SHORTWOOD TEACHERS’ COLLEGE
BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
ADVANCED STUDIES IN LITERACY 1 (ASIL 1)
NUMBER OF CREDITS: 3
NUMBER OF HOURS:
45 hours
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Literacy pedagogy has been an integral part of the Jamaican teacher education programme. Developing preservice teachers’ awareness of the historical and current trends in literacy as well as principles and practices for
developing children’s competencies is an extremely important dimension of the teacher education programme. The
course, Advanced Studies in Literacy is essential in as it is aligned to the emphases of Jamaican educational
authorities that advocate that teachers need to be able to make sense of theories and practices in literacy in order to
effect specified literacy improvement benchmarks for Jamaican schools.
This course stands out as an advanced area of study because it entails exploration of literacy not primarily a
“how to” perspective but from through analytic and creative processes. Student teachers who successfully complete
this course should have greater understanding of the processes and principles involved in the development of literacy
and are able to relate more meaningfully to literacy concerns in the Jamaican educational environment.
COURSE CONTENT
UNIT 1: An Overview of Literacy
 Personal definitions of literacy
 Theories of literacy to include:Constructivist - Jean Piaget; Interactive Learning Rumelheart, Marie Clay
Socio Linguistic - Heath, Vygotsky, Goodman
Transactionalist / Reader Response Learning Theories - Rosenblatt
 Types of Literacy including technology and media
 Understanding how children learn
UNIT 2: The Role and Effectiveness of the Literacy Teacher
 Situational Analysis – Discussion and role play based on experiential background as well as observation
related to class size, multi-grade classrooms, resources , Curriculum demands
 Policy issues – (e.g., new trends – Education authorities); Availability and accessibility of resources,
Teacher competence
 Roles of the 21st Century Jamaican literacy teacher guided by the following: Motivator
Evaluator, Resource Person, Researcher, Facilitator, Technophile
 Literacy Models - Bearing in mind that Excellent Literacy Educators providing more
- coaching and scaffolding, reading and writing experience, small group instruction, more
engagement, more independent reading, assessment procedures to document learning
UNIT 3: Early Literacy
 Perspectives on Literacy acquisition
 Early Literacy skills/behaviours
 Early Literacy Programmes/Initiatives within the schools e.g., Reading Recovery, Success for All, Jolly
Phonics, First Start
 Literacy and other areas of development: Socialization, Literacy and emotional Development, Literacy and
the Creole Speaker
 Oral Language Development, Meta-linguistic awareness, Best Practices
UNIT 4: Integrating Literacy - The Reading/Writing Connection
 What is the Reading/Writing connection?
 Research on reading/writing connection- Benefits
 Cognitive strategies that underpin the reading and writing process – tapping into prior knowledge, asking
question, making predictions, monitoring the process, reflecting, relating, evaluating
 Description of the Reading/Writing lesson format

Reinforcing Reading/Writing connection through scaffolding and demonstration lesson
UNIT 5: Approaches to the development of literacy
A look at the following approaches: Basal, Literature based, Whole language, Language Experience, Balanced Literacy, Computer Aided
Instruction, Phonetic, Eclectic
UNIT 6: Lesson Planning
 Lesson Planning: Writing objectives, Creating activities, Assessment, Evaluation
 Employing Strategies – suitable for:- Narrative texts, Expository texts
 Reading Approaches: Basal, Literature based, Thematic, Technology Aided, Eclectic
 Materials and Equipment (roles and types); Word cards, activity card, Evaluating and selecting appropriate
material (including software) benefits and cautions
 Writing Process: Drafting, Editing, Revising, publishing
Course Work Weighting
Coursework pieces include:
 Research Paper
 Micro Teaching
 Oral presentations (groups)
 Mock exam
60%
20%
15%
15%
10%
Written Examination Weighting
40%
 Two hour exam (answer 2 questions – 20% each)
RECOMMENDED TEXTS
Burns, Paul C., Roe, Betty D., Smith Sandy H., (2002). Teaching Reading in Today’s Elementary Schools. Houghton
Mifflin Company, Boston.
Dixon Mary, Barbara Matalon (1999) Exceptional Students in the Classroom. Joint board of Teacher Education:
Jamaica
Ekwall, Eldon E., James L. Shanker (1989). Teaching Reading in Today’s Elementary School Merrill Publishing
Company, Ohio.
Fearn, Leif. and Farnan, Nancy. (2001). Interactions: Teaching Writing and the Language Arts. Houghton Mifflin
Company, Boston.
Forgan, Harry W., Charles T. Mangrum II (1989). Teaching Content Area Reading Skills: A modular Programme for
Preservice and Inservice Teachers. Merrill Publishing Company, Ohio.
Gunning, Thomas G., (2005). Creating Literacy: Instruction for all Students. Allyn and Bacon, MA.
Heilman, Arthur W., Blair, Timothy R., Rupley, William H., (2002). Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading.
Merrill Prentice Hall, Ohio.
Leu, Donald J., Kinzer, Charles K., (1987). Effective Reading Instruction in the Elementary Grades. Merrill
Publishing Company, Ohio.
Olson, Carol Booth (2003). The Reading/Writing Connection: Strategies for Teaching And Learning in the
Secondary Classroom. Allyn and Bacon, MA.
Rinsky, Lee Ann, (1997). Teaching Word Recognition Skills. Prentice Hall, Inc. New Jersey
Rasinski, Timothy,; Nancy Padak(2004) 3rd.Ed. Effective Reading Strategies Merrill Prentice Hall; Ohio.
Robb, Laura (2003). Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science and Math: Practical Ways to weave
Comprehension Strategies into your Content Area Teaching. Scholastic Inc. N.Y.
Soderman, Anne K., Gregory Kara M., O’Neill, Louise T., (1999). Scaffolding Emergent Literacy: A Child-centered
Approach for Preschool through Grade 5. Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Tompkins, Gail E., (2000). Teaching Writing: Balancing process and product. Merrill Publishing Company, Ohio.
Tompkins, Gail E., (2003). Literacy for the 21st Century. Merrill Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Walker, Barbara J. (2000). Diagnostic Teaching of Reading: Techniques for Instruction And Assessment. Merrill
Publishing Company, Ohio.