ED240 READING CORE I: PHONEMICS, PHONICS, AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION Course Syllabus - Sarahlee Desir, Ph. D

Term
Fall 2026
Section
M1
Course Delivery
ln person­[FTF]
Class Program
Credits 4.00

This course is designed to teach the fundamental principles and concepts of the structure of language, with a focus on phonological awareness and phonics. Students learn the sound-symbol correspondences of language and understand the relationship of phonemic awareness and the phonological system of language to the reading process. Students also study the linguistic and cognitive bases of reading. 

 

Meeting Times, Location, & Course Delivery Details

Meeting Days:
Tuesday/Thursday
Meeting Times:
2:40 to 4:10
Location:
CH 303
Delivery Details

The Education Area Mission is to prepare educators in the liberal arts tradition. Faculty members collaborate to develop professional educators who demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the subjects they will teach and of the teaching and learning process. Teacher education candidates in particular will gain the ability to teach diverse student populations and develop an understanding of the cultures and communities in which they practice. As educators they will be equipped to create positive learning environments that encourage active student engagement and self-motivation. Education Area graduates will become reflective practitioners who are able to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders in establishing learning communities. 

Contact Information

Instructor:
Sarahlee Desir, Ph. D
Instructor Email:
sarahlee.desir@wilmington.edu
Office Location:
College Hall, 300 D
Phone Number
Phone (office): 937-382-2279
Office Hours:
M 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; T/R 11: 00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. or by appointment
Course Materials

Required Texts and Materials:

  • Burkholder, A. (2025). Literacy Unlocked: How to Implement the Science of Reading with Young Learners. Jossey-Bass.
  • Archer, A. L. & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit Instruction: Effective and Efficient Teaching. Guilford Press.

Supplemental Readings: Articles for additional readings will be posted in the modules on Blackboard.

Adams, M.J., Foorman, B., Lundberg, I., Beeler, T. (2014) Phonemic Awareness in Young

Children, Reading Rockets. Retrieved from

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/phonemic-awareness-young-children

Bowers, P., & Cooke, G. (2012, Fall) Morphology and the common core: Building students’

understanding of the written word. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 38(4) 31-35

Ehri, L. (2014). Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling

Memory, and Vocabulary. Scientific Studies of Reading (18 -1)

Florey, K.B. (2008). A diagramed sentence is a bit like art. American Federation of Teachers,

pp. 40-42

Hanford, E., (2018). Hard words: Why aren’t kids being taught to read? American Public Media.

Retrieved from: https://www.apmreports.org/story/2018/09/10/hard-words-why-american-kids-arent-being-taught-to-read

International Dyslexia Association. (2019) Structured literacy™: An introductory guide

Retrieved from: https://app.box.com/s/mvuvhel6qaj8tghvu1nl75i0ndnlp0yz

Corbo, Murdoch, & Stollar 8/14/19 3

Joshi, M., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L. C. (2008/2009) How words cast their spell:

Spelling is an integral part of learning the language, not a matter of memorization.

American Educator, 32 (4), 6–16, 42–43.

Moats, L. (n.d.) How spelling supports reading. Retrieved from

https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Moats.pdf

Reading Rockets. (n.d.) Phonics 101: Introduction Retrieved from:

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/phonicsintroduction

Scarborough, H. S., & Brady, S. A. (2002). Toward a common terminology for talking about

speech and reading: A glossary of the “phon” words and some related terms. Journal of

Literacy Research, 34, 299–334.

Soifer, L. (2011). Development of oral language and its relationship to literacy. In Birsh,J. (Ed.),

Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills (49-92). Baltimore: Brookes Publishing

Co.

Spear-Swerling, L. (2019). Structured literacy and typical literacy practices: Understanding

differences to create instructional opportunities Teaching Exceptional Children.

Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/content/pdfs/structured-literacy.pdf

Spear-Swerling, L. (2011). Phases in reading words and phonics interventions. In R. O’Connor

& P. Vadasy (Eds.), Handbook of reading interventions (pp. 63–87). New York:

Spear-Swerling, L. (2007) The Research-practice divide in beginning reading,

Theory Into Practice, 46, (4), 301 – 308.

