Course Descriptions By Program

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ELE220 - Instruction and Assessment in Pre-K Settings

This course is designed to provide teacher candidates with in-depth instruction and authentic experience in developing curricula, which is multi-disciplinary and multidimensional. In this course teacher candidates will examine appropriate curriculum and assessment for pre-school children. They will examine young children’s approaches to learning and effect teaching that enhances learning. The focus will be on planning, teaching and assessing key experiences that promote children’s learning and development across all domains. Candidates will also gain experience in early childhood environmental design. Through hands-on experiential learning, candidates will construct an in-depth understanding of Pre K teaching and learning, including a variety of curricular approaches, the role of the learning environment, and the socially situated, play-based early learning that is developmentally, culturally and individually appropriate for the youngest learners.

ELE221 - Instruction and Assessment K-4

This course is designed to provide teacher candidates with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to create developmentally appropriate instruction and assessment activities for children in K through grade 4 classrooms. Topics covered include K through grade 4 curriculum models, developmentally appropriate practices, lesson planning, writing objectives, constructivist instructional strategies and assessment of student learning. Through class discussions, practice sessions, role-playing and microteaching, the teacher candidates will learn how to plan for and utilize strategies based on research in effective teaching, Pennsylvania Department of Education Academic Standards and standards set forth by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

ELE300 - Emerging Literacy

The purpose of this course is to prepare early childhood teacher candidates to become facilitators of early language and literacy learning. The candidates will gain critical content knowledge in language acquisition as the basis for literacy development. The content of this class deals with concepts of emerging literacy and supports candidates to acquire strategies for developing high-quality, meaningful language and literacy experiences for young children from infancy through the first grade. This course will give candidates practicum experience as they design and implement literacy bags and conduct a case study with an individual young learner. In this study candidates will research appropriate practice and examine literacy development, assessment, and design/implementation of appropriate language and literacy learning activities.

ELE301 - Literacy Foundations I: Language Arts

In this course, teacher candidates learn how to teach reading writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and visually representing skills. In particular, course objectives focus on writing development and implementation in of emergent and early writing strategies and materials, using developmentally appropriate techniques that are professionally compatible with current research and practice. Theoretical orientations to literacy instruction, with a focus on writing, are introduced, analyzed, and evaluated. Best-practices that are aligned with these theories are examined in detail, and candidates are expected to demonstrate strategies through the use of lesson planning, presentations, and teaching in the field. Teacher candidates participate in university classroom and field experiences that provide them with the knowledge, pedagogy, and dispositions needed to support the English language arts, and in particular, writing skills, to preschool and early elementary children in a variety of classroom settings. The course is standards-based, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Framework for Grades Prek-4, as well as the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC).

ELE302 - Literacy Foundations II: Reading

This course is designed to build upon a scientific reading research base to develop the practice of teaching literacy to young children from preschool through grade four. Teaching strategies are based on theoretical orientations of emerging literacy; in which children’s development from birth to preschool contribute to their literacy abilities. Candidates learn research-based best practices that cultivate early literacy development so that young children through grade four develop skill in phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Candidates learn how to assess, make instructional decisions, and provide interventions that will meet the needs of a diverse classroom population. The course is standards-based, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education standards for teacher preparation, as well as the International Reading Association (IRA), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC). Teacher candidates participate in university classroom and field experiences that provide them with the knowledge, pedagogy, and dispositions needed to support early literacy and to teach early literacy skills to preschool and early elementary children in a variety of classroom settings. In the required performance assessment project, candidates plan and implement a guided reading lesson in a K-4 classroom.

ELE310 - Teaching Pre K STEAM

The teacher candidate is introduced to how science, technology, engineering, creative arts, and mathematics (STEAM) skills develop in children between infancy and age 5 and how to support and assess this development. The candidate will research, plan, and lead small group STEAM activities with children in pre K settings. These activities will be planned according to the Project Approach, based on the interests of the young children as well as the National STEM and Creative Arts Standards, NAEYC Standards and PA Early Learning Standards. The Project Approach involves 3 phases: Discovery, Investigation, and Conclusion; candidates will gain experience in using this cross-curricular approach to contextualize STEAM concepts and to create meaningful learning experiences for their young students. Additionally, this course views children as individuals who are socially and culturally situated, and as such identity and culture will be valued and included as part of the instructional planning, activities, and assessment.

ELE311 - Teaching Mathematics K-4

This course will allow students to develop the understanding, knowledge, and skills necessary to teach mathematics to young children. Students will become proficient in the problem-solving process and will come to understand mathematical reasoning in order to teach problem-solving and mathematical reasoning to young children. Lastly, students will plan, implement, and reflect on standards-based mathematics lessons which will be taught to young children in a local elementary school.

