RDG/570 - Curriculum Const and Assmt: Reading and Lang Arts for SPE

Course Description

This course focuses on the most current research, theory, and methods of reading instruction, including the science of reading. Teacher candidates will implement research-based instruction, including strategies that enhance content knowledge of phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Instruction and assessment techniques, including intervention practices and strategies for teaching learners with dyslexia, are modeled. In addition, candidates will examine the writing process and ways to promote skill development for exceptional learners.

This graduate course is 8 weeks.

This course has a prerequisite. Please see details in the Prerequisite section below.

PLEASE NOTE:
Attendance and participation are mandatory in all university courses, and specific requirements may differ by course. If attendance requirements are not met, a student may be removed from the course. Please review the Course Attendance Policy in the Catalog for more information.

This course is not available for enrollment to residents of Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia. Wisconsin, Wyoming, and individuals who reside outside the United States.

Course Objectives

Topic 1

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• Examine the development timeline for literacy skills.
• Explore how disorders, such as dyslexia, affect a learner’s reading ability.
• Describe the five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
• Examine the components of phonology, morphology, semantics, graphophonics, and syntax.
• Explore evidence-based programs and strategies for reading instruction that addresses specific deficiencies.

Topic 2

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• Investigate commonly used literacy benchmark assessment tools. 
• Explore informal reading assessments used to identify students’ strengths, weaknesses, and reading levels.
• Analyze effective systems to organize and communicate diagnostic information.
• Use formative and summative assessments to identify learners’ needs and develop support strategies.

Topic 3

• Investigate the use of phonics and decoding strategies.
• Explore word attack strategies readers use to process written language for meaning.
• Analyze the place of phonics in a reading program for exceptional learners.
• Examine methods of evaluating phonics mastery.

Topic 4

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• Determine the relationship between language acquisition and literacy development.
• Examine the use of effective oral reading practices to support literacy development across content areas.
• Evaluate communication modes and skills for learning, expressing learning, and self-expression.
• Investigate instructional strategies that support and expand learners’ communication through speaking, listening, reading, writing, and other modes.

Topic 5

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• Examine schema theory and how it relates to reading comprehension.
• Identify pre-reading, reading, and post-reading strategies to enhance comprehension for diverse learning needs.
• Examine linguistic and culturally relevant instructional methods to help exceptional learners understand and question ideas from diverse perspectives. 
• Analyze how reading difficulties may impact exceptional learners in other content areas.
• Investigate supplemental resources and technologies that ensure accessibility and support students’ comprehension.

Topic 6

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• Examine instructional strategies for vocabulary development for exceptional learners.
• Integrate teaching methodologies for the vocabulary development of exceptional learners.
• Identify the connection between vocabulary, word recognition, and reading fluency.

Notes

Disclaimers

The University of Phoenix reserves the right to modify courses.

Although our continuing education for teacher’s courses are accepted by some state agencies in the United States toward teacher certifications and endorsements, this may not be the case in all states or foreign jurisdictions. If you plan to use courses for certification or endorsement, please check with your own state agency and your school district for applicability. Continuing education for teachers’ courses is not eligible to apply to degree programs at University of Phoenix. These courses are not eligible for federal financial aid.

Transferability of credit is at the discretion of the receiving institution. It is the student’s responsibility to confirm whether credits earned at University of Phoenix will be accepted by another institution of the student’s choice.

While widely available, not all programs are available in all locations or in both online and on-campus formats. More information about eligibility requirements, policies, and procedures can be found in the catalog or please check with a University Enrollment Representative.