LLED501: Teaching Writing in Elementary and Secondary Schools

Main Content

Syllabus

LLED 501: Teaching Writing in Elementary and Secondary Schools (3)

In depth examination of writing development and the development of writing components of language arts programs K-12.

Overview

In this graduate course, we will examine the ways writing has been thought about and taught in schools in the United States. We will read and discuss theory and research in the field of composition, and we will consider the implications of those works for instructional practice. We'll also examine current examples of published practical work by teachers in this area. Our own experiences as writers and as classroom practitioners will serve as important entry points for these discussions.

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Required Course Materials

You may purchase course materials from Barnes & Noble College (the bookstore used by Penn State's World Campus). For pricing and ordering information, please see the Barnes & Noble College website. Materials will be available at Barnes & Noble College approximately three weeks before the course begins. Alternatively, you may obtain these texts from other favorite bookstores. Be sure you purchase the edition/publication date listed.

Library Reserves (Course Reserves)

This course requires that you access Penn State library materials specifically reserved for this course. You can access these materials by selecting Library Resources in your course navigation, or by accessing the Library E-Reserves Search and search for your instructor's last name.

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Library Resources

Many of the University Libraries resources can be utilized from a distance. Through the Libraries website, you can

access magazine, journal, and newspaper articles online using library databases;
borrow materials and have them delivered to your doorstep—or even your desktop;
get research help via email, chat, or phone using the Ask a Librarian service; and
much more.

You can view the Online Students' Library Guide for more information.

You must have an active Penn State Access Account to take full advantage of the Libraries' resources and services. Once you have a Penn State account, you will automatically be registered with the library within 24–48 hours. If you would like to determine whether your registration has been completed, visit the Libraries home page and select My Account.

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Technical Specifications

Technical Requirements and Help
Operating System	Canvas, Penn State's Learning Management System (LMS), supports most recent versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac operating systems. To determine if your operating system is supported, please review Canvas' computer specifications.
Browser	Canvas supports the last two versions of every major browser release. It is highly recommended that you update to the newest version of whatever browser you are using. Please note that Canvas does not support the use of Internet Explorer. Students and instructors should choose a different browser to use. To determine if your browser is supported, please review the list of Canvas Supported Browsers. Note: Cookies must be enabled, and pop-up blockers should be configured to permit new windows from Penn State websites.
Additional Canvas Requirements	For a list of software, hardware, and computer settings specifically required by the Canvas LMS, please review Canvas' computer specifications.
Additional Software	All Penn State students have access to Microsoft Office 365, including Microsoft Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Students will need a PDF reader, such as Adobe Reader.
Hardware	Monitor: Monitor capable of at least 1024 x 768 resolution Audio: Microphone, Speakers Camera (optional, recommended): Standard webcam - many courses may require a webcam for assignments or exam proctoring software.
Mobile Device (optional)	The Canvas mobile app is available for versions of iOS and Android. To determine if your device is capable of using the Canvas Mobile App, please review the Canvas Mobile App Requirements.
Help	If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.

Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ)

During the semester you will receive information about completing the Student Education Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ). Your participation is an opportunity to provide anonymous feedback on your learning experience. Your feedback is important because it allows us to understand your experience in this course and make changes to improve the learning experiences of future students. Please monitor email and course communications for links and availability dates.

If you need technical assistance at any point during the course, please contact the Service Desk.

For registration, advising, disability services, help with materials, exams, general problem solving, visit World Campus Student Services!

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Course Requirements and Grading

Success in this course requires each member to consistently and fully participate in our learning activities. The table below indicates the various assignment types and their weight toward a final grade.

