ENGLISH 483SEMINAR IN TEACHING ENGLISH II
FALL 2002
Joan DelFattore
Class hours: Mon. 3:45-6:45 Room 112 Memorial Hall
062 Memorial Hall
831-2987 (office)
737-7124 (home and fax) Office hours:
Mon. 1:00-3:00
jdel@udel.edu
Wed. 2:00-4:00
www.english.udel.edu/jdel
and by appointment
Required Texts
Joseph Callahan, Leonard Clark, Richard Kellough, Teaching in the
Middle and Secondary
Schools, 7th edition (Prentice Hall, 2002).
Rhoda Maxwell and Mary Meiser, Teaching English in Middle and Secondary
Schools, 3rd ed.
(Prentice Hall, 2001).
Lois Lowry, The Giver (Laurel Leaf, 1994; young adult novel).
Online young adult readings (see online syllabus for links to these websites):
"A Sound of Thunder," by Ray Bradbury:
http://www.sba.muohio.edu/snavely/415/thunder.htm
Website on teaching “A Sound of Thunder”:
http://www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/webquests/spring2001/taft/asoundofthunder/index.html
Online bio of Ray Bradbury: http://www.bookreporter.com/authors/au-bradbury-ray.asp
"The Lesson," by Toni Cade Bambara:
http://sunset.backbone.olemiss.edu/~jmitchel/class/bambara.htm
Online bio of Toni Cade Bambara:
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/authors/tonicadebambara.html
Delaware English Language Arts Content Standards
http://www.doe.state.de.us/Standards/English/ELA_toc.html;
print the following
sections: Definition; Standards One through Four, Grades 6-8
and 9-10.
Delaware Professional Teaching Standards
http://www.doe.state.de.us/DPIServices/teacher.htm#standards;
print entire document
Additional Readings
Each student will be assigned to read one of the following young adult works:
Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A bildungsroman
about an African-
American girl’s coming-of-age in the post-World War II rural South
(October 21)
Piers Anthony, A Spell for Chameleon: Fantasy literature
about the magical Kingdom
of Xanth (October 28)
Robert Cormier, I Am the Cheese: A boy whose parents
are in the Witness Protection
Program encounters a computerized therapist and a “Big Brother” version
of the
American government (October 28)
Marilyn Nelson, Carver: A Life in Poems: The life
of George Washington Carver, told
in poetry from multiple perspectives (October 21)
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:
A modernized version of classic
fairy tale themes: an ill-treated orphan boy discovers that he
is really a magician (October 28)
Technology
Students must have active e-mail accounts and check them regularly, as announcements and some student work will be circulated in that format. Students will also be asked to do research for the class on the Internet.
This syllabus, links to urls mentioned on the syllabus, and all instructor-made handouts are available on the instructor’s home page (www.english.udel.edu/jdel/), which also includes links to English Education program information.
Grading
At the end of the semester, students will submit a unit plan demonstrating their ability to pull all of the course topics together into a coherent set of classroom-worthy instructional materials keyed to the Delaware English Language Arts Standards and the Delaware Professional Teaching Standards. The unit plan will count as 40% of the course grade. The only possible grades for the unit plan are A, B, and “Do it again.” A grade of B indicates that the material is good enough to be used in a real-life secondary school classroom, and students must display this level of competency in order to complete the course successfully.
As students gradually master the various elements of a unit plan, the written work for this course will include such things as daily lesson plans, motivational activities for secondary school students, Internet research, summaries of discussions with cooperating teachers, designs for multiple assessments of secondary school students, and reflective essays. This written work will be revised in a variety of small-group activities and handed in for preliminary comments by the instructor, after which it will be revised again before being submitted in a course binder for a final grade. All materials in the course binder will be annotated with respect to the Delaware English Language Arts Standards and the Delaware Professional Teaching Standards they meet.
The course binder will count as 40% of the course grade. The only possible grades for the course binder are A, B, or “Do it again.” A grade of B indicates that the material is good enough to be used in a real-life secondary school classroom, and students must display this level of competency in order to complete the course successfully.