ELE321 - Teaching Children Science: Grades K-4

This course provides teacher candidates the science education knowledge, skills and dispositions expected of beginning elementary/early childhood teachers in self-contained classrooms. The course provides an overview of the nature of science, scientific inquiry and focuses on science process skill teaching strategies. Candidates learn and practice science teaching skills such as: creating a classroom environment conducive to scientific inquiry, designing science instruction, assessing student attainment of academic standards, and using the local community as a location and topic of classroom science instruction. The course assignments introduce students to the professional community of science education professionals and resources. Teacher candidates participate in university classroom and field experiences that provide them with the knowledge, pedagogy, and dispositions needed to teach in a variety of educational contexts.

ELE331 - Teaching Social Studies K-4

This course is designed to build upon a scientific base to the practice of teaching social studies to children from preschool through grade four. The foundations of the social studies are examined with an emphasis on the standards and themes sanctioned by the National Council of Social Studies. Candidates learn research-based best practices that promote the two main goals of the social studies; social understanding and civic awareness. Instructional strategies and resources for the constructivist social studies classroom will be discussed and demonstrated. Attention will be given to current trends and the present status of elementary social studies. The course is standards-based, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education standards for teacher preparation, as well as the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). Teacher candidates participate in university classroom and field experiences that provide them with the knowledge, pedagogy, and dispositions needed to support social understanding and civic awareness to preschool and early elementary children in a variety of classroom settings.

ELE410 - Pre-K-4 Field Experience

This course is designed to provide candidates with practical experiences in two settings: An early childcare center (e.g., daycare, Headstart, nursery school, or Prek setting), as well as a K-4 early 6 elementary classroom. Pennsylvania Department of Education Field competencies, Level 3, provide the objectives of this course. Students are required to complete these competencies with 30-45 hours of observation and teaching under the guidance and observation of mentor teachers in the two Prek-4 settings. Current teaching technology and strategies to meet the needs of children in preschool and early elementary school settings will be researched, observed and discussed. Developmentally appropriate, best-practices for teaching young children are emphasized in the following areas: Planning and preparation, classroom environment, instructional delivery, assessment, and meeting the needs of diverse learners. Students will complete a mini-action research project, in which they assess learners to identify areas of need, plan and implement developmentally appropriate interventions, and use age-appropriate assessments to determine impact on student learning. University classroom seminars and field classroom teaching experiences are combined to give candidates an opportunity to discover their aptitude and interest in working with Pre-K-4 school children.

ELE411 - Field Experience K-4

This course is designed to provide students with practical experiences in a K-4 classroom. Pennsylvania Department of Education Field competencies, Level 3, provide the objectives of this course. Students are required to complete these competencies with 30-45 hours of observation and teaching under the guidance and observation of a mentor teacher in K-4 elementary classroom. Current teaching technology and strategies to meet the needs of children in grades K-4 will be researched, observed and discussed. Students will complete a mini-action research project, in which they assess learners in a K-4 classroom to identify areas of need, plan and implement developmentally appropriate interventions, and use age appropriate assessments to determine impact on student learning. University classroom seminars and field classroom teaching experiences are combined to give students an opportunity to discover their aptitude and interest in working with K-4 school children.

ELE461 - Student Teaching and School Law (Pre K-4)

This course is the capstone experience in CALU’s teacher education program. Teacher candidates engage in a fifteen-week placement in a PreK-4 classroom with increasing levels of responsibility for planning, classroom environment, instructional delivery including diverse learners, and assessment while maintaining high levels of professional conduct. Teacher candidates complete an action research project where they will determine a target group of students, consult the literature, analyze student-learning data, create instructional plans, and reflect on impact on student learning. In addition, teacher candidates participate in practicum sessions that focus on research-based strategies.

ELE721 - Teaching & Assessing Students’ Science Learning

This course provides teacher candidates at the graduate level opportunities to acquire the science education knowledge, skills and dispositions expected of beginning early childhood teachers in self-contained classrooms. The course provides an overview of the nature of science, scientific inquiry and focuses on science process skill teaching strategies. Candidates learn and practice science teaching skills such as: creating a classroom environment conducive to scientific inquiry, designing science instruction, assessing student attainment of academic standards, and using the local community as a location and topic of classroom science instruction. The course assignments introduce students to the professional community of science education professionals and resources. Teacher candidates participate in university classroom and field experiences that provide them with the knowledge, pedagogy, and dispositions needed to teach in a variety of educational contexts.