Washburn, E, Joshi, R.M., &E. Cantrell (2011) Are preservice teachers prepared to teach struggling readers? Annals of Dyslexia,

61:21–43

What Works Clearinghouse. (2016) Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding

in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade. Retrieved from

https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/PracticeGuide/wwc_foundationalreading_040717.pdf

Instructor's Course Objectives
  1. Describe how scientific research has affected the practice of teaching reading, spelling, and writing.
  2. Explain the role of language skills within reading, spelling, and writing.
  3. Understand the range of phonological awareness skills and the causal relationship between these skills and learning to read.
  4. Articulate differences between code-emphasis and whole language approaches to teaching reading and defend the use of an evidence-based, code emphasis approach.
  5. Differentiate between phonological awareness and phonics and explain the relationship between these.
  6. Meaningfully determine and measure phonological awareness skills.
  7. Explain the Simple View of reading and an understanding that fluent word recognition is a vital aspect of reading competency.
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of structure of English orthography and morphology.
  9. Understand that learning to spell and learning to read rely on much of the same underlying linguistic knowledge and that spelling instruction can be designed to further understand key aspects of language, resulting in better reading.
Course Schedule

Course Calendar (subject to change)

DayTopicReadings DueAssignments Due

Week 1

Tuesday

8/25/26

Intro. to the Science of Reading:

  • Overview of the course and the sequence of core reading courses.
  • What is the Science of Reading?
  • What teachers need to know to be successful teachers of reading

Due Sunday:

  • Written Summary:

Listen to the Sold a Story Podcast and write a one-page reflection on your reaction to the first two episodes of the podcast.

Thursday

8/27/26

Overview of the

Foundational Components

of Reading Science

1. How the brain learns to

read & the 4 Part Processor

Model

2. Essential Components of

Reading & the Simple View

of Reading

3. Components of Effective

Reading Instruction

  • Introduction to All Ohio Teaching Modules

Homework: Burkholder Chapters 1(pages 1-12)

In Class:

-Watch and prepare to discuss: From Babbling to Books: Building Pre-Reading Skills: https://www.readingrockets.org/webcasts/1002

-Children of the Code Video: What’s At Stake (all or parts depending on time) https://childrenofthecode.org/Tour/c1/index.htm

Week 2

Tuesday

09/01/26

The Simple View of

Reading and Stages of

Reading Development

  • Reading development
  • Ehri’s stages of reading
  • Overview of what it looks like in a classroom

For Homework:

Burkholder Chapter 1 (pages 13 – 30)

Reading:

- Farrell et al (2010)

- Spear-Swerling (2019).

In-Class:

-View and discuss the Reading Rope:

https://dyslexiaida.org/scarboroughs-reading-rope-a-groundbreaking-infographic/

-Pipe cleaner reading rope activity—make & explain in small groups.

Thursday

09/03/26

Explicit and Systematic Instruction

  • Critical Elements of Effective Instruction for Word Rec Skills:
  • Best practices for effective instruction
  • Typical vs. Explicit Practices

Homework:

Read: Archer (2011) CHAPTER 1 &2 pp. 1-52

In Class:

Spear-Swerling, L. (2019) https://www.readingrockets.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/structured-literacy.pdf

Watch Media: Explicit instruction

Discuss the critical elements of structured literacy – and the comparisons of these elements to those often found within typical classrooms.

Week 3

Tuesday

09/08/26

Phonological Awareness

- Connection to the Simple View of Reading

- Phonetics (define)

- Phonology (define)

- Phonological awareness - define

Homework:

Burkholder Chapter 2

  • (Due Sunday) Written Summaries: why is oral language so important to literacy development? How can students see the connection between oral and written language? How can oral language be incorporated in to existing daily instruction?

Thursday

09/10/26

Phonemic Awareness: define

and differentiate

  • Gradual acquisition of PA
  • Continuum of PA skills
  • Elusive nature of phonemes
  • Articulation (place and
  • manner of articulation)

Homework:

View and reflect on video: Jan Hasbrouck - Phonemic Awareness on Vimeo

  • Complete consonant phoneme chart

44 Phonemes

Week 4

Tuesday

09/15/26

  • Phonological Awareness - Activities to develop phonological and phonemic awareness: - Activities to build awareness of the internal details of spoken language - Blending syllables - Segmenting syllable - Alliteration categorization - Onset/Rime -
  • In Class

    Watch the Reading Rockets Moats video (https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101-course/modules/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness-introduction)

  • Due Sunday: Written Summaries

Explain what phonological awareness is, and how it includes a range of skills that help children become aware of the internal sound structure of spoken language. Describe instructional activities that develop this awareness, including blending and segmenting syllables, identifying syllables in words, and categorizing words by alliteration. Then, discuss the role of onset and rime in helping children hear and manipulate chunks of sound, and how these skills serve as a bridge to more advanced phonemic awareness. Move into a discussion of blending, segmenting, and manipulating individual phonemes, and explain how these skills support decoding and spelling. Include an explanation of how teaching students to hear and make individual sounds—such as learning correct mouth placement—can support accurate phoneme production.

