ECI 310 Assignments, Expectations and Deadlines

Students in ECI 310 will complete seven assignments during the course of the semester. Click on the links below to check out the descriptions for each assignment.

1. Personal Literacy Experience (Due January 31st, 2002) 10 points
2. Literacy Assessment Project (Due March 21st, 2002) 20 points
3. Annotated Children's Literature Bibliography (Due March 28th, 2002) 15 points
4. Practicum Journal (First Submission February 26th, Second Submission April 30th) 20 points
5. Portfolio of Teaching Activities (Due April 25th, 2002) 20 points
6. Mid-term Exam (March 7th, 2002) 15 points
7. Participation and Attendance 15 points

1. Personal Literacy Experience - Percentage of Final grade:  10%

Students learn to write by writing.  Our task as teachers is to provide them with the opportunities and experiences necessary to express their thoughts and feelings in a clear, coherent manner.

            Young writers are often intimidated by the finality of putting words on paper.  We can encourage fluency and self-expression by teaching students that editing is a natural process that comes only after our ideas have been recorded.

(Tiedt and Tiedt, 1987, p.199)

In this assignment, you will explore your experiences of teaching and learning. Your are expected to write a composition recounting one experience of teaching and learning that is particularly powerful for you. This experience may be an experience that was instrumental in nurturing you as a learner or an experience that was detrimental to your development as a learner. You may also wish to right about a powerful experience you may have already had as a teacher. You may choose a written format that you feel is most effective in portraying your experience, for example, a poem, newspaper article, essay, picture book or narrative.

2. Literacy Assessment Project - Percentage of Final grade:  20%

Becoming a careful observer and recorder of children's literacy behaviour is key asset for all teachers. For this assignment you will compile a report outlining observations and assessment of one child's literacy abilities and understandings. To complete this assignment you will:

1. Select a child between the ages of 5 and 7. Write a brief introduction that introduces the child (use a pseudonym), their age, the grade they are in at school. This introduction will also summarize what you will be doing in this assignment and where your observations were conducted.
2. Engage the child in some reading activities. This will vary from you reading to the child to the child reading to you. Write a description of the activity and the nature of the child's participation in this activity and what you observed him/her doing as a reader.
3. If the child is reading, describe their reading engagement. Do they read fluently? Do they use the illustrations to help them decode unknown words? Do they utilize 'sounding out' behaviours? Do they use one-to-one pointing?
4. Complete and report findings from conducting the modified Concepts About Print inventory with the student.
5. Engage the child in a writing/drawing activity relating to a text you read with the child. Write a description of the activity and the nature of the child's participation in this activity and what you observed him/her doing as a writer. Obtain a copy or the original of the writing/drawing the child completed to hand in with your project. Can the child write their name? Can they write any other letters? Do they use experimental spelling? What is the nature of the picture/s they drew?
6. Describe and report findings from conducting letter recognition survey.
7. Write a conclusion that summarizes your findings about this child's literacy abilities.
8. Prepare a reference page where you record all the books you used during this project.
9. Prepare an appendices section where you will present artifacts collected during your observations.

The body of this assignment will be between 6 and 8 pages.

Literacy Assessment Project Evaluation criteria

Your completed assignment will be graded upon the presence and quality of the following items.

1. An introductory section describes the observation setting and demographic information about the student is presented. The activities conducted are briefly outlined.
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2. The child's reading engagement and their understandings of concepts about print are described.
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3. The child's letter recognition abilities are described and a record of their responses is presented in an appendix to the assignment.
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4. The child's writing/representing abilities are described and artefacts are presented in an appendix to the assignment.
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5. Texts and materials utilized during the observation project are referenced on a separate reference page and referred to in the body of the assignment.
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6. A conclusion section presents a summary of the literacy abilities of the child you observed.
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7. The assignment is clearly presented using effective writing and logical sequence. The paper is free of errors in capitalization, spelling, referencing, and punctuation.
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3. Annotated Children's Literature Bibliography - Percentage of Final grade:  10%

To complete this assignment appropriately you will:

1. Compile a list of 10 children's books (7 picture books, 3 novels) 8 of which are written after 1995.
2. Record the reference (APA style) for each book with title, author, date of publication and publisher. For example:
   Speare, Elizabeth. (1983). The sign of the beaver. New York, NY: Dell.
3. Write a 1-2 paragraph description/summary of the storyline for each book.
4. Describe 2-3 ways that each book could be used to assist the achievement of curriculum objectives (1-2 paragraphs).

4. Practicum Journal - Percentage of Final grade:  20%

During the ECI308 course component you will develop and implement a number of lessons.  This assignment will encourage you to reflect upon the teaching you implement during this period. The components of this assignment will be:

1. Personal narrative responses of 1 –2 pages completed after each teaching experience (date each journal entry).
2. Each lesson plan conducted in ECI308 compiled in chronological order.
3. A final summary response that discusses how your understanding of teaching and language learning has grown through your experiences in the classroom this semester 1-2 pages.

In your journal you are expected to chronicle your experiences of, and reflections upon, the teaching and learning processes you have participated in and observed.  The journals will be shared with the instructor only.  Note that you will be encouraged to build your reflection skills. Your journals will be graded upon your demonstration of increased growth in depth and incite in your responses throughout the semester.

5. Portfolio of Teaching Activities

Throughout this course you will observe and engage in numerous language learning instructional events. For this assignment you will create a portfolio of these activities. Each activity will be described in a format that articulates the nature of the activity and the expected learning outcomes for students (2-3 paragraphs). Where possible, include examples of students work as a result of the instructional event. Your portfolio will include at least twenty activities. You may also include some activity examples that you may locate on the Internet or in professional publications. Please be sure that each activity involves students in completing objectives in language learning.

6. Mid-term Exam - Percentage of Final grade:  15%

Content will be discussed in class.

7. Participation and Attendance

Attendance, punctuality and participation in all scheduled class sessions are considered an integral component of this course. Attendance will be taken at each class. Unexcused absences will result in the loss of one point of the attendance and participation grade. In addition, you will be expected to complete a number of instructional activities during class time. Your participation and completion of these activities will also be taken into account in the administration of the attendance and participation grade. Punctuality will also be factored into the collation of this grade.