San Diego State University

Policy Studies in Language and Cross-Cultural Education

 

Course Title: PLC 933, Skills in Teaching Reading in the Secondary Bilingual Classroom

Course Instructor: Evangelina Bustamante Jones

659-3058 home, 594-1836 office (please state date & time of call on voice mail)

Office Hours: TBA, ED 123

Required Texts:

Chamot & O'Malley. 1994. The CALLA Handbook: Implementing the cognitive academic language learning approach. Addison-Wesley.

Wood, Lapp, & Flood. 1992. Guiding Readers through Text: A Review of Study Guides. International Reading Association.

These texts can be purchased at KB Books, 287-2665.

 

Course Description:

Content teachers in middle and high schools must incorporate reading and comprehension strategies if they expect students to access the content successfully. It is an especially important dimension of teaching for educators of second language and native bilingual learners. This course provides foundations of theory and practice for the teaching of reading and writing as tools for learning. It will focus on three major interrelated areas: planning, development of content literacy through cognitive academic strategies, and content vocabulary development.

Readings from required texts will be assigned; reflections, lesson plans, in-class hands-on course products, and other means of assessments will serve as evidence of expansion of views and teaching skills repertoires. Students will work in groups and individually on a variety of products. The primary focus of this course is to provide students with a large variety of teaching/learning strategies that encompass the cycle of Pre-Reading, Reading, and Post-Reading, all of which are necessary facets of instruction for the development of content literacy. These three facets will be incorporated into a series of individual lesson plans. One ten-day content unit that is designed following the CALLA framework is required for the Professional Portfolio, and will be produced individually.

 

Course Objectives: You will be able to:

  1. Identify and use strategies for metacognition, content acquisition, and language development that enhance cognitive academic learning;
  2. Learn how to design lesson plans for the Pre-Reading, Reading, and Post-Reading phases of instruction;
  3. Develop lesson plans for instruction in Spanish and English, and content-based ESL;
  4. Understand and utilize strategies for content vocabulary development;
  5. Analyze reading materials for readability, second language needs, and academic development;
  6. Utilize materials and texts to enhance content literacy that are not usually associated with middle school and high school classrooms;
  7. Learn about alternate assessment strategies and tools;
  8. Plan and develop a two-week-long (ten instructional days) content unit that utilizes a variety of sources other than school texts--NOTE, PORTFOLIO ITEM.

 

Course Requirements and Assigned Values

1. In-Class Discussions, Exercises, Products
50
2. Chapter Summaries, Reflective Essays, & products based on readings
70
3. Mini Literacy Lessons
  • Pre-Reading, prior knowledge 20
  • Pre-Reading, vocabulary 20
  • Reading, comprehension 20
  • Reading, comprehension 20
  • Post-Reading, expansion 20
100
4. Content Unit
130

TOTAL POINTS

350

Points and Grade Equivalents

 

329-350 (94-100%) = A 270-284= B- 210-224= D+

315-328 = A- 255-269= C+ 195-209= D

300-314 = B+ 240-254= C 180-194= D-

285-299 = B 225-239= C- Below 165= F

 

As graduate students, you are expected to produce high quality work that does not fall lower than a "C"; conversely, the grade of "A" is not simple or easy to earn. Should the quality of a product not be up to the professor's standards, the student may be asked to resubmit the work so that it reflects an understanding and adherence to the criteria included in the grading rubric. A detailed description of grading rubrics will be distributed with assignment descriptions.

 

Description of Products:

  1. In-Class Products--these will be based on in class-demonstrations by the instructor, actual examples, or additional handouts, and will be constructed and presented in class in small groups (graphic organizers, games that use your knowledge of multiple intelligences, specific reading strategies such as SQ3R, Cloze tests);
  2. Chapter Summaries, Reflective Essays, or Products based on readings--Chapter summaries are one page in length each. Reflective essays are usually one page in length and are critiques or personal responses to some aspect of a reading or writing prompt, not summaries. Products based on readings could include vocabulary aids like semantic webs or semantic feature analyses, learning aids like paraphrases of an important passage in the textbook, or exercises based on something in a chapter (for instance, interviewing students based on prompts in Chapter 4;
  3. Mini Lessons&endash;these will focus on pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading strategies, and development of vocabulary in the content area. They will also include the development of specific scaffolding tools that are based on examples in the two course texts;
  4. Content Unit--a ten-day unit in your content area that follows the lesson sequence format presented in the CALLA Handbook; three kinds of objectives (content, language, and learning strategy) will drive the design of lessons.

