Course #607

Course Credit 67.5 Hours/PDPs
3 optional graduate credits provided by Colorado State University – Pueblo

The course provides educators with an understanding of the components of reading and writing development, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, syntax, comprehension, and written expression. The course is designed to deepen educators’ knowledge of effective literacy instruction, particularly structured literacy interventions. It also explores methods of assessment and includes an overview of dyslexia. Interwoven throughout the course are instructional resources, tools, and strategies that support educators in adapting interventions to best support students with diverse learning profiles, including EL students and students with attention, working memory, processing speed, and executive function deficits. After completing this course, participants will be able to:

  • Identify the components of reading development
  • Define the term dyslexia and debunk associated myths
  • Understand how specific learning disabilities (SLD), such as dyslexia, impact reading development and learn general best-practice instructional strategies to support students
  • Implement and adapt targeted strategies to support all components of students’ literacy development, including phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, spelling, fluency, vocabulary, syntax, reading comprehension, and written expression
  • Design activities and lessons to promote students’ reading skills and, ultimately, the ability to read for understanding
  • Informally assess students’ strengths and weaknesses with literacy-related skills

The course is divided into 12 self-paced modules over 12 weeks:

Though participants may work ahead of the specified course pace, this 3-credit course includes specific deadlines for each individual module.

  • Overview of Reading Development: This module presents an overview of reading development and relevant models (e.g., Simple View of Reading; Scarborough’s Reading Rope). Factors impacting reading development–cognitive, linguistic, environmental, and social-emotional–are also explored.
  • Understanding Struggling Readers and Dyslexia: This module provides an in-depth look at specific learning disabilities (SLD), especially dyslexia. Dyslexia is defined, its origins discussed, and myths surrounding dyslexia are debunked. In addition, this module covers special education laws applicable to and important for students with dyslexia and related disabilities.
  • Structured Literacy: Overview of Instructional Practices and Supporting Diverse Learners: This module defines and details the components of a structured literacy instructional approach, including the underlying principles of instruction (e.g. explicit, systematic, sequential, cumulative, diagnostic, data-driven, multi-sensory), the components of instruction (i.e., phonology, orthography, morphology, semantics, syntax, discourse), and methods for adapting instruction to support students with diverse learning profiles.
  • Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: This module describes phonemic awareness, or the ability to differentiate and manipulate speech sounds. In addition to building background knowledge about the nature of and differences between phonological and phonemic awareness, participants will learn the “why” and “how” of teaching phonemic awareness to students.
  • Phonics: This module addresses phonics: the connection of speech sounds to letters. Participants learn methods for assessing student skills as well as best practices for teaching phonics to students.
  • Decoding: This module explores methods for assessing and teaching decoding skills. This includes reading single-syllable words, teaching syllable types, applying syllabication strategies, using morphology to decode words, and understanding the purpose of decodable texts.
  • Fluency: This module outlines the components of fluency: accuracy, rate, expression, and phrasing. Participants learn why it is important to assess and provide intervention in fluency, and acquire an understanding of varied instructional strategies to support fluency development.
  • Vocabulary: Through this module, participants build knowledge around best practices for vocabulary instruction, including both direct and indirect instructional strategies. Also discussed are the crucial role of vocabulary in reading comprehension and factors influencing the wide variability in vocabulary knowledge across students.
  • Listening & Reading Comprehension: This module describes the ultimate goal of reading, deep comprehension, and instructional methods for supporting students in reaching this goal.
  • Written Expression: Spelling & Sentence-Level Instruction: In this module, participants learn about the importance of handwriting as well as methods for teaching writing mechanics (i.e., spelling, punctuation) and sentence-level writing skills.
  • Written Expression: From Paragraph to Multi-Paragraph Writing: This module presents an overview of the writing process and how to teach students to write paragraphs and multi-paragraph compositions.
  • Assessment & MTSS: In the last module of this course, participants are introduced to key terminology (e.g., standard score, percentile rank) and principles (e.g., validity, reliability) necessary for understanding and using assessment tools. An overview of different types of assessments (e.g., screening, progress-monitoring, diagnostic, outcome) is provided, along with considerations for testing different language, literacy, and cognitive skills. Finally, participants learn about multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) as a means of preventing reading failure.

Each module will follow the same basic outline:

  • Presentation of key information about the topic
  • A quiz to assess learning
  • Additional content to address impact of content on classroom setting
  • Connection of course content to own setting by completing an application assignment
  • Opportunities to discuss and reflect on course content with peers
  • Additional module content followed by an opportunity to synthesize key takeaways

Specific Assignments:

  • Pre and Post-Assessments: These ungraded questionnaires will be completed at the beginning and end of the course in order for participants to self-assess knowledge and application of course content.
  • Quizzes: The quizzes will assess comprehension of the content from the required reading.  The quizzes will be automatically graded within the course platform. Although participants must earn an 80% or higher to move on to the next section of the course, there are unlimited attempts allowed.  
  • Discussion Posts: The discussions will require participants to post an initial response and reply to at least one other post.  
  • Assignments: The assignments in each module will require participants to put theory into practice as they read and follow the specific directions, and use examples provided as a guideline for format, length, and quality of writing. These tasks will be assessed using specific rubrics.
  • Concluding Thoughts: These tasks require participants to synthesize three key takeaways from the module and will be assessed using specific rubrics.