EDU.5654 Expository Writing Instruction
This course will enable candidates to directly and explicitly teach students how to write sentences and expository paragraphs. Course content includes an introduction to the goals and purposes of expository writing and will include how to use a variety of outlines designed to strengthen the writing process as well as how to assess student writing. This course is designed for general and special education teachers and those seeking to add to their private practice. Specifically, this level of instruction is designed to allow candidates to work with students who have dyslexia or a language-based learning difference. Readings/assignments will require the student to reflect upon what they have learned. Strategies to implement the reading-writing connection from the earliest grades throughout high school are covered in order for teachers to expand student knowledge and skills. Research has shown that the connections of reading and writing can be successfully exploited, allowing for the enhancement of literacy learning. (Graham, S., MacArthur, C. A., & Fitzgerald, J. (2019)., Graham & Hebert, 2010; Tierney & Shanahan, 1991). As a candidate progresses through the course, they will be expected to teach the concepts learned in class. Students need to analyze, synthesize and summarize texts. Paraphrasing and notetaking will be included as part of the outlining and composition processes. A gradual release model will be used whereby the instructor will demonstrate how to teach concepts to support students to plan and demonstrate science-aligned writing instruction. This course addresses Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading set forth by the International Dyslexia Association.