Valley City State University
English 490A
Methods of Teaching Communication Arts
Fall 2001
Instructor:
Office:
Office Phone:
e-mail:
Julee A. Russell
McFarland 318
845-7440
julee_russell@mail.vcsu.nodak.edu
Required Texts:
English Journal
Brief Course Description:
Methods of Teaching Communication Arts is required for English Education majors and English, Speech,
and Drama minors. The course is designed to provide students with the theoretical knowledge and the
practical experience necessary for the beginning English / communications teacher. The course is also
intended to assist students in developing some specific techniques for teaching and planning lessons and
units. To this end, the course will focus on teaching, and students will teach / video tape at least once per
week. In addition, students will evaluate themselves and each other. The reading assignments and
course activities will include discussions of speaking, listening, reading, and thinking. The teaching of
English / communication arts is a broad and inclusive set of varying activities. Issues related to classroom
management and discipline will also be addressed.
The Abilities project for this course is based on the P.I.E. framework and will demonstrate the
student’s ability to plan, implement, and evaluate a classroom experience.
English 490A meets the following North Dakota Program Approval Standards:
8.10.1
The program requires the study of English language content including a) language development, b)
history of language, c) grammar, d) dialects and levels of usage, and e) the purpose of language; and uses
a variety of performance assessments of students’ understanding and ability to apply that knowledge.
8.10.4
The program requires the study of oral and written composition including a) understanding of the
composition process, b) understanding and practicing composition for different purposes and audiences;
and uses a variety of performance assessments of students’ understanding and ability to apply that
language.
8.10.6
The program requires the study of teaching language arts including current trends in English language arts
with an examination of a variety of teaching methods and techniques; and uses a variety of performance
assessments of students’ understanding and ability to apply that language.
8.10.7
The program requires the study of current, appropriate instructional technologies. The program uses a
variety of performance assessments of students’ understanding and ability to apply that language.
Course Requirements:
1. Attend class regularly and participate in activities.
2. Read assigned material when it is assigned.
3. In addition to the required class reading, choose and read one current book which directly addresses
the teaching of English / communication arts in middle or secondary schools. Please submit a review
sheet containing the following information: the full bibliographic reference (in MLA or APA
format); the age group addressed in the book; a statement as to who the intended audience seems to
be; and a review of the book. The book reviews will be posted in BlackBoard for all students to read.
4. Plan and give a presentation, ten to fifteen minutes in length, on one of the issues related to the
teaching of writing raised in class or in the book you read. Choose an issue, which you believe to be
significant, one which you think everyone in the class should know about.
5. Read one YA novel and write a book rationale for the novel. Give a formal presentation of the book
and rationale to the class.
6. Design several specific unit plans and teaching / learning plans, and share those plans with
classmates.
7. Create and display a bulletin board design, suitable for the secondary school English classroom as
well as the university English classroom. The display will be up for 1 ½ - 2 weeks during this
semester. (McFarland 313)
8. Plan and teach lessons to the class weekly.
9. Revise lesson / unit plans.
10. Each student will also be required to take exams and the final exam as scheduled.
11. Each student will complete the course Abilities project. The portfolio project for English 490A is
based on the P.I.E. framework as described on page 37 of the 2000-02 Bulletin.
Fall Semester 2001
Schedule
Week One: August 27-31, 2001
T
W
R
F
Week Two: September 3-7, 2001
M
T
W
R
F
no class Labor Day
Week Three: September 10-14, 2001
M
T
W
R
F
last day to add / apply for fall grad.
Week Four: September 17-21, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
F
Week Five: September 24-28, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
F
Week Six: October 1-5, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
F
Week Seven: October 8-12, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
F
Week Thirteen: November 19-23, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
no class Thanksgiving
F
no class
Week Eight: October 15-19, 2001
BB –
M
T
W
R
F
Week Fourteen: November 26-30, 2001
BB –
M
T
W
R
F
Week Nine: October 22-26, 2001
BB –
M
T
W
R
F
Week Fifteen: December 3-7, 2001
Week Ten: October 29-Nov. 2, 2001
BB M
T
W
R
F
Week Sixteen: December 10-14, 2001
Week Eleven: November 5-9, 2001
BB M
T
last day to drop
W
R
F
Week Twelve: November 12-16, 2001
BB M
no class Veteran’s Day
T
W
R
F
M
T
W
R
F
registration
registration
M
T
W
R
F
Week Seventeen: December 17-21, 2001
Finals Week
M
T
10:00 Methods Final
W
R
F
VCSU Academic Integrity
Academic integrity as it applies to students is a trait of character which derives from the student's sense of personal
honor and self worth. It is defined by standards which are traditional within the academic community and which
represent the academic commitment to the pursuit of truth. Academic integrity is especially concerned with the
treatment of evidence and the originality of scholarship or student work. A stated objective of the University is to
help individuals increase their intellectual, social, personal, and moral development. The academic integrity policy is
one means by which this objective is implemented.
Personal moral values, whether or not they are related to academic work, are internal and spontaneous to each
individual. Ideally they are self-regulated. In the cultivation of these values among students, however, regulation and
sanction may be necessary discipline. In order that students may recognize breaches of academic integrity, the
following practices are identified as violations of academic integrity and subject to appropriate sanction.

Copying another student's work on tests, quizzes, examinations, or other assignments.

Gaining unauthorized access to examinations.

Using unauthorized notes during tests or examinations. ("Crib notes")

Submitting term papers or assignments which are not the student's original work.

Plagiarism, or the use of citations or quotations without attribution of their source.

Interfering with laboratory experiments, or recording experimental data not experimentally derive ("Drylabbing")

Recording bibliographic citations not actually consulted.

Falsifying academic transcripts, records, letters of recommendation or other evaluations.

Assisting another person in a breach of academic honesty.

Any other action which does not, in competent academic judgment, accord with the general standards of
academic honesty.
SANCTIONS
Any one or more of the following actions may be imposed on a student who has violated the ideal of academic
integrity.
1. After confronting a student with the evidence, a faculty member may lower a student's grade, deny credit, assign a
grade of F for the particular test or assignment, or give a grade of F for the course in question.
2. All instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
3. The Vice President for Academic Affairs will have first jurisdiction in allegations regarding violations that occur
outside the classroom.
4. The Vice President for Academic Affairs may impose academic warning, academic probation, academic
suspension or expulsion, depending on the severity of the offense. Any such action may be reflected on the student's
transcript.
5. Should a violation under this policy include violations of the Student Code of Conduct, further action may be
taken according to the operating guidelines of that policy.