REED 663: STRATEGIC USE OF
MATERIALS
Course Overview
Dr. Sharon Pitcher
Spitcher@towson.edu
When viewing PowerPoints, click on “ View
Show ” under Slide Show on PowerPoint menu so links will be active.

In this Course We Create a Third Space Online for
Us to Learn Together
On-Line Classes : Provide opportunities to learn from different resources (Interactive PowerPoint
Presentations, research articles, Internet sites, video clips, discussions, blogs)
Blackboard Site :
 Materials you can use independently
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Interactive PowerPoints
Submitting projects
 Opportunities to share
Email:
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Updates and information (make sure you are checking your Towson email account numerous times during the week)
If you have questions or concerns, I would rather you email me than worry.

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There is a special discussion board on the
Blackboard site I call the Café.
This is where you can ask questions (often some of your classmates can answer questions faster than I can), share ideas, share materials, or just chat with your classmates.
During the course I will often put up threads on this discussion board so we can get to know each other and share ideas on current topics.
The professor is not the only one who can add a thread on this discussion board. All of you are welcome to add one. I describe this discussion board as a way to go to Starbucks and discuss ideas with friends only you can do it in your own home and have to supply your own coffee.

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Approved by MSDE to meet the requirements of the Materials for
Teaching Reading Course
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Crucial preparation for Reading
Clinic.
Fulfills some of the major IRA
Standards for Reading Professionals
(See syllabus for list)
Helps you to achieve the College of
Education Dispositions

This course fits in TU College of Ed Framework as it is an important part of developing reading specialists.

You will see that
I will be incorporating assessments throughout the course to make sure that you are working towards these dispositions.
ESSENTIAL DISPOSITIONS FOR EDUCATORS
Towson University College of Education
Commitment to Professional Practice
 Respects and models high academic standards, and demonstrates proficiency in academic writing and professional oral presentation.
 Demonstrates a repertoire of pedagogical skills that develop all students ’ critical and independent thinking, and performance capabilities.
 Reflects on practice regularly in order to improve student learning.
Caring for the Success and Well-being of All Students
 Believes that all students can learn and persists in facilitating their success.
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Accepts and demonstrates responsibility for improving learning for all students.
Demonstrates culturally responsive teaching and celebrates cultural differences.
Collaboration with Colleagues and Stakeholders
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Establishes and contributes to a positive learning climate for all students.
Engages in continual learning and discussion with other professionals.
Seeks expert knowledge in order to improve teaching and learning.
Accepts suggestions and implements changes to improve professional practice.

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All materials for an on-line class will be available on the course Blackboard site by 1:00 PM on Wednesdays of each week.
The Weekly Direction Sheet* will list all of the activities for the class and when the activities are due.
It is crucial that you make sure you understand the activities for the week so you can put on the Café
Discussion Board or email me any questions you may have so put a time on your schedule to check
Blackboard every Wednesday afternoon or evening.
 Questions about the weekly assignments can be posted on the
Café and will be answered on
Thursdays.
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DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE WEEKEND TO READ THIS
BECAUSE THEN YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO GET IN
TOUCH WITH ME TO ASK QUESTIONS.

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For six classes we will use a blog to respond to the readings.
The blog provides an opportunity to discuss the readings of the week with your classmates. A rubric for how the blog is graded is available under Course
Projects on the Blackboard site.
The course blog site link is http://spitcher.wordpress.com/
You are welcome to check out the site and read some of the blog responses from past classes so you can see what the activities look like.
A link to this site is also provided on the
Blackboard site.

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Do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions about the activities of the week or if you need some extra help doing them.
I check email often on Tuesday, Wednesday, &
Thursday.
I am not always able to check email from Friday to
Monday. So if you have a question about work for the week, you need to make a habit of checking the
Weekly “ Class Direction Sheets ” on Wednesdays so I can answer your questions before the weekend.

 Extremely important to read over all of it.
 This is the professor ’ s contract with you.
This includes the course outcomes, course textbooks, grading system, and online support. Read it carefully and put any questions you may have on the Café.

 The following slides will explain the importance of the parts of the syllabus.
 Print the syllabus off the
Blackboard site at this point and read the sections as you go through the next couple of slides.

 Are aligned with IRA Standards.
 Show the purpose of each of the course projects.

