TE 844 Classroom Literacy Assessment

This course is offered at overseas locations only

A series of literacy courses in the Master's program prepares teachers who understand and use the complexities of classroom reading instruction. This course focuses on classroom reading instruction which involves teaching for learning with understanding and using knowledge for educational purposes as it relates to curriculum development, theory building, interactive teaching, subject matter integration, learning with understanding, data analysis, record keeping, and features of literacy classrooms. In the attainment of these understandings, oral and written discourse play a key role. Oral and written discourse provide tools for receiving, clarifying, processing, and sharing information about oneself and others.

A major outcome of the course is to involve participants in instructional and learning principles that support classroom teaching and learning so that environments are established that increase learning. To this end, the course uses current research and knowledge about teaching and learning to focus on the instructional process involved in reading and writing, the relationships of reading and writing to other learning processes, and the development of thinking strategies within all subjects. Of critical importance is the development of understandings about authentic learning and the uses of portfolios in creating learning opportunities, maintaining student growth of the concepts, strategies, dispositions, positive attitudes, and curriculum developed in class for each participant's instruction.

Course Outcomes

TE 844 incorporates in-class experiences (lectures, demonstrations, oral presentations), reading assignments, and classroom application. These experiences emphasize the following outcomes.

To develop participants who:
1.  possess a conceptual frame for classroom literacy instruction and learning across subject areas;

2.  possess knowledge of a variety of assessment techniques and strategies for using with learners who are acquiring information from subject matter content and can incorporate those strategies appropriately in their classroom instruction;

3.  possess knowledge of a variety of assessment techniques and strategies for learning and can apply them appropriately;

4.  understand the components of reading and writing and conversation processes and can incorporate those components in their literacy instruction;

5.  can analyze the structural and conceptual characteristics of subject matter texts and activities for instructional purposes and use these analyses to select appropriate instructional strategies;

6.  can assess in ongoing ways the background knowledge, reading and writing abilities, attitudes and interests of their students and design instruction for varying levels;

7.  can create portfolios to monitor their growth and the growth of students in the literacy outcomes of positive responses, constructs, strategic processes, routine skills, and content knowledge;

8.  have a questioning attitude that furthers their understanding of learners and their instructional needs for successful reading and writing in subject matter content;

9.  understand the interactive nature of language and can build on that interactiveness when constructing and teaching lessons and units; and

10.  understand how complexities in the classroom can be used as strengths for the assessment process.

Course Requirements

In TE 844, participants are held accountable for demonstrating a satisfactory performance in each of the following areas:

For a 3.0 grade:

1.  active participation in class discussions and small group discussions

2.  critical reactions and reflections about growth from group discussions (kept in dialogue journal form and collected twice)

For a 3.5 grade:

1.  active participation in class discussions and small group discussions

2.  critical reactions and reflections about growth from group discussions (kept in dialogue journal form and collected twice)

3.  portfolio of self growth in course knowledge

For a 4.0 grade:

1.  active participation in class discussions and small group discussions

2.  critical reactions and reflections about growth from group discussions (kept in dialogue journal form and collected twice)

3.  portfolio of self growth in course knowledge

4.  portfolio plan for student growth in literacy

Textbook

Tierney, R., Carter, M. and Desal, L. (1991). Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom. Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers, Inc.

Typical Class Format

Each class will generally occur in the following way:

1.  Opening: warm-up, questions and comments and/or collaborative sharing sessions.

a.  Purpose: to activate background knowledge to prepare for learning and to make connections between known and unknown.

b.  Source: assignment journal, and/or course conversations.

c.  Procedure: class participants will offer ideas.

d.  Assessment: note how activity went (see #3, assessment for elaboration).

2.  Receptive Activities:

a.  Purpose: participants will gather new information and develop understandings about the topic of the class session.

b.  Source: assigned chapters, other readings and teaching-learning experiences.

c.  Procedure: through conversations, using oral discourse strategies; participants will share knowledge and feelings. conversations may be whole group or small group. when small groups occur, whole group sharing of significant conversations will occur.

d.  Assessment: note how activity went (See #3, assessment for elaboration).

3.  Expressive Activities:

a.  Purpose: participants will begin to internalize new information and clarify information.

b.  Source: new information taken from conversations.

c.  Procedure: through conversations and participation class members will move information into knowledge. Activities will occur in whole and small groups.

d.  Assessment: note how activity went. The following questions are offered as possible ways to assess learning. Did the sessions information make sense: What seems important? What confused me? What would help me more? What hindered my learning?

4.  Reflection: the class session will end with reflection time.

a.  Purpose: to make firm connection among previously known knowledge and new information.

b.  Source: previously known knowledge and newly acquired information.

c.  Procedure: using the dialogue journal format, participants will note ideas and feelings and create conceptual maps about the topic. Insights and/or concerns are expected.

d.  Assessment: Professor will collect and read dialogue journals twice during the course.

