Reading (RDG)

A survey course of children's literature and language development, this course explores genres of children's literature. Vocabulary and comprehension strategies for early childhood and elementary teaching are introduced. Upon completion students will be able to support a literature and language rich classroom environment. This course may be taken prior to Teacher Education Program eligibility.

This course is required by all students in the undergraduate Early Childhood/Elementary Education program. Materials and methods of teaching literacy in early childhood. Foundations of literacy including reading, writing, listening, spelling, and speaking will be emphasized. This course is designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in Science of Reading methods including literacy components: phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and vocabulary.

This course is required by all students in the undergraduate Special Education program. Materials and methods of teaching literacy in early childhood. Foundations of literacy including reading, writing, listening, spelling, and speaking will be emphasized. This course is designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in Science of Reading methods. Literacy components included: phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, phonics, and vocabulary.

Methods, materials and research findings on beginning reading instruction in P-3 classrooms. Emphasis will be placed on teaching phonics and integrating children's literature in early childhood literacy programs.

Evaluation of books for children, selection criteria, and the interests, needs and abilities of children emphasized. Requires Teacher Education Program eligibility.

Materials, methods, and theory of the science of reading appropriate for the middle levels.

Requires Teacher Education Program eligibility. Materials and methods for building middle level students literacy skills in reading and writing.

Requires Teacher Education Program eligibility. Materials and methods for analysis of reading difficulties in middle level students.

Prerequisite: Teacher Education Program eligibility and RDG 304. This course is required by all students enrolled in the undergraduate Early Childhood/Elementary Education program. The purpose of this course is to provide information regarding methods, materials, and research findings concerned with beginning reading instruction for elementary grades. Foundations of literacy including reading, writing, listening, spelling, and speaking will be emphasized. This course is designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in Science of Reading methods. Literacy components included: vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and composition. Following explicit modeling of a variety of systematic strategies, candidates will demonstrate the ability to foster a strong vocabulary foundation in students by developing lessons for explicit Tier 2 vocabulary instruction (vocabulary). Candidates will create lessons that help develop students’ ability to understand, interpret, and critically engage with various types of texts (comprehension). Candidates will demonstrate the ability to develop students’ ability to express thoughts, ideas, and information clearly and effectively in written form (composition). RDG 342 is cross-listed with RDG 343 and EED 343, and only one may be taken for credit. This course is a prerequisite to RDG 354 Reading Diagnosis. To ensure students are provided the best quality instruction in Science of Reading, and throughout matriculation of the program candidates will receive training in this quality research and content to help them prepare for literacy instruction in their future classrooms.

This course is required by all students enrolled in the undergraduate Special Education program. The purpose of this course is to provide information regarding methods, materials, and research findings concerned with beginning reading instruction for elementary grades. Foundations of literacy including reading, writing, listening, spelling, and speaking will be emphasized. This course is designed to provide explicit, systematic instruction in Science of Reading methods through training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Units 5-8. Literacy components included: vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and composition. Following explicit modeling of a variety of systematic strategies, candidates will demonstrate the ability to foster a strong vocabulary foundation in students by developing lessons for explicit Tier 2 vocabulary instruction (vocabulary). Candidates will create lessons that help develop students’ ability to understand, interpret, and critically engage with various types of texts (comprehension). Candidates will demonstrate the ability to develop students’ ability to express thoughts, ideas, and information clearly and effectively in written form (composition). RDG 343 is cross-listed with RDG 342, and only one may be taken for credit. This course is a prerequisite to RDG 354 Reading Diagnosis. To ensure students are provided the best quality instruction in Science of Reading, the JSU Teacher Education Program has adopted Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) for reading methods courses. Throughout matriculation of the program, candidates will receive training in this quality research and content to help them prepare for literacy instruction in their future classrooms.

This course is required by all students in the undergraduate Early Childhood, Elementary, and Special Education/Collaborative Teacher Education programs. The purpose of this course is to apply the foundational science of reading methods from previous courses. This course is the final in the 9-12 hour sequence of Science of Reading methods courses for initial certification at the Class B level. Candidates will collect and analyze data on struggling readers and design strategic, targeted skill lessons appropriate to the needs determined by the data assessment. Assessment instruments used are those covered in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) Volumes 1 and 2 or other assessment instruments as determined by the course faculty. This course focuses on the methods/materials and reading and literacy development in elementary grades with an emphasis on diagnostic, remediation, and enrichment strategies along with progress monitoring of reading progress. Literacy components targeted in this course include: Phonics, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Lessons created in this course will be applied with a struggling reader in our local school system. To ensure students are provided the best quality instruction in Science of Reading, throughout matriculation of the program, candidates will receive training in this quality research and content to help them prepare for literacy instruction in their future classrooms.