Assignment Types and Percentage of Total Grade
Assignment	Percent	Due
Unit Activities	40%	Each lesson offers quickwrites, reading/viewing, and discussion
Unit End-Points	10%	Each lesson offers a quiz that you may retake until 100%.
Products: Writer's Notebook Reflection "Dear Parents/Colleagues" Letter Final submission	40%	Products due in Lesson 12. Note: Your Writer's Notebook begins Day 1 and continues through the duration of the course, ending in a final reflection submission.
Participation and citizenship	10%	See section below
TOTAL	100%

Participation and Citizenship [10% of total grade]

In an asynchronous course, it's easy to feel like you're speaking and writing into a black hole. We don't want that to happen, so I ask that we all take on these manners of attendance and collegial citizenship:

Anytime something we do in the course allows for comments (most usually, discussion posts), please do comment. Comments can be short and simple, but they sure do help us know that others are listening/reading.
When you have questions for another student or for the professor, be respectful of their time. We are all working with different schedules and constraints, from children to jobs to other courses to personal life. Everyone can and should have personal boundaries around online activity-- maybe you don't work after 6 pm, or maybe you don't check email on weekends, or maybe you have dedicated a specific day or two of the week to focusing on this course and then leave it alone for the other days. All of this means that emails and messages may not be responded to immediately. We do our best.
When you have a question for the professor, ask the question within Canvas. That way, if it's something the other students would benefit from hearing also, I can reply to the whole class instead of just you. I guarantee you're not the only person wondering! You were just the one brave enough to ask.

Course Grading Criteria

Below is a description of the required criteria to earn the corresponding letter grade for this course.

Grading Criteria
Letter Grade	Criteria
A	94 to 100%
A−	90 to < 94%
B+	87 to < 90%
B	84 to < 87%
B−	80 to < 84%
C+	77 to < 80%
C	70 to < 77%
D	60 to < 70%
F	0 to < 60%

Graduate Grading Policy

Please refer to the University Registrar's information about University grading policies.

Late Work

Late work will not be accepted. If you miss a deadline, you missed it. However, you will find your instructor very open to negotiating extensions in advance of the due date. Notice your workload and life, and plan accordingly.

Deferred Grades

If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.

For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.

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Course Schedule

Note: All due dates reflect North American eastern time (ET).

Course Schedule

The schedule below outlines the topics we will be covering in this course, along with the associated time frames and assignments. The readings should be done in the order provided in the lesson content. They are structured in such a way as to build upon one another or interact in certain ways.

Course length: 15 weeks

Getting Started

Getting Started
Readings	Read the Course Syllabus thoroughly
Assignments	Complete the World Campus Canvas Orientation Course

Lesson 1: Your Writing Life

Lesson 1
Readings	None
Assignments	Participate in the Course Introductions: Show Us Your Notebook! Submit Lesson 1 Quickwrite

Lesson 2: Thinking Broadly About Writing and Writers

Lesson 2
Readings	E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chapter 1: Mentors. In What a writer needs (pp. 9-19). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chapter 2: Freezing to face. In What a writer needs (pp. 21-30). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chaper 3: A love of words. In What a writer needs (pp. 31-41). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Whitney, A. (2017). Keeping it real: Valuing Authenticity in the writing classroom. English Journal, 106(6), 16-21. Whitney, A & Johson, L. (2017). Speaking truth to power. English Journal, 106(4), 82-85.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Remembering Writing Experiences discussion Submit Lesson 2 Quickwrite Submit Lesson 2 End-Point