At the end of the semester, the unit plan, the material from the course binder, and comparable material from the companion course, ENGL 482, will be added to other items to form your English Education Performance Portfolio. A few final items, such as a philosophy of education, some materials from student teaching, samples of your students’ work, and additional reflections, will be added to your Performance Portfolio in ENGL 481 next semester.
Five unannounced quizzes will be given; the average of the quiz grades will count as 20% of the course grade.
All out-of-class work must be typed. Three points will be deducted for each day an assignment is late.
Attendance Policy
ENGL 483 requires participation in seminar discussions and ongoing small-group projects. These activities are essential preparation for student teaching and cannot be replaced by reading on your own or by getting class notes from someone else. Students are therefore required to attend every class meeting, which includes showing up on time and staying until the end of class. The final grade will be lowered by three points for each unexcused absence, which means everything except serious illness or a death in the family. Students will also lose credit for any quizzes or in-class written work that they miss as a result of unexcused absences.
Car trouble, non-emergency medical or dental appointments, family or
social obligations, studying for this course or other courses, weariness,
outside jobs, romantic complications, hangovers, existential ennui, and
abduction by creatures from another planet are unexcused absences.
Except for dire emergencies, absences will be excused only if students
call ahead of time. Students who miss more than one class for any
reason will be required to provide documentation for all absences after
the first. Students who repeatedly arrive late or leave early will
receive a warning and then will lose points if the behavior continues.
Please note that repeated late arrivals, early departures, or non-appearances
in student teaching or in a teaching job are grounds for dismissal, so
this attendance policy is consistent with the course’s goal of developing
the professional attitudes and habits necessary for teaching.
COURSE OVERVIEW
Description
The Seminars in Teaching English I and II are offered every fall. The same students take both courses, which are designed as a unit, and everyone who takes them has already received a student teaching placement for the spring term. Throughout the fall, students go out into the schools to observe secondary school classes, interact with their cooperating teachers, and begin doing a few basic teaching activities in preparation for student teaching in the spring. This contact with the schools is a crucial element of both seminars, since it gives students a real-world perspective through which they can better understand how the ideas and approaches discussed in these courses apply to actual secondary school classrooms. Being in the schools also gives students an opportunity to appreciate the practical significance of such topics as content standards, statewide assessments, and cultural diversity.
The combination of assigned readings, research and group projects, seminar activities, and continuing contact with the secondary schools not only helps students acquire new knowledge, but also encourages them to coordinate what they have learned throughout their entire program into a coherent basis for teaching. Indeed, during the semester students work on an English Education Performance Portfolio documenting how they have met the program standards through their previous coursework in English and education, their various field experiences, and these two seminars. Students are also encouraged to adapt the innovative teaching techniques they have experienced in some of their college classes, such as the increasing use of e-mail, the Internet, small-group work, and non-print media, for use at the secondary school level. Similarly, building on the information provided by educational psychology classes that deal with diverse learners, including mainstreamed special education pupils, students learn how to apply this material to the specific tasks involved in teaching secondary school English. The same is true of many other pedagogical topics that are covered in general terms in education courses and then applied in a more content-specific manner in the Seminars in Teaching English. Examples of such topics include the use of multiple assessments, including statewide standardized tests; the inclusion of multicultural perspectives in teaching; and the use of the case study method as a tool for analysis and problem-solving, among many others.
Objectives
* Students will develop lesson plans using a variety of research-based approaches. Emphasis will be placed on serving secondary school students who come from varied backgrounds, live in a pluralistic culture, and exhibit different learning styles. These lesson plans, which will be keyed to the Delaware State Content Standards and the Delaware Professional Teaching Standards, will include the following elements: long-term goals and specific behavioral objectives designed for diverse learners; motivational activities aimed at stimulating pupil interest and emphasizing the relevance of the lesson to the pupils’ own lives; varied instructional strategies focusing on student-centered approaches to whole-class, small-group, and individual learning; skills-based as well as content-based learning; the use of technology, non-print media, and community resources; and multiple types of assessments. Students will also explain how the motivational activities, instructional strategies, pupil assignments, and assessments in each of their lesson plans relate to each other and accomplish the objectives of the lesson.
