ELA 916A - Expanding Content Literacy

Credits: 3
Let's close the gap and prepare our elementary students for success! The gap - that seemingly small problem evident in elementary classes that looms larger and larger as students move into the secondary grades. The gap that is caused by primary-level students being immersed in narrative text that leaves them unprepared for the challenges of informational text and content-specific vocabulary seen in the secondary grades. This online course will equip elementary teachers with the background and tools to lay a solid foundation for school children, developing in them the skills they need to be successful with informational text. By investigating and utilizing research-based and classroom-proven strategies, students will have the opportunity to design activities and lessons that include creating the framework for reading, keying into vocabulary, setting the framework for writing, developing comprehension, and research writing that promotes content literacy in the classroom and provides instruction that braids literacy processes with the curriculum. The required textbooks must be purchased separately.