Course Texts (p. 2 of Syllabus)
 Phonics Text * – You have a choice between From
Phonics to Fluency (more early elementary oriented and easier to read) or Words Their Way
(more comprehensive explanation of research and includes activities from K to high school, great CD with games and materials that you can individualize) . You will need this text by Class 6**.
 Comprehension Text* - I am requiring the 2007 edition of Strategies That Work. If you have the older edition, you still need to buy this one. It has so much more in it that we will be using. You will need this text by Class 12**.
 Optional Text* Revisit, Reflect, Retell is a required text for the Reading Clinic courses. This could be very helpful for when you are writing the research paper and doing the instructional project.
There will be one optional project using this book in the course.
* These can be purchased from the TU Bookstore, On-line at a site of your choice or Intac, Inc. (This is a local professional book seller and he has great prices -301-589-5460 or 495-0254)
** Check Schedule at a Glance on Blackboard under Course Information for dates.

 For other journal resources online go to Cook Library on the TU website and choose “ Find It, Get It, Use It ” on left menu.
http://cooklibrary.towson.edu/
For the Research Paper in this course, I will be giving you further directions on how to use the resources of Cook Library
Online.

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Disability accommodations
How grades are decided and what each project is worth.
Class participation information
Importance of syllabus and rubrics
Professor ’ s availability

 Includes a list of books and materials that were used to design this course.
 Also includes reference materials that can used to do your research paper and instructional project

 A list of course projects with project descriptions and rubrics is on the course Blackboard site under Course
Projects on Table of Contents.
 What is on the rubric is what I grade.
Take time now to read over each of the rubrics carefully so you understand what all the projects will entail. Don ’ t worry about not knowing how to do the projects at this point.
For each project, a PowerPoint explaining the project and examples of past projects are available under Course Documents.

 This is available by clicking on the link on the “ Schedule at a
Glance ” on the Table of
Contents of the Blackboard site.
 Includes an outline of what is learned and required each week.
 Can be used to plan ahead for completing projects.

More directions for the following projects on will be available on the
Blackboard site:
 Internet Project
 Text Set
 Research Paper
 Instructional Projects
Questions about the projects can be posted on the Cafe discussion group.

Choose a strategy to learn more about.Then use that strategy for your :
 Research Paper/Literature Review helps you to learn more about it.
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Text Set brings together texts to teach it. You find ten texts to use to teach the strategy.
Instructional Project gives you a chance to try it.

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The strategy you choose to do the projects on must be a reading strategy that can be taught to students for them to internalize.
The strategy must be approved by the professor (just email ideas).
To get ideas of strategies that could be used, look at the table of contents of the course textbooks.
More direction on how to choose a strategy will be given in future classes.

Teacher research study
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Decide to try to teach something that you have never done before.
Choose a group of children to work with
Teach using the gradual release of responsibility approach (much more about this during the course)
Document what you do
If you are not teaching right now, you can work with any children that are available to you .

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Manage Your Own Learning and
Completion of the Projects –
Schedule at a Glance and Due
Dates will help you.
Schedule time after 1 PM on
Wednesdays to check the Weekly
“ Class Direction Sheets ” .
Course Documents provide aids to help with all projects and classes.
See Blackboard site for more details.

See descriptions of choices on Course Projects and
Rubrics under Course Information on the
Blackboard site.
These options give you the opportunity to place all of the resources available to you from this course on an online format. If you can think of another resource to use, you are welcome to suggest it.
If you choose not to do one of these projects, you may want to save some of the resources from this course in a binder or on a flash drive. The Internet sites, text sets, instructional projects, PowerPoints, and some of the instructional ideas will be very helpful for you if you are in the Graduate Reading
Program when you get to Clinic.

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Follow Directions Sheet for Class 1 included on the Blackboard site under
Weekly Direction Sheets.
Email your assignment to me.
Enter any questions you may have about the syllabus, projects, on-line classes, etc. on the Café under
Discussion Boards on Blackboard.
Introduce yourself to the rest of us following the directions on the
“ introduce Yourself ” link on the Café.

 Getting to know you in this course.
 Helping you in any way I can to learn more about materials to teach reading.
 Leading you in this educational experience.
Dr. Sharon Pitcher