This course addresses literacy challenges encountered when teaching at-risk youth in elementary and middle schools. This content pedagogy and instructional practice course focuses on teaching non-fiction/informational text to at-risk students, with emphasis on graphic novels, rigorous text choices as well as Common Core State Standards. Content literacy skills and digital literacy skills are addressed. The course also prepares candidates to teach research projects that are age-grade appropriate. In preparation for becoming literacy specialists, collaboration skills development of candidates is central within the course wherein candidates coach, co-teach, co-develop curricular webquest, co-present in-services of colleagues, and interpret data for host school representative(s). Candidates continue to use data and professional literature to inform instruction, to administer formal and informal assessments, and to document striving learners' literacy growth. A minimum of 25 hours of fieldwork is required.
RWL-620