Lesson 3: Principles for the Teaching of Writing

Lesson 3
Readings	Textbook IF you are focusing on secondary school (grades 6-12) : Kittle, P. (2008). Write beside them: Risk, voice, and clarity in high school writing. Part One: Foundations Part Two: Collecting Thinking IF you are focusing on elementary or pre-school (up to grade 5): Ray, K. W., & Cleaveland, L. B. (2004). About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers. Chapter 1: Writing Workshop: A Happy Place Where We Make Stuff Chapter 2: Work, Space, and Time: Writing Workshop Right from the Start Chapter 3: Wrapping Strong Arms Around the Writing Workshop: Children Learning About Language All Day Long Chapter 4: How Our Youngest Writers Use the Writing Process to Help Them Make Books E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Behizadeh, N. (2014). Adolescent perspectives on authentic writing instruction. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 10(1), 27-44. Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chapter 1: Mentors. In What a writer needs (pp. 9-19). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chapter 2: Freezing to face. In What a writer needs (pp. 21-30). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Fletcher, R. J. (1993). Chaper 3: A love of words. In What a writer needs (pp. 31-41). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Whitney, A. E., & Johnson, L. L. (2017). Speaking Truth to Power. English Journal, 106(4), 82-85. Whitney, A. (2017). Keeping It Real: Valuing Authenticity in the Writing Classroom. English Journal, 106(6), 16-21. Whitney, A. (2011). Extending the Conversation: In Search of the Authentic English Classroom: Facing the Schoolishness of School. English Education, 44(1), 51-62. Other Readings Ebarvia, T. (2017, October 19). Oh, the places you'll go! Mentor texts for writing about a meaningful place. Murphy, D. (2016, April 26). How Do We Develop a Writing Identity? NCTE. (2016, February 28). Professional Knowledge for the Teaching of Writing. Whitney, A. Growing Writers: Principles and Practices that Nourish High School Writing Teachers and their Students. [Not for distribution: this draft text for a book forthcoming from NCTE press in 2021.] Whitney, A., McCracken, C., & Washell, D. (2019). NWP Radio: Teaching Writers to Reflect.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Naming and Claiming Principles discussion

Lesson 4: Supporting Communities of Writers

Lesson 4
Readings	E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Dudley-Marling, C., & Paugh, P. C. (2009). Chapter 1: Teaching struggling writers: Some underlying principles. In A classroom teacher's guide to struggling writers: How to provide differentiated support and ongoing assessment (pp. 1-12). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Dudley-Marling, C., & Paugh, P. C. (2009). Chapter 2: Portrait of a workshop that meets the needs of struggling writers. In A classroom teacher's guide to struggling writers: How to provide differentiated support and ongoing assessment (pp. 13-29). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Ray, K. W., & Cleaveland, L. B. (2004). Chapter 1: Writing workshop: A happy place where we make stuff. In About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers (pp. 1-22). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Other Readings Whitney, A. (2017, May 24). Writing is Hard. Fisher, M. (2005). From the coffee house to the school house: The promise and potential of spoken word poetry in school contexts. English Education, 37(2), 115-131.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Submit Lesson 4 Quickwrite: Beginning to Write Participate in the Shaping and Working in Communities of Writers discussion

Lesson 5: Getting Writers Going

Lesson 5
Readings	E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Frank, C. (2003). Mapping Our Stories: Teachers' Reflections on Themselves as Writers. Language Arts, 80(3), pp. 185-195. Other Readings Hubbard, B. (2017, October 12). What Are They Looking At? Tackling Slow Starters.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Neighborhood Map \| Writing Activity Participate in the Neighborhood Map \| Draft Sharing discussion Submit the Lessons 4 and 5 End-point

Lesson 6: More Ways to Get Writers Going

Lesson 6
Readings	Links to resources in the lesson content.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Let's Talk About Writing Products discussion Participate in the Let's Talk About Writing Processes discussion Submit Analyzing a Writing

Lesson 7: Supporting Writers as They Shape and Revise Writing

Lesson 7
Readings	Textbook IF you are focusing on secondary school (grades 6-12): Kittle, P. (2008). Write beside them: Risk, voice, and clarity in high school writing. Part Three: Writer's Workshop (Chapte 6) Part Four: Training Through Genre (Chapters 7-10) IF you are focusing on elementary or pre-school (up to grade 5): Ray, K. W., & Cleaveland, L. B. (2004). About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers. Chapter 5: Looking Closely at Minilessons: Whole-Class Teaching That Fills the Workshop with Possibilities Chapter 6: Organizing for Thoughtful Instruction with Limits of Study Chapter 7: Assessment: Learning All We Can About the Authors E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Troia, G. A. (2013). Chapter 17: Writing Instruction Within a Response-to-Intervention Framework: Prospects and Challenges for Elementary and Secondary Classrooms. In Best Practices in Writing Instruction (pp. 403-427). Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Guilford Publications. Muhammad, G. & Womack, E. (2016). From Pen to Pin:The Multimodality of Black Girls (Re)Writing Their Lives. Ubiquity: The Journal of Literature, Literacy, and the Arts,Research Strand, 2(2), pp. 6-45.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Oh Yeah! and Oh Really? discussion Submit Lesson 7 Quickwrite Submit Lesson 7 End-point

