Reading and Writing in the Middle and High School Classrooms
Rd/Wrt Mid/HS Class
Cred 346 Rd/Wrt Mid/HS Class
Professor:
TA:
Office Phone:
Email:
Office:
Josh Lawrence
Karen Taylor
949 824 2346
jflawren@uci.edu, taylorks@uci.edu
3200 Education
Suite 3000A
Course Description:
Emphasis is placed upon understanding the literacy processes (listening, speaking, thinking,
reading, and writing) as they relate to all Single Subject areas. Teachers are guided to integrate
literacy-related strategies with curriculum-based goals supported in the California State
Frameworks. Limited to students accepted into the Teacher Credential Program.
Essential Questions:
1. Who are the adolescent students we teach, and why do they have such difficulties reading
and writing content-area texts?
2. What types of texts and activities will engage students within and across content areas?
3. How can students use reading and writing strategies to maximize their learning within
and across content areas?
Global Goals:
 Understand secondary teachers’ critical role in fostering students’ disciplinary literacy
development.
 Recognize the various types of text available for use in secondary classrooms.
 Learn to integrate literacy activities into lessons in the academic disciplines.
 Practice instructional strategies to aid with text comprehension, study skills, and
vocabulary development.
Instructional Objectives:
Students will:
1. Reflect on their own literacy habits, and those of today’s adolescents.
2. Examine textbooks, trade books, and electronic texts for use in secondary classrooms.
3. Discuss ways in which secondary teachers may pique students’ interest in reading and
writing within the various academic disciplines.
4. Plan lessons in the academic disciplines which include pre-, guided-, and post-reading
and writing strategies (including comprehension activities and strategies for vocabulary
development).
5. Design writing activities around topics in the academic disciplines.
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Grading:
Attendance, Class Participation, & Professionalism
Class assignments
Final Design Projects
*Note: The final project takes the place of an in-class exam.
25%
40%
35%
Attendance Standards:
Because the most powerful learning happens when learners are members of a community,
attendance, promptness, and participation in the class are critical for all members of the class.
When members of a learning community are absent or late, not only does their own learning
suffer, but also the learning of the entire group is diminished.
Teachers are in their classrooms 94% of the time (see
http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/RollCall_TeacherAttendance). Using this as a benchmark, we
have created the following system for assessing attendance and lateness.
1) You can be late or absent for one class with no penalty to your grade if you have
given us (and your team) at least seven days notice.
2) If you face a last minute emergency and cannot give one weeks notice you have two
options:
a. you will lose 10% of your participation grade if you call (512) 887-8825 or
email teachadlit@gmail.com at least 30 minutes before the start of class.
b. you will lose 20% of your participation grade if you do not call (512) 8878825 or email teachadlit@gmail.com at least 30 minutes before the start of
class.
Class Participation:
Facilitators come at the start of class (Lec C = 9:00am; Lec A = 12:30pm). They have
carefully read the assigned chapters, annotated their book, readings or data, and have looked
carefully at the protocol that they have been asked to facilitate.
Notetakers come later (Lec C = 9:15 am; Lec A = 12:45pm). They have carefully read
the assigned chapters, annotated their book, readings or data. They participate actively in the
discussion, and are prepared with a pen and paper in case they are asked to record notes for that
week.
Timekeepers come later (Lec C = 9:15 am; Lec A = 12:45pm). They have carefully read
the assigned chapters, annotated their book, readings or data. They participate actively in the
discussion, and are prepared with smart phone or watch in case they are asked to record note for
that week.
Participants come later (Lec C = 9:15 am; Lec A = 12:45pm). They have carefully read
the assigned chapters, annotated their book, readings or data. They participate actively in the
discussion.
*Unless otherwise noted there is no technology use during the discussion section of the
class (and it is permitted and encouraged in the later section of the each class). This is so that we
can fully attend to each other.
*Note: you need very little besides a physical copy of the book or other reading for the
first half of each class, but you do need that.
* Note: We do monitor and take notes on the groups.
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SCHEDULE, Fall 2014*
*Adjustments will be made and posted online as the semester progresses.
Date:
1
10/7
2
10/14
3
10/21
4
10/28
5
11/4
6
11/11
7
11/18
8
11/25
9
12/2
10
12/9
Reading for that Class
We will provide in class.