Be sure to draw on classroom discussions, activities, and readings to support your explanation, and organize your ideas clearly in your own words.

Thursday

09/17/26

  • Blending/Segmenting phonemes - Manipulation of phonemes - Hearing individual sounds in words - Making sounds: mouth placement, etc. - Setting up a Sound Wall (advantage over Word Wall)
  • In class:

    Discuss the difference between phonemes and letters.

    -Assign students to groups to plan and demonstrate a series of teacher made PA activities. Groups can also look up activities found online after presentation.

    Complete vowel phoneme chart

  • -Watch Sound Wall Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymw6aCp7m14

Week 5

Tuesday

09/22/26

Alphabetic Principle

  • - Words are composed of sounds that are represented by symbols - Speech sounds are represented by writing (letters of the alphabet) - Code emphasis vs. meaning emphasis

    Homework:

    Burkholder Chapter 4

Phonics 101: Introduction https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/ reading101-course/modules/phonics-introduction

Due Sunday:

Written Summaries: The goal of phonics instruction is to help children to learn and be able to use the Alphabetic Principle. How does phonics instruction help children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language?

Thursday

09/24/26

- Impact of Whole Language and the 3-cuing system

- Learning to read – not like learning to talk

- Research base behind the code emphasis approach (Becoming a Nation of Readers, NRP)

- Introduction of phoneme/grapheme relationships

  • In Class Practice for Phoneme/Grapheme Assessment

Week 6

Tuesday

9/29/26

Decoding/Encoding

-Major phonics content (consonant, vowels, blends, etc.)

-Sequencing of content -Choosing content to be taught and instructional time on each (i.e. teaching to mastery, not one week per concept)

-Linking to decodable texts

 

Thursday

10/1/26

-Teaching letter-sound correspondences

-Sequence for teaching letter-sound correspondence

-Blending

- Successive Blending for students with short term memory issues

-Word building routines

  

Week 7

Tuesday

10/6/26

Decoding/Encoding Activities -Instructional principles for teaching sounds

-Blending consonants with vowels

-Examining minimal pairs

-Word patterns

- Frequency of patterns

- Order of introduction

- Activities to teach patterns

- Teaching Irregular words

Homework:

Burkholder Chapter 6

  • In Class

Watch “Teaching Irregular Words” from the Reading League) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2F 1_CNImec

Due Sunday: Written summary

Written Summary:

What is the role of phonological processing in decoding and reading fluency. Explain the importance of distinguishing phonemes in early literacy development. How are phonological deficits relate to reading difficulties like dyslexia. “Why is phonological awareness foundational to reading and spelling? How can teachers assess this skill in students?”

“In what ways can a lack of phonological awareness lead to reading difficulties? Share any examples from the text or your own experience.”

Additionally:

Discuss the importance for incorporating high frequency words into phonics instruction. What are some instructional practices for teaching high frequency words?

Thursday

10/8/26

Decoding/Encoding Activities continued

Decodable Text Lessons Presentation

WEEK 8

Tuesday

10/13/26

No Class Professional Development Day 

Due Sunday

Written Summary of Class Discussion

What is Orthographic Mapping? Why is Orthographic Mapping important?

Thursday

10/15/26

 

Orthographic Mapping

- Ehri’s theory (orthographic mapping, which bonds the sounds in spoken words to their spellings)

- visual memory is not how we read

- Written words are anchored mainly to their sounds, not their meanings

- Storing written words in long-term memory requires sound proficiency

- Works from pronunciation to spelling

- Awareness/knowledge versus proficiency

- Reading practice doesn’t help kids who can’t orthographically map

Homework: Burkholder Chapter 7

-Watch: The Reading League. (2018). Orthographic mapping: What it is and why it's so important. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfRHcUeGohc

In Class Work:

-Jigsaw: Ehri, L. (2014). Orthographic Mapping in the Acquisition of Sight Word Reading, Spelling Memory, and Vocabulary. Scientific Studies of Reading (18 -1) (third exposure to orthographic mapping)In Class Watch:

Kilpatrick, D. (2018)

Recent advances in understanding word-level reading problems: Implications for assessment and effective intervention. Retrieved from https://www.corelearn.com/recent-advances-in-understanding-word-level-reading-problems-implications-for-assessment-and-effective-intervention/ (You must create a login to access video.)

