Electronic graphic organizers can help students organize ideas, convey complex concepts, progress through the steps of the writing process, and develop their mathematical and scientific thinking skills. Address different learning styles by presenting information in a visual format that shows the connections between concepts.

Discover the advantages of teaching methods that engage multiple intelligences and explore ways to implement them. You will also learn to teach and assess students differently based on their individual intellectual styles.

Play, art, drama, and technology can extend student learning far beyond read-aloud sessions. Discover techniques for varying genres and including expository texts to strengthen comprehension. Practice questioning skills to aid comprehension during read-alouds. A plan for incorporating expository text into instruction is the culminating project.

Engage your beginning and transitional readers and writers with research-based phonics and spelling activities. Study and discuss topics such as the principles which form the foundation for NCLB and traditional versus contemporary perspectives on spelling instruction. Investigate better ways to help students develop oral reading fluency through learning letters, letter-sound correspondence, letter-sound patterns, and high frequency words, then assess a student's skill level in spelling to set appropriate individual goals. At the conclusion of the course, create a case study of a second grade speller.

Introduce your youngest readers and writers to the world of phonics and spelling with research-based instructional activities drawn from principles that formed the basis of NCLB. Practice assessing the performance of emergent readers and analyzing student work samples to determine their knowledge levels. Use assessment data to design appropriate activities for teaching phonics and spelling.