the ability to facilitate and to assess second language reading acquisition.

Course Requirements:

10% 1. Participate in class discussions, groups, activities. Attendance is mandatory given the interactive nature of the class.

20% 2. Keep a reading response log in which you reflect on aspects of the reading that seem particularly applicable to your classroom and/or aspects of the reading with which you strongly agree or disagree. 

5% 3. Respond to another student's journal

15% 4. Tutor an ESL student once a week in reading. Write a reflection piece (2-3 pages) on the experience.

20% 5. Preparation of a lesson (1-2 periods) which you will implement in an APS or UNM ESL class.

30% 6. A group project in which your group will examine an aspect of teaching ESL reading. The group will be responsible for making a presentation to the class. In the course of the research on the topic the group will find an article on the topic to make available to the class as a whole on our web page. The group project should include implications for teaching with concrete strategies and lessons. The group will collectively or individually write a paper on the project. 

Graduate Credit -- a short paper (2-3) pages reviewing two articles on a related theme about ESL reading worth 10% (The project will be worth 20%.)

Required textbooks:
1. Smith, F., Reading without Nonsense, 3rd Edition
2. Faltis, C., Joinfostering: Adapting Teaching for the Multilingual Classroom, 2nd Edition

Course Schedule 

Week One: January 22
Introduction to students, course, and instructor.

Week Two: January 29
Theme: Introduction to the Reading Process
Reading Assignment: Smith, Chs. 1 & 2

Week Three: February 5
Theme: The Role of Phonics/Diversity
Reading Assignment: Smith, Chs. 3 & 4; 
Faltis, Preface, Foreword, & Ch. 1

Week Four: February 12
Theme: Reading Comprehension.
Reading Assignment: Smith, Ch. 5; Cairney, Ch. 2

Week Five: February 19
Theme: What is Reading? & Joining the Literacy Club.
Reading Assignment: Smith, Chs. 6 & 7
 

Week Six: February 26
Theme: The Role of the Teacher & Instructional Strategies
Reading Assignment: Smith, Ch. 8; Faltis, Ch. 2

Week Seven: March 5
Theme: The Role of Technology & The Classroom Environment
Reading Assignment: Smith, Ch. 9; Faltis, Ch. 3
Exchange Journals

Week Eight: March 12
Theme: Strategies for Middle Level and Advanced ESL Readers
Reading Assignment: Cairney

Week Nine: March 19 SPRING BREAK

Week Ten: March 26
Theme: Emergent Literacy and Integrating Drama in the ESL Classroom
Reading Assignment:Emergent Literacy Article 1; Emergent Literacy Article 2; Emergent Literacy Article 3 ;Emergent Literacy Article 4
Eleanor Albert -- "Drama in the Classroom"
Sheri Forsythe -- "It Worked! Readers Theater in Second Grade"; Readers Theatre and Language Arts for Teachers

Week Eleven: April 2
Theme: Multimedia Approaches to Reading
Note: We will be meeting at Wilson Middle School
Reading Assignment: Readers Theater Article; Computer Assisted Language Learning
Faltis, Ch. 4

Week Twelve: April 9
Theme: Models of Literacy Acquisition --& Teaching Reading to Students Whose Native Language is Ideographic
Reading Assignment: Reading Recovery Article; Freire Article #1; Freire Article #2; Bell, J. S. "The Relationship between L1 and L2 Literacy: Some Complicating Factors"
Faltis Ch. 5;
Exchange Journals

Week Thirteen: April 16
Theme: Models of Literacy Acquisition (Part II)
Sociocultural Factors and ESL Reading
Reading Assignment: "New London Group Summary"
"Sociocultural Contexts of Language Development: Implications for the Classroom," Shirley Brice Heath in The Multicultural Classroom : Readings for Content -Area Teachers, Richard-Amato, P.

Week Fourteen: April 23
Theme: The Development of ESL Reading Materials 
Reading Assignment: Faltis Chs. 6 & 7; ESL Materials #1; 
ESL Reading Materials #2 ;ESL Reading Materials #3
Journals due

Week Fifteen: April 30
Theme: Literature-based Approaches
Reading Assignment: "Why Don't Language Acquirers Take Advantage of the Power of Reading?" Kim, H. & Krashen, S. 
"Language and Culture Monsters That Lurk in Our Traditional Rhymes and Folktales," Cornell, C.
"Whole Group Story Reading," Wolter, D.
Final Papers & Lesson Plans Due

Week Sixteen: May 7
Theme: Experiences from the Classroom &: Course Evaluation

Week Seventeen: May 16
Finals Week


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