Content Area Reading K-12
Course Syllabus

Required Textbooks

Modules

1. Defining reading in the content area: student and teacher challenges in an aliteracy culture
2. Content text comprehension: factors that affect understanding
3. Coaching content Readers: “On deck circle” strategies before students begin to read
4. Vocabulary development: strategies for advanced, language impoverished and disabled readers
5. Strategies for building literal or “plain sense” understanding of text
6. Reading between the lines strategies for teaching content inference ability.
7. Summarizing strategies for use after reading
   Combining literal understanding with inferential thinking
8. Student developed questioning strategies
9. Abstracting and extrapolating ideas from text: strategies that teach readers how to create “home run” comprehension products
10. Patterns of non-fiction: recognizing and replicating nonfiction patterns to increase text understanding
11. Guiding students through complex text content: 4 high utility study guides
12. Non fiction trade books in the content classroom
    Research Topic Reports

Participation
While online education is highly flexible and designed to meet your schedule, you will need to set and meet deadlines as part of your weekly assignments and collaborative work. Your instructor will provide a week-by-week calendar of learning activity and project due dates. Additionally, your peer learners will depend on you for timely feedback as you interact via the discussion board and work together on small group tasks.

You will be able to customize activities to your specific personal and professional growth needs.

During each activity, you are expected to share your thoughts, ideas, and questions with other class participants and with your instructor.

Feel free to use these world time tools when you are communicating with participants who live in different time zones.

WORLDTIME
The Time Zone Page (lists almost 600 cities)

Class Discussion
Many of the course instructional concepts are developed through discussion using our discussion board. You are expected to check the discussion board regularly (at least three times a week) to check for new postings and to react to other participants' discussion postings.

The discussion board's most vital use is to exchange ideas with other participants; these may include reactions to readings, discussing the topic/issue of the week, sharing information and resources with classmates, asking a question, or responding to a problem posted by peers or your instructor.

• What was the most valuable thing you learned in this module?
• How will you implement this in your teaching or daily work?
• In what area(s) do you feel you need more information or practice to feel comfortable using the teaching strategies we have learned so far?

Online Discussion - 33% (120 points possible)
Dialogue among class members is critical as we will practice one of the most important points in reading comprehension; readers always “construct their own comprehension.” Writing and talking are the tools of construction. Posting to the discussion board at least three times per module will be expected.

Module Learning Activities - 33% (120 points possible)
Each module requires an application activity.

Final Project - 34% (120 points possible)

Grading Scale

Grade	Percent
A	90-100
B	80-89
C	70-79
D	60-69
F	< 60

ADA Statement
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students are encouraged to register with UW Stout Disability Services for assistance with instructional accommodations due to disabilities. The phone number of the Disability Services office is 715-232-2995 or contact the staff via email at this website: http://www.uwstout.edu/disability/contact.shtml

Online Attendance
In an online course, you are not required to attend at a particular location or time of day.

This course is designed as an interactive course in which you contribute and respond to the discussion postings of other students.  Plan to log in and participate in the course discussion at least 3 times each week. Your instructor has access to a login summary including the date of each entry you make to the discussion board or dropbox—this includes a response to an assignment, a posting on the threaded discussion, submission of an assignment, or participation in group work.

If your professional/personal obligations or illness require you to be absent for more than 3 days, please contact me and arrange how you will make up the work. 

Please do not "drop out" for a period of time and then expect to "drop back in" without losing points. This makes it difficult for your colleagues to complete their assignments if feedback is required.

Academic Honesty and Misconduct
From the university policy: “Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others’ academic endeavors. Students who violate these standards must be confronted and must accept the consequences of their actions.

Definitions of academic dishonesty as provided by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators include:

Cheating - The use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise.

Plagiarism - The use of others’ ideas and words without a clear acknowledgement of the source.

Fabrication - The intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in 1any academic exercise.

Assisting - The facilitation or assistance in academic dishonesty.

UW-Stout also considers academic dishonesty to include forgery of academic documents, or intentionally impeding or damaging the academic work of others.

Preparing for an Online Class
Complete a short checklist to make sure you're ready for the class to begin.