DIALOGUE JOURNALS

In planning and preparing for this course, ways were brainstormed to help you make sense of the information that will be shared, how to *p+23X organize that information for remembering, and how to help you move that information to internalized knowledge to be used while educating our children and youth. One of the suggested ways was dialogue journals. What follows is a brief explanation of what dialogue journals are, why they are valuable, what their purposes are, what conditions are needed, what language functions are used, and what the responders role is. Opportunities to try out dialogue journals conclude this activity.

What Are Dialogue Journals?

Dialogue journals are conversations carried on in print over extended periods of time by teams of two. One partner initiates a journal and the other partner responds to it. Because each partner in the team initiates a journal and responds to a journal, two journals are constructed simultaneously by each team. Within this arrangement each partner has equal turns to be an initiator and a responder. As either an initiator or a responder, each writer is free to begin a conversation on any topic of personal and mutual interest. The expectation is that each partner will acknowledge elements of the topic and comment on it. As the two dialogue journals are created, they provide opportunities for the partners to remain interactive in a continuous way.

Why Are Dialogue Journals Valuable?

Dialogue journals are valuable because they follow the same processes as thought does when learning is occurring. Lev Vygotsky first established the concept that thought is internalized through dialogue. Thoughts and ideas are first acquired by a learner externally through a dialogue in a written or oral form. Another way to say this is that information is acquired through social interactions. This information becomes knowledge as it is internalized and elaborated into differentiated thought. Use of dialogue journals encourages learning and helps the learners more effectively acquire the information they are seeking.

What Are the Purposes of the Dialogue Journals?

Four conditions are necessary for dialogue journals to be successful. first, tasks happen in order for it to be learned. Second, tasks that happened are meaningful for the participants. Third, tasks happen meaningfully in ways that allow the learners to monitor the learning. Fourth, tasks not only include meaningful tasks that have happened and can be monitored, but also are self-motivating and provide opportunities for comparative and contrastive learning to occur.

The purpose of dialogue journals is to create an opportunity to be reflective about teaching practice. Reflection involves analysis of attitudes and beliefs which affect decision-making and actions. A reflective decision-maker believes that reasoning does not end when instruction begins. Dialogue journal writing can help both the writer and the responder ask critical questions about the "whys'1 of a particular decision. In order to be reflective, a person needs to be open-minded and flexible. This means that one should be open to consider alternate viewpoints and recognize the possibility of error, even in beliefs that are dearest to a person. A reflective thinker also needs to be responsible. Dialogue journals can help us to articulate why it was that we acted in a certain and what impact those decisions have on the classroom and on the larger context of school and community.

What Are the Learning Functions?

Dialogue journals provide a full range of the interactions available within the language functions such as asking questions, reporting personal experiences, giving opinions, etc. Topics are self-generated, the messages are directly responded to, emphasis is on content, and the messages accomplish purposes which the writer needs to accomplish. As you write in your dialogue journals, you probably will use one or more of the 13 language functions found by Staton, Shuy, Peyton, & Reed (1988). A brief description of each of the functions is listed below.

1.  Reporting opinions is an expression of feelings, preference, or evaluation which is not judged against an external standard or norm. Example: "I enjoyed the task while we did it."

2.  Reporting personal facts includes events that are related specifically and personally to the writer. Example: 'I came to Valbonne during the day yesterday."

3.  Reporting general facts involves facts that are widely shared. Example: "We are attending courses at the MSU GSEO Center at Valbonne.'1

4.  Responding to questions involves reacting to another's request. Example: "Question---What grade do you teach? Answer---I teach third grade."

5.  Predicting involves an indication of doing something in the future. Example: Tomorrow, I'm going to go to the computer area.'

6.  Complaining involves a statement about the inappropriateness of an event or action. Example: "I thought the morning started too slowly."

7.  Directives are statements telling someone to do something. Example: "Tomorrow, you should meet me at noon."

8.  Apologizing is an expression of regret. Example: "I'm sorry I brushed off your response during the session."

9.  Thanking is an expression of gratitude. Example: "Thanks for getting me that article."

10.  Evaluating includes self-evaluation and evaluation of persons, things, or events. Example: "I didn't do well with the case study, but the other people in my group seemed to understand the task."

11.  Offering involves a willingness to perform a task or give something to someone. Example: "When we meet this evening, I can bring a treat as our reward for finishing the task."

12.  Promising contains a pledge for specific actions or things. Example: "I won't forget my journal tomorrow."

13.  Question-asking involves a request for clarification or asking for information and includes three types:

a.  requests for information. Example: "Are we meeting this evening?"
b.  requests for procedures. Example: "Do you know the procedures for completing the readings?" and
c.  requests for opinions. Example: "What do you think of my back home plan?"

While you are not expected to use all of the functions, it may be helpful to keep track of the ones you do use. However, the language functions may be more useful as you respond to your partner's journal.

What Is the Responder's Role?