Chapter 1 Bridging Content and Literacy Knowledge and Instruction: A
framework for supporting secondary teachers and students (pp.1– 12)
Chapter 2 Research in Disciplinary Literacy: Common and unique challenges
in teaching disciplinary texts (pp.13 – 36)
Chapter 3 The Disciplinary Literacy Network: A vehicle for strengthening
instruction across disciplines. (pp.37 – 60)
Chapter 4 Research in Vocabulary: Word power for content-area learning
(pp.61-71)
Chapter 5 Vocabulary in Practice: Creating word-curious classrooms (pp.7383)
Chapter 6 Research in Discussion: Effective support for literacy, content, and
academic achievement (pp.85-102)
Chapter 7 Discussion in Practice: Sharing our learning curve (pp.103-115)
 Individual Reflection on disciplinary text due.
Veteran’s Day
Chapter 10 Research in Multiple Texts and Text Support (pp.143-161)
Chapter 11 Multiple Texts in Practice: Fostering Accessibility, Engagement,
and Comprehension (pp.163-179)
Chapter 12 Research in Writing: The Rightful Place of Writing-to-Learn in
Content Teaching (pp.181-195)
Chapter 13 Writing in Practice: Strategies for Use Across the Disciplines
(pp.197-213)
 Trade book and text analysis project due.
Chapter 14 Professional Learning as the Key to Linking Content and Literacy
Instruction (pp.215-234)
Chapter 15 Meeting the Challenge of the Common Core (pp.235-249)
Tuning of final project. Due noon on Dec 14th.
Grading Scale:
A = 95-100 %
A- = 90-94 %
B+ = 88-89 %
B = 84-87 %
B- = 80-83 %
C+ = 78-79 %
C = 74-77 %
C- = 70-73 %
D+ = 68-69 %.
D = 64-67 %.
F = 63 % or below
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Brief Overview of Minor and Group Assignments (40%)
Mission Statement
Due week 3
Text Analysis
Due November 4th
Trade Book and Text Analysis Project:
Due November 25th
Final Assignment (35%)
Teaching, “Tuning,” and Delivery of Final Design Projects (35% of Final Grade):
This large final project includes the design of several small lessons, one of which students will
“teach” in class to colleagues. In the lessons, students must connect content-area (i.e.,
disciplinary) goals with reading and writing objectives. Students provide feedback on one
another’s lessons, and help “tune” the lesson plans through a formal discussion protocol.
Finally, students write a final paper that includes an overview of the proposed unit plan, a series
of short lesson plans, and then a narrative reflection paper detailing the lesson-writing process
and major learning in the course.
Final project will be submitted by Due noon on Dec 14th.
Extra credit
Course Evaluations
 Participate in the learning community by completing an anonymous course evaluation
and get bonus points and our thanks.
Word-Curious Classrooms- Extra Credit Due before Wk 10
 Take a picture of the classroom’s environmental print. This can be of posters, Word Wall,
text on the white board, etc. Just the instructional objects; no people.

In the email the picture to Josh and Karen (emails at on first page). Include one sentence
referring to the observable strengths in the classroom environment as related to wordlearning, one sentence highlighting the weaknesses in the classroom environment as
related to vocabulary strategies or habits of mind, and one sentence about what you would
change to create word-curious and word-conscious classrooms.
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Texts We Reference During EDU 346:
Discussion-Practical
Zwiers, J. & Crawford, M. (2011). Conversations in language arts. Academic conversations:
Classroom talk that fosters critical thinking and content understandings (pp. 109-140).
Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Social Studies
Hess, D. (2004). Discussion in social studies: Is it worth the trouble? Social Education
Math
Zahner, W. C. (2012). "Nobody can sit there": Two perspectives on how mathematics problems
in context mediate group problem solving discussions. Journal of Research in Mathematics
Education, 1(2), 105-135.
Science
Shwartz, Y., Weizman, A., Fortus, D., Sutherland, L., Merit, J. & Krajcik, J. (2009). Talking science:
Classroom discussions and their role in inquiry-based learning environments. The Science
Teacher, Summer, 44-47.
ELLs
Zwiers, J. & Crawford, M. (2009). How to start academic conversations. Educational Leadership,
66(7), 70-73.
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