WAYLAND BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
HAWAII CAMPUS
Mission: Wayland Baptist University exists to educate students in an academically
challenging, learning focused and distinctively Christian environment for professional
success and service to God and humankind.
COURSE NUMBER AND TITLE: EDLI 3308 Early Literacy and Phonics
TERM: Winter 2015 (Nov. 18, 2015-Feb. 10, 2016)
INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: Christen Imig
EMAIL: Christen.Imig@wayland.wbu.edu
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment
CLASS HOURS: Wednesday nights from 5:30-9:30 pm, Mililani Campus
CATALOG COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Develops an understanding of how all areas of language arts emerge in early childhood and how
various instructional approaches nurture such development. Field experience: 5 hours.
PREREQUISITES: EDUC 3302 Instructional Strategies or consent of Instructor
REQUIRED RESOURCE MATERIALS:
A.
Cecil, N. (2015). Striking a Balance: A Comprehensive Approach to Early Literacy
(5th ed.). Scottsdale, AZ: Holcomb Hathaway.
B.
Cecil, N. (2004). Activities for a Comprehensive Approach to Literacy. Scottsdale,
AZ: Holcomb Hathaway.
C.
Access to WBU Blackboard and Learning Resources-Articles and databases
www.wbu.edu/lrc
D.
Access to digital camera and capabilities to upload to Blackboard.
E.
Access to children’s books from a university library, school library, public library or
your own personal collection.
COURSE OUTCOME COMPETENCIES:
(Correlated with the TExES EC-6 Generalist)
1. Describe and demonstrate how young children’s speaking and listening abilities develop
to form the basis for vocabulary growth and emerging reading and writing abilities
2. Explain what composes phonological awareness and phonemic awareness then
demonstrate various scientifically-based teaching strategies that develop them in young
children.
3. Demonstrate a working knowledge of the alphabetic principle, its components and
various related scientifically-based teaching strategies.
4. Describe how literacy develops over time from emergent to more proficient stages and
uses a variety of approaches to support such development.
5. Explain the importance of word-analysis and decoding for reading and provide many
opportunities for children to improve their word-analysis and decoding skills.
6. Provide knowledge and practice of the basic principles of assessment and use a variety of
literacy practices to plan and implement literacy instruction for young children.
7. Provide knowledge of the importance of students’ reading for understanding; components
of comprehension; scientifically-based strategies to improve student comprehension.
8. Show knowledge of the conventions of writing in English and ways to provide instruction
that helps children develop proficiency in using written conventions.
9. Demonstrate that writing to communicate is a developmental process and provide
scientifically-based instruction to promote children’s competence in written
communication.
ATTENDANCE POLICY:
1. External Campus Attendance Policy
a. Students enrolled at an external campus of Wayland Baptist University
should make every effort to attend all class meetings. All absences must be
explained to the satisfaction of the instructor who will decide whether the
omitted work may be made up.
b. Any student who misses twenty-five (25%) or more of the regularly
scheduled class meetings will receive a grade of F for that course.
c. When a student reaches a number of absences considered by the instructor
to be excessive, the instructor will advise the student and file an unsatisfactory
progress report with the executive director/campus dean.
All Wayland students are expected to attend every class meeting; the minimum percentage of
class participation required to avoid receiving a grade of "F" in the class is 75%. Students who
miss the first two class meetings without providing a written explanation to the instructor will be
automatically dropped from the roster as a "no-show." Students who know in advance that they
will be absent the first two class meetings and who wish to remain in the class must inform the
instructor in order to discuss possible arrangements for making up absences."
DISABILITY STATEMENT:
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), it is the policy of
Wayland Baptist University that no otherwise qualified person with a disability be
excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination
under any education program or activity in the university. The Coordinator of Counseling
Services serves as the coordinator of students with a disability and should be contacted
concerning accommodation requests at (806) 291-3765. Documentation of a disability
must accompany any request for accommodations.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1.) Attendance/Participation-Students are expected to come to class on time and stay for
the duration of the class. Attendance points will be deducted for arriving late or leaving
early. We are a community of learners; therefore, you are expected to share your input,
ideas, and experiences. Your participation grade is based on active involvement in the
classroom discussions and activities. Sometimes you will need to bring literature books,
and/or educational materials to class which will be counted toward your participation
points.
If you must miss a class meeting, contact me via email or call the WBU office at
488-8570 BEFORE the scheduled meeting. If prior knowledge is given for an excused
absence, partial credit may be earned for a make-up assignment. If no initiative is taken
to contact me before the scheduled class meeting, a zero will be given for that class’s
participation/attendance points.
2.) Field Experience- There is a 5-hour field experience component of this course. Choose
ten of the activities in the text Activities for a Comprehensive Approach to Literacy, to
use with an individual student, small group of students, or an entire class. Write up an
analysis of each activity, in accordance with the format given, describing the lesson
experience and compile into a binder.
Select 5 (of the 10) activities to present in class, on the particular dates that lesson topic
is discussed. Bring ALL of your lesson materials and be prepared to talk about your
lesson and answer questions from your classmates.
There will be checkpoints throughout the course in preparation for the final
presentation (last week of class). At the end of the course, present the highlights and
areas for improvement in addition to the field experience binder (10-15 minutes).