The responder's role consists of at least three functions. As you read and respond to your partner's entries, you can use these functions as guides if you feel that you are not comfortable with this role. Each one is described below with an example.

1.  Support involves encouraging your partner's thinking.
Example:  "Your explanation about collaboration made sense."

2.  Questions involve requests and have four types.

a.  Information questions ask for more information.
Example: "What did you do after your plan collapsed?"

b.  Opinion questions ask for an opinion. Example:
"How do you think your students felt when you stopped the activity?"

c.  Reflection questions ask for additional thinking.
Example: "What are you going to do when some teachers in your school refuse to listen to your new ideas?"

d.  Elaboration questions ask for more details. Example:
"What do you mean by reflection? Tell me more."

3.  Invitations invite broad range thinking and are very similar to questions. In questions, someone is asked to respond to a specific request. In invitations, someone is asked to respond to a more general statement. Questions narrow down the brain's search for stored information while invitations open up the brain's search. There are four types of invitations.

a.  Information invitations offer an opportunity to provide more information. Example: "Talk about what you'll do when your plan collapses."

b.  Opinion invitations offer an opportunity to provide an opinion. Example: "Write what you think your students felt when you stopped the activity."

c.  Reflection invitations offer an opportunity for the initiator to think more about the entry. Example:
"Talk more about what you're going to do when some teachers in your school refuses to listen to your ideas."

d.  Elaboration invitations offer an opportunity for the initiator to provide more elaboration. Example:
"Please expand on what you mean by reflection."

Following is an excerpt from a dialogue journal. Note how the response comments have a number beside them. This correlates to the three functions of the responder's role.

Learning to communicate (and learning through communication) in a group is a skill that will be valuable throughout life. It is very important for people to recognize that learning does not stop. My students see me as a teacher, but I also try to model the fact that I am a learner as well. ...By modeling a positive attitude toward and learning and growing, I can encourage the students to be more excited about their own growth. This is a very important thing for a teacher to do. As a student, I am constantly getting new information. I am learning about teaching strategies, I am learning about technical aspects of writing a unit, and I am also learning how to put all of this new information together as a reflective professional. Through my experience in this program, I have learned that Philip Jackson was right when he said that a classroom is an extremely busy place. I am really amazed at the number of decisions I am forced to make as I teach my one hour class. It is true that all of this activity leaves a teacher with little time to be reflective, but it also creates a definite need for reflection... In addition to learning the importance of reflection, I have also learned that experience and exploring are valuable tools of a life long learner. I agree with John Dewy when he says that one must experience something before gaining a true understanding of it. Learning is not an exclusively receptive activity.

Trying our Dialogue Journal Writing

Now you have an opportunity to try out the initiator and responder roles in a problem-solving situation. Assume you are reading an article and you come across the following statement.

"Time flies. You can't; they fly too fast."

Since the goal of reading is to make sense and these statements cause many people to lose sense-making, this is a problem-solving situation. Ask yourself the following questions and answer them.

1.  Can I say all the words?

2.  Do I know all the meanings of the words?

3.  Can I get the big picture?

4.  Can I go beyond the author's big picture?

Most people stop at question three. If you did, ask yourself where your sense-making stopped. For most people, it stops at the word they. They is a pronoun that refers to something plural. As you look for the plural noun that they refers to, the only logical word is flies. Flies is a noun in this sentence and plays the role of direct object to the verb time. With the word flies as a noun instead of a verb, the sentence makes sense.

Using this short problem-solving example, write a journal entry. When you have completed the entry, exchange papers and respond to your partner's entry. Using the information on language functions and/or the responder's role as needed.

CRITERIA FOR NEW TEACHING AND LEARNING

Learners

1.  Learners actively construct meaning through talking, writing, and doing.

2.  Learners are responsible for their own learning.

3.  Learners are aware of what they are learning, why they are learning, and how to do it.

4.  Learning involves on reasoning as well as memory.

5.  Learners have opportunities to think, reflect, and share.

6.  Learners support each others learning.

7.  Learners use existing knowledge to make sense of new knowledge.

8.  Learners monitor and repair breaks in meaning.

9.  Learners challenge themselves and others through self-generated questions and comments.

10.  Learners' strengths are the stepping-off points for growth.

Teachers

1.  Teachers tailor content information to meet the needs of all learners.

2.  Teachers create lessons that support the development of expertise in attitudes, constructs, strategies, skills, and content.

3.  Teachers situate learning in authentic sets of activities.

4.  Teachers use the complexities of the classroom to enhance learning.

5.  Teachers provide opportunities for learners to gradually become responsible during learning.

6.  Teachers provide learning opportunities in problem framing and problem solving situations.

7.  Teachers emphasize the process of learning as well as the products of learning.

8.  Teachers use ongoing classroom assessment as part of instruction.

9.  Teachers use scaffolding to help learners gain new information.

10.  Teachers view diversities of learners as strengths, not deficits, for teaching and learning purposes.