Lesson 8: Giving Writers Feedback Through Teacher Conferring

Lesson 8
Readings	Textbook IF you are focusing on secondary school (grades 6-12): Kittle, P. (2008). Write beside them: Risk, voice, and clarity in high school writing. Part Six: Assessment IF you are focusing on elementary or pre-school (up to grade 5): Ray, K. W., & Cleaveland, L. B. (2004). About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers. Chapter 8: Teaching Into and Out of Wowrk of Individual Childrens: Writing Conferences and Share Times Unit of Study G: How to Have Better Peer Conferences
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Participate in the Practicing Conferring discussion

Lesson 9: More on Conferring with Writers and Giving Feedback

Lesson 9
Readings	E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Elbow, P., & Belanoff, P. (1989). Summary of ways of responding. In Sharing and responding (pp. 237-244). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Dawson, C. (2009). Beyond Checklists and Rubrics: Engaging Students in Authentic Conversations about Their Writing. The English Journal, 98(5), pp. 66-71.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Submit Lesson 9 Quickwrite Participate in the Help Writers Through Feedback and Conferring discussion Submit Lesson 9 End-Point

Lesson 10: Supporting Writers in Editing and Conventions

Lesson 10
Readings	Textbook IF you are focusing on secondary school (grades 6-12): Kittle, P. (2008). Write beside them: Risk, voice, and clarity in high school writing. Part Five: Mechanics IF you are focusing on elementary or pre-school (up to grade 5): Ray, K. W., & Cleaveland, L. B. (2004). About the authors: Writing workshop with our youngest writers. Unit of Study I: How to Use Punctuation in Interesting Ways E-Reserves (To access these articles, click on the Library Resources link in your Course Navigation Menu.) Weaver, C. (1996). Chapter 1: Grammar and the teaching of grammar: An introduction. In Teaching grammar in context (pp. 1-5). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton-Cook. Weaver, C. (1996). Chapter 2: Teaching grammar: Reasons for, evidence against. In Teaching grammar in context (pp. 1-5). Portsmouth, NH: Boynton-Cook.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Submit Lesson 10 Quickwrite Participate in the Fit/Lack of Fit discussion Submit Lesson 10 End-Point

Lesson 11: A Side Note on Spelling

Lesson 11
Readings	Other Readings Fink, L. (2016, May 22). Strategies for Spelling Instruction. Choose a minimum of two of the six good journal articles or chapters linked on this short blog post.
Assignments	Continue your writer's notebook Submit L11 - Show Me Your Chart

Lesson 12: Course Wrap-Up

Lesson 12
Readings	None
Assignments	Submit "Letter to Colleagues" or "Letter to Parents" rough draft Participate in peer feedback Submit Notebook Reflection Submit "Letter to Colleagues" or "Letter to Parents" final Submit Final Take-Home Exam Submit SRTE Student Evaluation

Formal instruction will end on the last day of class. Provided that you have an active Penn State Access Account user ID and password, you will continue to be able to access the course materials for one year, starting from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered (with the exception of library reserves and other external resources that may have a shorter archival period). After one year, you might be able to access the course based on the policies of the program or department offering the course material, up to a maximum of three years from the end date of the academic semester in which the course was offered. For more information, please review the University Course Archival Policy.

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Grading

The World Campus follows the same grading system as the Penn State resident program. The grades of A, B, C, D, and F indicate the following qualities of academic performance:

A = (Excellent) Indicates exceptional achievement
B = (Good) Indicates extensive achievement
C = (Satisfactory) Indicates acceptable achievement
D = (Poor) Indicates only minimal achievement
F = (Failure) Indicates inadequate achievement necessitating a repetition of the course in order to secure credit

Note: If you are planning to graduate this semester, please communicate your intent to graduate to your instructor. This will alert your instructor to the need to submit your final grade in time to meet the published graduation deadlines. For more information about graduation policies and deadlines, please refer to Graduation at the Chaiken Center for Student Success.If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.

