ED240: READING CORE I: PHONEMICS, PHONICS, AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

This course introduces teacher candidates to the knowledge and skills necessary to teach and informally assess P-9 students in the areas of reading, phonics/spelling, speaking, listening, and writing. They will also learn how language acquisition, developmental stages, and cultural diversity affect the process of becoming literate. They will learn to analyze words using both units of sound and meaning. Teacher candidates will learn and practice: administration of formal and informal assessment skills in reading and word study/phonics/spelling; approaches for fostering motivation of reading; handwriting; planning for cross-curricular connections for literacy; and strategies for students to comprehend text as well as vocabulary words within the text. Teacher candidates will also be introduced to educational research in literacy, including phonics, and be expected to apply that research to making effective instructional decisions in their instructional planning.