Week 9

Tuesday

10/20/26

Writing and Early Literacy Development

Homework: Burkholder Chapter 3

 

 

Thursday

10/22/26

 

Week 10

Tuesday

10/27/26

Phonics instruction

Diagnostic Phonics tests to provide information about student’s accuracy with specific phonics concepts and patterns

- Spelling assessments - Fluency (with sounds, individual words and connected text)

Homework: Burkholder Chapter 8

Due Sunday

All Ohio Module

The Why of Teaching Phonics & Word Recognition PL1. The Why of Teaching Phonics & Word Recognition – ALL Ohio (allohioliteracy.org)

Thursday

10/29/26

  

Week 10

Tuesday

11/3/26

PA and Phonics and Spelling Assessments

Purpose of assessments

- Diagnostic Phonological Awareness assessments to evaluate segmenting, blending and identification of first, last and middle sound

Homework

In Class

Really Great Reading’s Complimentary Assessments. Retrieved at https://reallygreatreading.com/diagnostcs

Due Sunday

Thursday

11/5/26

Phonics instruction

Diagnostic Phonics tests to provide information about student’s accuracy with specific phonics concepts and patterns

- Spelling assessments - Fluency (with sounds, individual words and connected text)

 

 

Week 11

Tuesday

11/10/26

Lesson Planning

- Critical content

- Sequencing of skills

- Clear and concise language - Pacing

- Continual practice

- Decodable text

- Assessment

- Sample of lesson routines for small group work

  • Homework

    -Archer & Hughes (2011) (pp. 1-22)

In Class

Close examination of table on pp. 2-3 with discussion and provision of examples

  • Written Summaries:

Outline the essential components of a structured literacy lesson.

Thursday

11/12/26

 
  • Week 12

 

Tuesday

11/17/26

Orthography and Morphology

-Spelling (encoding) system of our language - Necessary along with phonological skills for rapid word recognition (Four Part Processor) -Correspondences between speech and print (and the probability that certain letter sequences could be a word – recognizing orthographic constraints) -Lack of orthographic knowledge results in slow/inadequate reading

Homework

Burkholder Chapter 9

In Class

  • Joshi, M., Treiman, R., Carreker, S., & Moats, L. C. (2008/2009)

Due Sunday

  • Written Summaries:

    Explain the concept of orthographic mapping and how it works within the brain’s Four-Part Processor, supporting rapid and accurate word recognition. Be sure to include a description of how phoneme-grapheme correspondences contribute to this process, and how students begin to recognize familiar letter patterns and sequences in words. Discuss what is meant by orthographic constraints—the idea that certain letter combinations are more likely to appear in English than others—and how this knowledge helps readers make informed predictions about unfamiliar words. Reflect on what can happen when students lack strong orthographic knowledge, particularly how this may affect their fluency and overall reading development. Finally, explain how morphology (the study of meaningful word parts like prefixes, suffixes, and roots) connects to spelling and reading, and how teaching morphological patterns can support vocabulary growth and reading comprehension.

Thursday

11/19/26

-A significant factor in developing automaticity Morphology - Smallest meaningful parts of words

- Meanings of prefixes - Inflectional and derivational suffixes

- Combining rules

- Categories of morphemes: - Free (can be used as a base word) - Bound (affixes) - Compound words

In Class

Watch and discuss (short videos)

Spelling (Moats)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhl3_eqKoWI

Orthography (Cooke)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mbuwZK0lr8&t=7s

Morphology (Moats)

http://youtu.be/oOAYzNAUL9U

Week 13

Tuesday

11/24/26

Multisyllabic Words

- Stumbling block for older readers with reading difficulties – need for multisyllabic word strategies

- Importance of building a flexible core of strategies to unlock a variety of multisyllabic words

- Teaching the most common affixes

- Identification of the syllables and syllable types

- Pattern based decoding and encoding (silent e, consonant doubling, etc.)

- Application and practice using decodable text

Homework

In Class

Watch Anita Archer video on multisyllabic word pronunciation: https://explicitinstruction.org/video-secondary-main/secondary-video-2/

 

Written Summaries:

Discuss why multisyllabic words are often a major stumbling block for older readers with reading difficulties, and why these students need explicit strategies to successfully decode and encode longer words. Describe the importance of teaching a flexible set of strategies that students can draw upon to unlock a wide variety of multisyllabic words. Explain how instruction in the most common affixes (prefixes and suffixes) can support decoding, spelling, and vocabulary development. Include a discussion of the role syllables play in decoding longer words, especially how teaching students to identify different syllable types can support accurate reading. Additionally, explain how understanding patterns—such as the use of silent-e or consonant doubling—can help students apply their knowledge to both decoding and encoding. Conclude your summary by describing how students benefit from opportunities to apply these strategies while reading decodable texts, and how consistent practice builds confidence and fluency with complex word structures.