For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.

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Academic Integrity

According to Penn State policy G-9: Academic Integrity (for undergraduate courses) and policy GCAC-805 Academic Integrity (for graduate courses), an academic integrity violation is “an intentional, unintentional, or attempted violation of course or assessment policies to gain an academic advantage or to advantage or disadvantage another student academically.” Unless your instructor tells you otherwise, you must complete all course work entirely on your own, using only sources that have been permitted by your instructor, and you may not assist other students with papers, quizzes, exams, or other assessments. If your instructor allows you to use ideas, images, or word phrases created by another person (e.g., from Course Hero or Chegg) or by generative technology, such as ChatGPT, you must identify their source. You may not submit false or fabricated information, use the same academic work for credit in multiple courses, or share instructional content. Students with questions about academic integrity should ask their instructor before submitting work.

Students facing allegations of academic misconduct may not drop/withdraw from the affected course unless they are cleared of wrongdoing (see G-9: Academic Integrity or GCAC-805 Academic Integrity as appropriate). Attempted drops will be prevented or reversed, and students will be expected to complete course work and meet course deadlines. Students who are found responsible for academic integrity violations face academic outcomes, which can be severe, and put themselves at jeopardy for other outcomes which may include ineligibility for Dean’s List, pass/fail elections, and grade forgiveness. Students may also face consequences from their home/major program and/or The Schreyer Honors College.

How Academic Integrity Violations Are Handled
World Campus students are expected to act with civility and personal integrity; respect other students' dignity, rights, and property; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for oneself and others, as well as a civil community.

In cases where academic integrity is questioned, procedures allow a student to accept or contest/appeal the allegation. If a student chooses to contest/appeal the allegation, the case will then be managed by the respective school, college or campus Academic Integrity Committee. Review procedures may vary by college, campus, or school, but all follow the aforementioned policies.

All academic integrity violations are referred to the Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response, which may assign an educational intervention and/or apply a Formal Warning, Conduct Probation, Suspension, or Expulsion.

Information about Penn State's academic integrity policy is included in the information that students receive upon enrolling in a course. To obtain that information in advance of enrolling in a course, please contact us by going to the Contacts & Help page.

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University Policies

Accommodating Disabilities:
Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities, including World Campus. The Disabilities and Accommodations section of the Chaiken Center for Student Success website provides World Campus students with information regarding how to request accommodations, documentation guidelines and eligibility, and appeals and complaints. For additional information, please visit the University's Student Disability Resources website.

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus's disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.

Additional Policies:
For information about additional policies regarding Penn State Access Accounts; credit by examination; course tuition, fees, and refund schedules; and drops and withdrawals, please see the World Campus Student Center website.

Deferred Grades: If, for reasons beyond the student's control, a student is prevented from completing a course within the prescribed time, the grade in that course may be deferred with the concurrence of the instructor. The symbol DF appears on the student's transcript until the course has been completed. Non-emergency permission for filing a deferred grade must be requested by the student before the beginning of the final examination period. In an emergency situation, an instructor can approve a deferred grade after the final exam period has started. Under emergency conditions during which the instructor is unavailable, authorization is required from one of the following: the dean of the college in which the candidate is enrolled; the executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies if the student is enrolled in that division or is a provisional student; or the campus chancellor of the student's associated Penn State campus.

For additional information please refer to the Deferring a Grade page.

Military Students:
Veterans and currently serving military personnel and/or dependents with unique circumstances (e.g., upcoming deployments, drill/duty requirements, VA appointments, etc.) are welcome and encouraged to communicate these, in advance if possible, to the instructor in the case that special arrangements need to be made.

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Disclaimer: Please note that the specifics of this Course Syllabus are subject to change, and you will be responsible for abiding by any such changes. Your instructor will notify you of any changes.

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