* Using research-based material presented in the course, students will explain how and when they would use various strategies for classroom management. Students will also complete inventories and write journal entries explaining how their personalities, beliefs, and experiences fit in with the various approaches to classroom management discussed in the course. Moreover, students will observe real-life secondary school classes and will then exchange information and assessments relating to the classroom management issues that arise there. Throughout the course, students will share reflections on the ways in which their attitudes and expectations are being affected by class readings, opinions expressed by other students, and the field experience.
* Working individually and in groups, students will develop plans for using a variety of descriptive, diagnostic, formative, and summative evaluation strategies, such as portfolios, contracts, self-evaluation, AV presentations, observations, and tests. Students will also develop appropriate evaluation instruments and evaluate the effectiveness of particular assessment strategies in different kinds of situations and with diverse learners. On lesson plans written after discussing this material, students will state explicitly how their proposed assessment procedures relate to the lesson’s objectives, motivational activities, class activities, assignments, and target state standards.
* As the culminating activity of the course, students will develop a coherent plan for teaching an entire unit incorporating all of the elements and standards defined above.
* Students will present specific plans for conveying expectations and assessments accurately, constructively, and sensitively to pupils and parents.
* In addition to reading research-based printed materials, students will access appropriate Internet sites for English content (i.e., sites providing background and insights into the literature of various periods and cultures, home pages of authors, authors’ fan clubs, etc.). Students will also access Internet sites dealing with instruction (e.g., chat rooms and online discussion groups for teachers, homepages of textbook publishers and professional organizations, sites dealing with classroom management, etc.).
Conceptual Framework
Seminars in Teaching English I and II are based on the University of Delaware’s Conceptual Framework, which was developed by a multi-college committee to define the approaches generally used in the university’s teacher education programs. The entire Conceptual Framework document may be found at www.english.udel.edu/jdel/.
Reflective Practitioners: ENGL 483 encourages students to think through problems and provides step-by-step models for doing so. Similarly, the required text presents material in a way that invites reflection and problem-solving. Finally, class discussions, small group work, and the materials collected into the course binder include a variety of reflective exercises, such as journal entries and self-evaluations.
Scholars: In accord with the overall goal of becoming reflective practitioners, students are encouraged to consider ways of using research-based information as a means of determining what more they need to learn and how best to learn it. Students are required to include in this effort not only traditional scholarly texts but also appropriate Internet sites and community resources. This work is not undertaken as a separate, isolated assignment; rather, it is part of the routine development of motivational activities, lesson plans, unit plans, multiple assessments, and other instructional materials the students are writing in the course.
Problem-Solvers: The concept of problem-solving is inseparable from the goals of reflectiveness and scholarship defined above. For that reason, the class discussions and seminar activities routinely define problems that need to be solved, identify the information or material needed to solve them, and determine how that information or material may be acquired.
Partners: Almost every class period includes activities
that model techniques of cooperative peer interactions. More broadly,
students are encouraged to develop both the skills and the attitudes necessary
to foster routine, comfortable partnerships – formal and informal – with
parents, colleagues, business and civic groups, and other elements of the
community.
SCHEDULE AND WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS
Please bring copies of the readings to each class meeting.
All written work must be typed.
