SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Education
ED201: INTRODUCTION TO LITERACY COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Offices:
Office Hours:
Phone:
Email:
Time/Room:
Margaret A. Gallego, PhD.
217A/School of Teacher Education/EBA
By appointment
(619) 594-2707
mgallego@mail.sdsu.edu
Monday 4-5:30 North Education 85 (lower level)
Course Overview
What does it mean to be literate? How do children learn to read, write, speak, and listen? The
focus of this class is on the basic processes of literacy and instructional strategies that support reading
acquisition. All aspects of literacy will be addressed (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) with
particular emphasis on emergent and beginning readers. Students will plan, develop, and experiment with
instructional approaches in both the university classroom and public school setting. Concurrently,
students will complete the field-based requirement of 30 hours (approximately 4 hours weekly) tutoring in
K-3 classrooms at Rosa Parks Elementary School. The purposes of this course are to provide:
 a knowledge base that will lead to competency in designing literacy instructional practices for a
diverse elementary population; and
 experiences that lead to competence in the ongoing assessment and successful instruction of children’s
literacy development.
Competencies
Students completing this course will be able to:
 demonstrate how to foster literacy acquisition for first and second language learners through reading,
writing, speaking, and listening processes;
 explain the cueing systems utilized by readers to make meaning;
 discuss the developmental stages of reading;
 organize learning environments that support literacy acquisition;
 develop and deliver phonemic awareness, phonics, and word study activities as part of a balanced
approach to literacy;
 incorporate quality children’s literature into meaningful learning activities;
 construct and conduct instruction that supports emergent and beginning readers, including read-alouds
and shared reading lessons;
Resource/Website: www.readingrockets.org
This is a public website that offers a wealth of articles, lesson plans, and suggestions for instruction. We
will NOT have a textbook for the course; but I may provide you with additional Internet resources and/or
additional e-mail articles as necessary.
READINGS
All assigned readings should be read prior to the scheduled dates for class providing the background
information vital for informed in-class discussion.
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION
Attendance is mandatory. Tardiness will result in point deductions from the student’s grade.
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GRADING POLICY
All assignments:
 Should use precise terminology
• Should be typed;
 Should reflect appropriate language;
• Require correct grammar and spelling; and
 Should be turned in on the established due date (late assignments will be marked down).
Professional Quality: Work is presented in a form that will be acceptable to show a parent or colleague
in a professional meeting. Time and attention appears to have been given this activity (carefully prepared
versus being “thrown together”).
A Word about Student Privacy
The students you will be working with are guaranteed the same right to privacy that all of us enjoy. For
that reason, it is essential that identifying information (last names, social security numbers or student
numbers, etc.) must be omitted from any document. If the document is being reproduced, the identifying
information must be blacked out before turning in any assignment.
Students with a Disability
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your
responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473. To avoid any delay in the receipt
of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note
that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be
provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability
Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
GRADING SCALE
90% or above
80% - 89%
70% - 79%
60% - 69%
59% or lower
A (100-96% = A; 95-90% = A-)
B (89-87% = B+; 86-84% = B; 83-80% = B-)
C (same pattern repeated as for B)
D
F
Assignment Expectations: Your tutoring hours at school sites; some of you will have more/less
opportunities for interaction with students directly (some of you work more hours than others), therefore I
have provided a “sliding scale” of assignments.
REQUIRED FOR EVERYONE: (total 50 %)
Class attendance and participation (10 pts.)
Your presence is essential to the quality of the class. Lively discussion, interesting questions, and
respectful disagreement are all part of a meaningful learning experience. In other words, when you’re not
here, we all miss what you can contribute to our community of learners. There are 4 seminars designed to
assist your interactions at the school site that are incorporated into the ED 201class time; attendance to
these seminars is mandatory.
Responding to Reflective Questions (25 pts.)
Throughout the course, you will write responses to prompts related to our areas of study. These will not
be graded, per se; they are intended to give you an opportunity to reflect on your readings and classroom
experiences. There is an expectation of a level of work expected of university students and should be
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about 300 to 400 words in length. Late assignments will not be accepted. A prompt is featured each week
that we meet as a class see the course schedule (far right column on the grid calendar/assignments).
Picture Book Tea Party (15 pts.)
Picture books are an essential component of a literacy instruction in the classroom. Choose five picture
books (narrative and expository) that you believe are excellent examples of the symbiotic relationship
between text and illustration. Prepare an annotated bibliography (APA or MLA) of your 5 books and
bring 5 copies to class (submit via email to instructor; who will consolidate the list and distribute to
entire class). Be prepared to share the virtues of the book with the class while we enjoy a tea party
celebration. Annotated Bibliography format below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Annotated Bibliography/Book Tea Party
ED 201/Gallego
Your Name
Author of book (date). Title of book. Publication House.
Description of Book: (1-2 paragraphs) Address the following questions: (1) The theme/main idea/teaching
of the book; (2) comment on the usefulness for classroom instruction (it is good for teaching past tense
verbs, or pattern book good for fluency, etc. (3) note special features that make the book unique
(illustrations are realistic; text type; etc.)
Age/grade level suggested: ______
Number of pages: ______
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Field Experience Log – (required of tutoring site). This log will be used to fill in hours and work
completed throughout the semester. Your classroom teacher will sign these logs to verify your time and
work spent with students. An incomplete log will result in a failing grade for the course.