 

Standards of Quality:

All work will be typed, double-spaced and edited for usage and mechanical errors before being turned in as complete. Points will be removed for substandard presentation. Please see me if you do not have access to typewriter or word processor.

 

Professionalism:

 

  • It is expected that members of the class will exhibit the characteristics of a professional already in the field, rather than the characteristics of the "student"
  • (as typically understood). Readings and course products are expected at the announced deadlines unless other arrangements as a class or as individuals have been worked out. Promptness is expected. Picture (and treat) the professor as you would the principal at the school where you are working.
    •
    • Certain readings from required texts or handouts will be assigned throughout the semester. We will not be able to cover the entire texts this semester; however, as professionals, you are expected to examine the texts as resources, know their content, and use them for your unique situations.

     

    Sessions, Topics, and ASSIGNMENTS DUE (Subject to Change) Please note that GRTT refers to Guiding Readers Through Text.

     

    SESSION & DATE

     

     

    ASSIGNMENT OR READING DUE

     

     

    TOPIC OF PRESENTATION

     

     

    OUTCOME: You Will Learn About...

     

    #1-09/03

     

    none

     

    BCLAD Institute I, Lesson Planning

     

    • Nested Planning
    • Writing Objectives

     

    #2-O9/10

     

    • Write Nested Objectives

     

    BCLAD Institute II,

    Lesson Planning

     

    • Lesson Plan Models

     

    #3-09/17

     

    • Read Syllabus & handout;
    • 1-pg essay, "Barriers students find in learning (my content area)"

     

    Intro to course & theoretical framework; K-W-L on content literacy & L2 learners; Structuring a Group Dialogue

     

    • Critical Literacy
    • Developing Generative Topics thru prior knowledge
    • Creating Equitable Talk Structures

     

    #4-09/24

     

    • #1 Pre-Rdg Lesson Plan: use or create prior knowledge;
    • CALLA, 1 & 5;
    • Chapter Summary, 1 only

     

    Jigsaw Learning Structure; OV of Graphic Organizers; Vocabulary Devpt.

     

    • Two Scaffolding Strategies
    • Building Content Voc.

     

    #5-10/01

     

    • # 2 Pre-Rdg. Lesson Plan: voc. devpt.;
    • CALLA, 2, 3;
    • Chapter Summaries, 2,3;
    • GRTT, pp. 39, 47, 63

     

    Analyzing Text for comprehensibility: Checking Readability;

     

    • Academic Text Structure
    • Modifying Text

     

    #6-10/08

     

    • CALLA, 4;
    • Interview 2 students;
    • GRTT, pp. 11, 15, 19, 23, 27, 31, 35, 45, 51, 55, 69

     

    Planning Learning Strategies into Lessons; Focus on the "Reading"--comprehension structures

     

    • Developing Learning Strategies
    • Learning Strategies for Comprehension

     

    #7-10/15

     

    • Review CALLA;
    • Review all strategies

     

    Task Time

     

    • Organizing Your Resources
    • Preparing for Open-Book Midterm

     

    #8-10/22

     

     

     

     

     

    MIDTERM

     
    •  
    • #9-10/29
    • #3 Reading Lesson Plan: comprehension;
    • CALLA, 6;
    • Chapter Summary, 6

    Developing a Rubric; Holistic Scoring-Hands On Activity
    • OV of Alternate Assessment Tools
    • Process of Holistic Scoring

     

    #10-11/05

     

    • CALLA, 8;
    • 1 pg Essay, "How CALLA could be used in my class";
    • CALLA, 9-12

     

    OV Content Unit Final Project; Making Books

     

    • Adapting CALLA to Other Contexts
    • Selecting Topic for Content Unit

     

    #11-11/12

     

    • #4 Reading Lesson Plan: comprehension

     

    Making Learning Aids That Tap Multiple Intelligences; Presentations of Products

     

    • Using Multiple Intelligences Strategies

     

    11/26

     

     

    THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

     

     

    #12-12/03

     

    • #5 Post Reading: Expansion

     

    Assessment Tools; Potpourri of Expansion Activities

     

     

    #13-12/10

     

     

    TASK TIME; Small Group Meetings

     

     

    #14-12/17

     

    • Content Unit

     

    In-Class Presentations of Content Units

     

    Summary of Product by Type

     

    In-Class Tasks (10 @ 5 points each)

    Chapter Summaries (4 @ 10 points each)

    Reflective Essays (2 @ 10 points each)

    Product based on reading (Ch. 4) (1 @ 10 points)

    Lesson Plans (5 @ 20 points each)

    Content Unit (1 @ 130 points)