Sept. 9: Introduction to the course
Introduction to instructional objectives and goals
Introduction to taxonomies
Introduction to diverse learning styles, the Delaware English Language
Arts Content
Standards, and the Delaware Professional Teaching Standards
For next class: Read Callahan pp. 87-106
Read Maxwell, pp. 1-10, 16-30
Print out and read Toni Cade Bambara, “The Lesson” and the online
biographical material on Bambara
Print out and read Ray Bradbury, “A Sound of Thunder,” the
biographical material on Bradbury, and the online suggestions
for teaching “A Sound of Thunder”
Print out the Delaware English Language Arts Content Standards
and Professional Teaching Standards; bring to next week’s class
Sept. 16: Discussion of the readings
Assignment of second YA book (see Texts, above)
Modeling and practice in developing goals and objectives for “The Lesson”
and “A
Sound of Thunder”
Modeling and practice in developing goals and objectives for those two
stories that
reflect different levels of taxonomies
Discussion of the NCTE content standards (included in the Maxwell reading)
Group reading and analysis of the Delaware content standards
Discussion of developing goals and objectives that address the content
standards
Group reading and analysis of the Delaware teaching performance standards
Discussion of meeting the teaching performance standards through instructional
planning, reflection, and classroom practice
Introduction to teacher-centered and student-centered methodologies and
activities
For next class: Read Callahan, pp. 209-44, 251-301
Read Maxwell, pp. 73-94
Sept. 23: Modeling and practice in using teacher-centered methodologies
and activities to
carry out goals and objectives previously developed for the Bambara and
Bradbury stories; discussion of their applicability to the various learning
styles discussed earlier
Modeling and practice in using student-centered methodologies and activities
for
the same purposes
Discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method, focusing
on its
usefulness for meeting instructional goals and objectives, serving diverse
learners and learning styles, and addressing state and national standards
Modeling and practice in meeting content and performance standards through
the
various methodologies and activities
Small-group work to develop set inductions and motivational activities
that
address the specific goals and objectives for teaching The Giver;
discussion of adjustments for different learning styles
Preliminary discussion of sequencing standards-keyed goals, objectives,
set
inductions, and activities into a lesson plan (see format in Callahan,
pp.
139-40)
For next class: Read Callahan, pp. 133-55
Read Maxwell, pp. 258-78
Read The Giver
Sept. 30: Modeling and practice in formulating goals and objectives
for The Giver and then
developing methodologies and class activities to carry them out
Modeling and practice in adjusting the activities to allow students with
diverse learning
styles to meet the goals and objectives
Review material on set induction, motivation
Modeling and practice in formulating set inductions for The Giver specific
to the goals
and objectives agreed upon earlier
Discussion of the materials needed for the Performance Portfolios (preliminary
progress reports due Oct. 16, 21)
For next class: Read Maxwell, pp. 114-135
Write a one-day lesson plan for any aspect or portion of The Giver.
Use
the lesson plan format in Callahan (pp. 139-40); note that the first
item under “Procedure” must be a set induction or motivational
activity to engage the students in the lesson. For the moment, do
only items 1-6 in the lesson plan format; we will begin working on
evaluation and assessment next week. Beginning with this
assignment, and continuing throughout this course, you are required
to indicate which Delaware content standards are met by any lesson
you write. The number of each relevant standard must be written in
ink in the margin next to the goal, objective, activity, or assessment
procedure that meets it. The lesson plan itself must be typed.
Oct. 7: Reflection: What you learned by writing the lesson
plan and what needs more work
Small-group peer review of lesson plans; evaluation sheet will be provided
Discussion of what was learned through the review process
Run-through of considerations that must be addressed in lesson plans:
writing goals and objectives, covering different taxonomy levels, accommodating
diverse learning styles, meeting state and national standards, motivating
students,
emphasizing student-centered activities, ensuring that the activities clearly
meet
all the goals and objectives
Re-evaluation of the lesson plans on the basis of the foregoing discussion
Introduction to varied assessment strategies to determine whether the goals
and
objectives have in fact been met through the class activities
For next class: Revise your lesson plan and bring five copies to
class next week
REMINDER: All versions of the lesson plan must be included in the
course binder that will be handed in at the end of the semester; do not
discard earlier versions as you do the revisions
Read Callahan, pp. 335-76
Read Maxwell, pp. 322-50
