All online courses are offered on the following dates:
| Title | Time | # of Graduate Credits, Cost | # of PDPs, Cost |
| Integrating the Essential Reading Components with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Supporting Phonemic Awareness with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Instructing Phonics and Spelling with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Increasing Fluency with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Developing Comprehension with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Building Vocabulary with the Common Core State Standards |
Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
| Close Reading with Standards | Online | 3 credits, $600 | 36 PDPs, $425 |
Research indicates that there are five core areas for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. In this course, participants will explore how these core areas function together, with a particular emphasis on assessment and how to use the Common Core State Standards to support these skills. As a final assessment for this course, participants will develop a multidisciplinary, integrated reading unit aligned with the Common Core State Standards complete with plans for incorporating technology.
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This course provides educators with an understanding of and appropriate approaches for developing phonemic awareness skills in the classroom. Participants will focus on effective methods for assessing and analyzing student PA skills and will learn to create activities to build phonemic awareness. As a final assessment, participants create Phonemic Awareness Classroom Plans that incorporate phonemic awareness assessment, analysis, strategies for classroom use, and self-reflections that demonstrate knowledge for incorporating phonemic awareness assessment and instruction in the classroom.
This course offers a highly structured approach for teaching phonics and spelling based on a selection of proven programs and approaches designed for the efficiency and effectiveness of teaching. Class participants learn strategies and content to implement the CCSS elements that apply to phonics and spelling. Throughout the course, participants engage in a series of activities about phonics and spelling instruction and complete a final action plan detailing how they will incorporate direct and systematic phonics instruction into their classrooms.
Fluency is an essential element of every reading program. Fluent reading, a characteristic of a good reader, is the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In this course, participants learn strategies to teach students to read more fluently, to assess student fluency, and to design a classroom program for fluency that blends well into integrated literacy programs. Participants will also explore some strategies for helping English Language Learners achieve fluency. As a final project, participants will create a portfolio of resources for students and design a fluency lesson plan.
The CCSS have reexamined the way teachers approach comprehension instruction and text selection. In addition, CCSS has restructured what teachers will hope to achieve for their K-12 students in terms of benchmarks and background knowledge. In this course participants are introduced to new approaches for comprehension instruction and assessment, as well as some technology tools to help teach comprehension explicitly. Participants become familiar with the Common Core State Standards related to reading comprehension. For the final course assessment participants develop a set of plans for comprehension instruction for a particular grade level that address the Common Core State Standards explicitly.
This course is designed to introduce new ways to extend the vocabularies of students in order to help them become proficient readers and communicators. Participants examine best practices for direct and indirect vocabulary instruction in order to build the breadth and depth of students’ vocabulary for comprehension. Specific recommendations made by the Common Core State Standards in ELA are explored including: the value of Academic English, Tier II words, and using word families to teach vocabulary indirectly. For the final assessment participants develop a vocabulary scope and sequence plan focusing on using technology to support vocabulary instruction.
Length:
7 weekly sessions
42 hours
1 week introduction
6 weeks content instruction
PDP’s Value: 3 graduate credits equals 67.5 PDP’s or 36 if taken for PDP’s only
Course Overview
Close reading is a difficult practice to learn, even for experienced, adult readers. However, as we help our students approach text through a close reading lens, we will fulfill the expectations of the CCSS with all students. Close Reading can be extremely engaging, productive and confidence-boosting for the struggling reader and the advanced reader alike. The ability to read complex texts closely, thoughtfully and carefully is a key to future academic success. Throughout this course, students will see the practice of close reading as a vehicle to rigorous analysis of text through asking text-dependent questions, helping students make thoughtful inferences, and using multiple entry points to help bring students "inside" the text. Teachers will develop classroom strategies and techniques to gain optimal student engagement with challenging material. This course will culminate with the development of a week-long close reading lesson plan.
For more information about course requirements contact: Commonwealth Learning Online Institute or CLOI at commlearnonline.com
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