CHOICES: (remaining total 50%). The number of tutorial hours (and access to children) varies
according to arrangements with teacher; therefore there is flexibility in regard to the final 50% of the
assignments.
Lesson Plans at least two (20 pts.) and up to five lesson plan/presentations (50 pts)
Select (at least two) one lesson plan strategy to present in ED 201 class to your peers; the lessons can also
be used in your classroom with your student(s). Go to Readingrockets.org then go  on left margin
“Classroom strategies” choose from among many strategies (scroll down to the grid of options): Print
awareness; phonological awareness; phonics; fluency; vocabulary; comprehension; writing. From these
topics and information create a lesson plan (for use in your classroom and/or for use in our classroom
presentation). The lesson plan for credit in class is a formal presentation; be prepared; bring the
necessary materials for conducting the lesson (not talking about what you did/would do); use clear
language, direct eye contact, etc. Use the lesson plan format (below). Submit written lesson plan to
instructor at conclusion of class presentation. Presentations will begin/sign up during week of 10/6 and
will continue throughout the semester until all presentations are completed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lesson Plan Outline (to be submitted to the instructor after the 10 min. presentation)
Objective: (what is the purpose/focus of the lesson)
Direct Instruction: (I/teacher do)
Guided Instruction: (we/students and teacher do)
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Independent instruction: (you/student do).
Closure: (what is the take home message for the students)
BRING the materials you want us (the audience/as students) to interact with in order to teach the content.
Actually TEACH us don’t tell us what you did/would do with the children actually teach us in the class.
You may ask for a small group of volunteers to act/role play as students.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interview with Key Personnel (10 pt.) conduct interview with (a) particular child to identify areas of
need; special interests/talents and to build rapport between tutor and student and/or (b) teacher to
understand planning and professional aspects of teaching and/or (c) administrator to understand
demographics of school and overview of programs offered. Suggested/sample interview questions will be
generated by the class members and instructor as an in-class activity. If you choose this option please
complete the interview(s) during the first four weeks of in classroom participation so that the
answers/information will be helpful to your tutoring sessions. Anticipated write up 3 pages; this is a
formal paper so please edit and use complete sentences, punctuation, etc.
Video/Podcasts (10 pt.) wwwreadingrockets.org home page on left margin; select one of many topics;
addressing the following prompts: Why is this important; What evidence do you see of this in your (own)
or student classroom? What questions do you have regarding the topic? Response should be
approximately 350-400 words in length.
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Reading is a very complex topic much more expansive than we can address in an introductory class. For
the purposes of this course (tutoring in classrooms) we will focus on a few topics and their application to
classroom instruction.
All reading/viewing assignments can be found at: wwwreadingrockets.com
Go to “ABC’s of Teaching Reading”
Then go to “Reading 101”
Under the Reading 101 tab there are several topics with accompanying video clips; this is the location for
the ‘reading/viewing/article” assignments noted in the schedule/calendar below:
Each Topic selection has a short description a brief video example and the articles that are to be read are
indicated on the grid below (article/reading).
Date and Topic
8/25/14
No formal Class
Article/Reading due on Assignments DUE on this day
this day
Students assigned to
No reading yet!
classrooms
9/01/14
No Class
Holiday
Holiday
9/08/14
NO CLASS
Syllabus Preview (sent
Via email)
ALL reading assignments are on
readingrockets.org UNLESS
otherwise indicated… Roam around
the website to familiarize yourself
with it.
9/15/14
No CLASS
Syllabus preview; Begin
tutoring in classrooms.
9/22/14 READING 101:
Print Awareness: Description
And short video
9/29/14 #1 SEMINAR
(1) An Introduction …
(2) Guidelines for
instruction …
Familiarize yourself with school
personnel; Preview the interview
assignment in the syllabus.
What is your most vivid memory of
learning to read and write? When did
you realize you could?
10/6/14 READING 101
Phonemic Awareness:
Description and video
10/13/14
Phonics:
Description and video
10/20/14 #2 SEMINAR
(1) Phonemic activities
for Preschool and
Elementary....
(1) 5 Phive Phones of
Reading
What is communication? How is it
different from speech or reading?
10/27/14 READING 101
Fluency
Description and video
(1) Questions about
Fluency
A parent asks you why his child
wants to hear the same story every
night. What do you tell him?
11/03/14
Vocabulary
(1) Introduction…
(2) Instruction
A grandparent is eager to help her
child become a better reader. What’s
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How can parents and families
become involved in teaching and
learning?
Description and video
guidelines…
your advice?
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11/10/24
Spelling:
Description and video
11/17/14
SEMINAR #3
11/24/14
Writing
Description and video
12/01/14
SEMINAR #4
12/08/14
Comprehension
Description and video
(1) How spelling
supports reading.
Do you think spelling is important?
How does “spell check” influence
your spelling skills?
(1) Questions about
writing
What strategies do you use in
writing? How can these skills be
modified for use with children?
(1) What works in
comprehension
instruction.
What are some strategies YOU use
when you don’t comprehend text?
Children’s book annotations due;
Bring copies of the books to class if
possible: Remaining in-class lesson
plan presentations. All assignments
due. Submit via email.
12/15/14
Picture book tea party
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