Write three objectives for The Giver and explain how you would assess
whether the students had achieved those objectives. Be sure to
include (a) two formative procedures, (b) one summative
procedure other than a paper-and-pencil test, and (c) two kinds of
objective questions: five multiple choice questions and five
objective items of another kind
Students assigned to I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Carver:
A
Life in Poems prepare to present their work
Oct. 14: Joint meeting with ENGL 482:
In light of the readings on assessment, discussion of the rationale and
requirements
for the Performance Portfolio
Discussion of student progress on assembling the materials for the Performance
Portfolio
Oct. 21: Discussion of the objectives and assessment procedures
students developed for The
Giver
Review of the elements of lesson planning covered so far
Panel presentation on I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Panel presentation on Carver: A Life in Poems
Discussion of teaching these two works
Small-group work to develop formative and summative assessments for the
lesson
plans evaluated by those groups on Oct. 16
Introduction to sequencing multi-day lesson plans
For next class: Revise lesson plans in light of the classwork
Students assigned to the remaining YA books prepare presentations
Oct. 28: Panel presentation on I Am the Cheese
Panel presentation on A Spell for Chameleon
Panel presentation on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Small-group work in which students who read the same YA book brainstorm
about goals, objectives, set inductions, activities, and assessments for
it
Preliminary discussion of comparisons and contrasts in teaching standard
or
“canonical” literature, nontraditional literature, and YA literature
Introduction to incorporating the Internet and audiovisual approaches into
instruction
For next class: Read Maxwell, pp. 258-95, 383-393
Read Callahan, pp. 304-29
Do Exercise 8.1 (Callahan, p. 309)
Nov. 4: In light of the Maxwell reading, further discussion of
issues involved in teaching
standard, nontraditional, and YA literature
Discussion of the Internet sites evaluated in Exercise 8.1
Brainstorming on possible uses of the Internet by teachers
Brainstorming on possible uses of the Internet by students
Lecture on ideologically based challenges to instructional materials and
their effect on
textbooks and pedagogy (e.g., the use of the Internet)
Brainstorming on possible responses to challenges
Review of the items to be collected for the Performance Portfolio (due
Dec. 2, 4)
Introduction to unit planning
Review of the requirements for the unit plan
For next class: Read Callahan, pp. 121-32
Read Maxwell, pp. 396-432
Decide on the topic of your unit plan, including not only the
material to be covered but the approach you plan to use based on
this week’s readings
Nov. 11: Discussion of the various types of units described in
the readings
Discussion of setting unit goals
Modeling and practice in setting goals for hypothetical units based on
books
discussed in the course
Introduction to incorporating the Internet and audiovisual approaches into
your
lessons
Introduction to classroom management issues
Diagnostic inventory of students’ views on various measures of control
(Callahan,
Exercise 5.5, p. 199)
Small-group work on case studies involving classroom management issues
(Callahan, Exercise 5.6, pp. 201-202)
Reports on the conclusions each group reached regarding the appropriate
ways of
resolving the issues raised in the case studies
For next class: Read Callahan, pp. 161-203
If you have not already done so, finish assembling the course binder
Continue working on the unit plan
Nov. 18: Course binders handed in
Small-group discussion of the case studies considered earlier; in light
of the
reading, what would you change and what would you retain of the classroom
management procedures you favored last week?
Reports of committee conclusions
Reflection: Based on the reading and the “Dispositions” sheet you
received when you entered the program, respond to the following
four prompts:
What will be your greatest strength with regard to classroom
management?
Propose one specific thing you can do to make the best use of that
strength.
What will be your greatest weakness?
Propose one specific thing you can do to offset or remediate that
weakness.
(Note: this information will be shared with other students and
included in the course binder.)
Review of requirements for unit plans
Review of the materials needed for the Performance Portfolios
For next class: Complete unit plans
Nov. 25: No class for Thanksgiving
Dec. 2: Course binders returned
Small-group peer review of unit plans
Unit plans handed in
Discussion of portfolios
For next class: Bring all materials for the Performance Portfolio
Dec. 9: Review of purpose, requirements of Performance Portfolios
Section-by-section assembly of Performance Portfolios
Listing of items still needed
Modeling and practice in identifying where each item in the Performance
Portfolio
meets national and state content and performance standards
Discussion of table of contents and other organizational materials for
the portfolio