Developing Literacy
Overview
This unit familiarises pre-service teachers with literacy in early learning environments. They will consider children’s language development and how this corresponds to teaching and learning in literacy for young children. Pre-service teachers will be provided with an understanding of the ways in which children acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes relating to a wide range of literacies, enabling pre-service teachers to develop appropriate skills and strategies to support children’s development of literacy. More specifically, pre-service teachers will be introduced to the principles for teaching phonological awareness in relation to children’s reading and writing development. In addition, the concept of multiple literacies will also be covered, highlighting its presence in 21st century learning.
Requisites
26-May-2024
06-October-2024
27-October-2024
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Describe the difference between English and literacy in relation to teaching and learning
- Evaluate reading and writing processes and their relationship to curriculum and policy
- Develop and evaluate a range of learning experiences and resources to engage children in learning appropriate to their strengths, interests and needs
- Review and compare literacy programs and resources designed to assess children’s communication skills, particularly oral language, reading, writing, grammar skills and phonemic awareness
- Evaluate methods and tools that support children with a wide range of skills in literacy
- Develop and evaluate a range of strategies using ICT (Information, Communication and the Technology) to enhance literacy teaching
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Online Lecture | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| On-campus Class | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Specified Activities Various | 6.00 | 8 weeks | 48 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 5.50 | 12 weeks | 66 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Swinburne Online
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 12.50 | 12 weeks | 150 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | Individual | 40% | 2,3 |
| Portfolio | Individual | 50% | 2,3,4,5,6 |
| Presentation | Individual | 10% | 1 |
Content
- English/Literacy definitions
- Government policy and curriculum on literacy – links to EYLF and or the VEYLDF and relevant National and/or State or Territory Curriculum
- Teaching reading, writing, speaking, listening
- New literacies and inclusion
- Literacy assessment
- Supporting multi-literacies
- Contemporary research into meta-cognition and meta-linguistics.
- Planning for literacy learning
- Strategies to support informal literacy learning
- Strategies to enable ICT to expand literacy teaching
- Technological Interventions in Early Literacy
- EAL (English as an additional language) continuum
- Effective literacy programming options for children in school-based group settings
- Phonological approaches to reading
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.