3.) Chapter Presentation- Select 1 of the chapters from the text to teach to the class.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation that covers the main points from the chapter. Take
on the role of facilitator after asking at least 3 discussion questions to the class. Create
an activity for the class that will challenge us to apply the knowledge gained from the
chapter. Additionally, create an assessment for the class, to gauge our knowledge of
the chapter content. Lastly, submit a description of your activity and assessment (via
email) to me at least the day before you present. Follow the rubric given for specifics
on this assignment.
4.) Free Choice- At the end of each chapter, there are journal writings, discussion
questions, case studies and field activities. Complete 1 of the assignments from 3 of
the chapters of your choice. Please be prepared to share your assignment in class
showing photos, video, student samples, or a typed paper as evidence of completion.
5.) On-line Blackboard Assignments- A portion of the class will be online through
Blackboard. The assignment will be posted to the BB one day after our on-campus
meeting (by midnight HST). Follow the assignment length requirements and
deadlines for posting and responding in order to earn full credit. In order to give a fair
chance for all students to post their assignment and receive peer feedback, please do
not post your responses to your classmates before the allotted timeframe. Responses
will be graded on quality and quantity. You should focus on furthering the discussion
by asking clarifying questions and by contributing thoughtful responses based on your
own experiences and the concepts discussed in the text. Use atleast 2 in-text citations
in your BB assignment to give credibility to your work. Late assignments will earn
half credit.
GRADING CRITERIA:
Attendance/Participation (8 classes @ 10 pts each)
Field Experience
-Binder
-Class presentation of 5 lessons
-Final presentation
Chapter Presentation
Free Choice (3 @ 20 pts each)
Blackboard Assignments (3 @ 20 pts each)
50
25
25
100
60
60
Total:
400
80
Course grades will be based on Wayland Baptist University policy:
A= 90-100%
B= 80-89%
C=70-79%
D=60-69%
F= Below 60%
Cr
NCR
I
W
WF
X
IP
for Credit
No Credit
Incomplete
Withdrawal
WP Withdrawal Passing
Withdrawal Failing
No grade given
In Progress
GRADING REQUIREMENTS:
Students shall have protection through orderly procedures against prejudices or capricious
academic evaluation. A student who believes that he or she has not been held to realistic
academic standards, just evaluation procedures, or appropriate grading, may appeal the final
grade given in the course by using the student grade appeal process described in the Academic
Catalog. Appeals may not be made for advanced placement examinations or course bypass
examinations. Appeals are limited to the final course grade, which may be upheld, raised, or
lowered at any stage of the appeal process. Any recommendation to lower a course grade must
be submitted through the Executive Vice President/Provost to the Faculty Assembly Grade
Appeals Committee for review and approval. The Faculty Assembly Grade Appeals Committee
may instruct that the course grade be upheld, raised, or lowered to a more proper evaluation.
ACADEMIC HONESTY: University students are expected to conduct themselves according to
the highest standards of academic honesty. Academic misconduct for which a student is subject
to penalty includes all forms of cheating, such as illicit possession of examinations or
examination materials, forgery, or plagiarism. (Plagiarism is the presentation of the work of
another as one’s own work).
Disciplinary action for academic misconduct is the responsibility of the faculty members
assigned to the course. The faculty member is charged with assessing the gravity of any case of
academic dishonesty, and with giving sanctions to any student involved. Penalties may be
applied to individual cases of academic dishonesty see catalog for more information about
academic dishonesty.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
● Assignments are due at the beginning of each class or by the time indicated on Blackboard for
online assignments. Late BB assignments will receive half credit. Late written assignments will
lose 10% of total points for each day late.
● Unless otherwise indicated, all written assignments should be doubled spaced, use Times New
Roman 12-point type, and adhere to the APA Manuscript Writing style.
● If you submit a written assignment via email (besides a BB assignment), please make sure to
bring a paper copy to class at the next on-campus meeting so that I can give you written feedback
on your assignment.
● Out of respect, please put cell phones on silent mode during class time and remove them from
sight. Any cell phone use (including talking, texting, or checking updates) during class time is
distracting to the learning environment.
CLASS SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS (tentative):
*Italics denote chapters from supplemental text (Activities for a Comprehensive Approach to Literacy
Week #
Date
Nov 18
Topic
Introductions
Review Syllabus
Chapter 1
Due:
 Bring textbook
 Post intro on BB
Nov 25
Chapter 2 & 3
Activities to Develop Early Literacy (Ch. 1)
 BB assignment
Dec 2
Chapter 4
Activities to Develop Phonemic Awareness (Ch. 2)
Dec 9
Chapter 5
Activities for Phonics Instruction (Ch. 3)
Activities to Promote Oral Lang. and Fluency (Ch. 4)
Dec 16
Chapter 6
Activities for Spelling (Ch. 5)
Jan 6
Chapter 7
Activities to Increase Vocabulary (Ch.6)
Jan 13
Chapter 8
Activities to Foster Reading Comp. (Ch.7)
Jan 20
Chapter 9 & 10
Activities to Inspire Young Writers (Ch.8)
Activities to Develop Literacy in the Content Areas (Ch.9)
Chapter 11 & 12
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Jan 27
 Part 1: Field Experience
 BB assignment

BB assignment
9
10
Feb 3
Chapter 13 & 14
Activities to Promote Recreational Reading (Ch. 10)
Activities for Working with Parents (Ch. 11)
11
Feb 10
Chapter 15
Field Experience Sharing
Potluck Celebration
 Part 2: Field Experience
Presentation (Binder)
DUE DATE for Chapter Presentation:_______________________________________
DUE DATES for 3 Free Choice____________________________________________
DUE DATES for 5 field experience lessons __________________________________