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First
Language Literacy
Fall
2000
Instructor:
Holbrook Mahn
Credit Hours: 3
Place: EDOF 225
Office: Hokona 212
Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 1:30 - 3:00 &
TBA
Phone 277-5887; home: 881-7981
e-mail: hmahn@unm.edu
Course
Description and Rationale:
This course will examine theories of first language
literacy acquisition and development. It is the first part of a two course
sequence, the second part of which is second language literacy acquisition
and development. We will examine literacy from a number of different perspectives
and then building on this understanding, we will examine practical classroom
applications that will facilitate the acquisition and development of literacy.
Initially, we will discuss a methodological approach to study literacy
and then explore the historical development of literacy, as a prelude
to studying the processes at play as an individual acquires and develops
literacy at home and at school.
Objectives:
1. To develop a methodological approach to study
first language literacy acquistion and development.
2. To examine the historical development of literacy
and construct a definition of literacy.
3. To examine the way that literacy develops in
a child's first five years.
4. Based on that understanding to develop a pedagogical
approach that builds on that development.
5. To critique current approaches to the teaching
of literacy.
6. To develop classroom practices that reflect students'
own developing conception of literacy acquisition and development.
7. To understand the relationship between literacy
and technology and how to integrate them in the classroom.
Course
Assignments:
On-line discussion (20%)-- Regular
participation in an on-line discussion set up for this course which is
accessible by clicking Here.
This on-line discussion allows us to ask questions, make comments, respond
to questions, raise concerns, in essence to carry on a dialogue with our
peers and the instructor.
Tutoring
(25%) -- Each student will be assigned
or will find on their own a low progress reader in the primary grades
to tutor for one hour a week for ten weeks. At the end of ten weeks students
will write a short (2-3 page) reflection on the tutoring experience.
Philosophical
Letter (25%) -- This letter (5-7 pages double-spaced) will
give you the opportunity to discuss your evolving philosophy about literacy
acquisition. This will be an actual letter sent addresssed to Dee McMann
and Karin Rich at the Department of Language and Cultural Equity for APS,
3315 Louisiana, Albuquerque, NM 87110. As coordinators for the district's
literacy efforts, they are interested in learning about teachers' and
pre-service teachers' opinions about what they hold as fundamental for
teaching literacy. A rough draft will be due 10/10 for peer response and
a final draft will be due 10/24.
Term
Project (30%) -- This project will give students the opportunity
to explore an aspect of literacy acquistion that is of particular interest
to them. It is hoped that the product in this project will be of use to
you in your classroom or in your research. This project will be open-ended
and will allow for considerable creativity on your part. We will discuss
the project at greater length in class.
Graduate
Credit -- a short paper (2-3) pages reviewing two online articles about
first language literacy acquisition. This review will be factored into
the 25% allocated to the philosophical paper.
Required
Text: Reading Packet
Other articles on-line or distributed in class.
Course
Schedule
Week
One -- 8/22 --Topic: Introduction to the Course and Community Building.
Week
Two -- 8/29 -- Development of a Methodological Approach/Origins of Literacy
Week
Three -- 9/5 -- Topic: Fundamentals of the Reading Process
Reading: Weaver -- "How Words Are Perceived?"
Smith -- "Reading -- From Behind the Eyes"
Week
Four -- 9/12 -- Topic: Fundamentals of the Writing Process
Vygotsky -- "The Prehistory of Written Language"
Harste, Burke, & Woodward-- "Children's
Language and World: Initial Encounters with Print"
Supplementary: Role of
Gesture in Literacy Acquisition
Some Anthropological
Aspects of the Origin of Writing
Week
Five -- 9/19-- Topic: Emergent Literacy
Reading: Comber, "What Really Counts in Early
Literacy Lessons"
Teale & Sulzby -- "Emergent Literacy: New
Perspectives"
Supplementary: What Is Emergent Literacy?
Emergent
Literacy Project
Week
Six -- 9/26 -- Topic: Introduction of Reading at School
Reading: Weaver--"Toward a Balanced Approach
to Reading"
Week
Seven -- 10/3 -- Topic: Introduction of Writing at School
Reading: Murray-- "Teach Writing as a Process
not Product"
Routman & Maxim-- "Writing: Promoting Quality"
Zecker, "Different Texts, Different Emergent
Writing Forms"
Galley--"Talking Their Walk: Interviewing Fifth
Graders about Their Literacy Journeys"
Week
Eight -- 10/10 -- Topic: Technology Integration
Reading: Selfe: "Technology and Literacy: A Story of
the Perils of not Paying Attention"
Week
Nine -- 10/17 -- Topic: Reading and Writing Connections and Concepts of
Literacy
Reading: Cairney -- "The Construction of Literacy
and Literacy Learners"
Dyson: "The Courage to Write: Child Meaning
Making in a Contested World"
Edelsky: "Literacy: Some Purposeful Distinctions"
Week
Ten -- 10/24 -- Topic: Helping Low Progress Readers and Writers
Reading: Merrill --"Following a Child's Lead
toward Literacy"Clay & Cazden: "A Vygotskyian Interpretation
of Reading Recovery"
Primeaux -- "Shifting Perspectives on Struggling
Readers"
Supplementary:Orchestrating
the Thought and Learning of Struggling Writers
Week
Eleven -- 10/31-- Topic: Literacy and Students with Exceptionalities
Reading: Huck & Pinell--"Literacy in the
Classroom"
Lyons -- "Helping a Learning-Disabled Child
Enter the Literate World"
Supplementary: The Differentiated Classroom
Week
Twelve -- 11/7 -- Topic: Literacy Programs in APS and surrounding districts
Reading: Cambourne--"Toward an Educationally
Relevant Theory of Literacy Learning: Twenty Years of Inquiry"
Coles "'Direct, Explicit, and Systematic' --Bad
Reading Science"
Smith -- "Twelve Easy Ways to Make Learning
to Read Difficult"
Labbo, Hoffman & Roser, "Ways to Unintentionally
Make Writing Difficult"
Supplementary:
No End to the Reading
Wars
Links on
"Reading Wars"
Week
Thirteen -- 11/14 -- Topic: Family Literacy
Reading: Klassen-Endrizzi -- "Exploring Our
Literacy Beliefs with Families"
Richgels & Wold -- "Literacy on the Road:
Backpacking Partnerships between School & Home"
Strickland & Taylor -- "Family Storybook
Reading: Implications for Children, Families, and Curriculum"
What
Is Family Literacy?
Even
Start Family Literacy
Week
Fourteen -- 11/21-- Sociocultural Approaches to Literacy
Reading: Moll --"Literacy Research in Community and Classrooms: A
Sociocultural Approach"
Week
Fifteen -- 11/28-- Topic: Presentations of Final Projects
Week
Sixteen -- 12/5 --Topic: Presentations of Final Projects
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