Thursday

11/26/26

No Class- Thanksgiving break

 

Week 14

Tuesday

12/1/26

Syntax and Semantics

- Syntax

- Rule systems that govern how words are combined into phrases, clauses, and sentences: - Understanding of how clauses and sentences work

- Parts of speech

- Types of phrases

- Providing practice with sentence manipulation to build language facility

Homework

Homework -Florey, K.B. (2008) -Watch: Academic Language Development: https://www.colorincolorado.org/videos/webcasts

Phillips_Willis_ILA

https://keystoliteracy.com/blog/syntactic-awareness-teaching-sentence-structure-part-1/ and https://keystoliteracy.com/blog/syntactic-awareness-teaching-sentence-structure-part-2/ .)

Word Origin Exercise. Use https://www.etymonline.com to investigate the origin of a single word. Summarize the origin in a short paragraph.

Thursday

12/3/26

- Semantics

- Meanings of words, phrases

- Four Part Processor - Synonyms

- Semantic classes

- Antonyms

- Multiple Meanings (use of the context processor)

Interactive Notebook Practice

Week 15

Tuesday

12/8/26

Supporting Diverse Learners

- Differentiation

- Effective decision making

- Intervention decisions and monitoring progress

- English Language Learners

- Dyslexia

Homework

-Spear-Swerling (2011).

In Class

Terminology Assessment

Discussion of current system or support for students (State, district and school supports)

 

Thursday

12/10/26

Study Day – No Class 

Week 16

  • Group Projects

Group Projects (Tuesday)
Course Assignments

Science of Reading Article Exploration & Group Presentation (100 points)

In small groups, you will research a topic related to the Science of Reading, such as phonics instruction, phonemic awareness, orthographic mapping, vocabulary development, or fluency. Each group will select a current article from a scholarly or practitioner journal and develop a 15–20 minute multimodal presentation. Presentations will summarize the article, analyze its alignment with course content, and engage the class with a short instructional activity. This assignment reinforces evidence-based reading practices and helps connect research to classroom application. A detailed rubric and topic list will be provided.

All Ohio Literacy Module (30)

The All Ohio Literacy Library is a repository of high-quality learning modules for educators which seeks to enhance the literacy learning of all children and youth. The learning modules explore various literacy topics in-depth through narrative text, link resources, realistic scenarios, etc. You will be able to add these credentials to your resume for future employment.

  1. Simple View of Reading Module
  2. The Why of Teaching Phonics and Word Recognition Part 1
  3. The Why of Teaching Phonics and Word Recognition Part 2

Decodable Text Presentation (5-Minute Micro-Lesson)

Each student will plan and deliver a 5-minute, explicit micro-lesson using a decodable text to teach and reinforce one targeted phonological awareness skill (e.g., rhyme, syllable segmentation, onset-rime, phoneme isolation, blending, segmenting, or manipulating sounds). Your lesson should be structured, efficient, and aligned with evidence-based early literacy practices.

Presentation requirements:

  • Identify your target phonological awareness skill and the intended grade/skill level.
  • Use a decodable text that is appropriate for the learners’ phonics/decoding stage.
  • Include a brief lesson sequence:
    1. Skill introduction/goal statement,
    2. Teacher modeling (“I do”),
    3. Guided practice (“We do”),
    4. Quick check for understanding (e.g., 2–3 prompts with expected student responses).
  • Provide any needed materials (e.g., the decodable text excerpt, word list, sound boxes, picture cues, or scripted prompts).

Participation (100)

Because of the nature of the course, regular attendance and participation is required. Credit will be given for class participation in the form of completing a weekly summary of class discussions. Unexcused absences will result in a deduction of 5 points each.

Attendance (20 points) and participation (80 points) is critical. Attendance points will only be obtained if the appropriate book/s are brought to class. Participation is awarded when it is obvious students have read and prepared for class and turn in written summaries. These summaries will be due the last day of class for the week. It is impossible to make up the dynamics of co-constructed knowledge that results from classroom discussion. Please let me know, in advance, when possible, if you will not attend on any particular day. Messages may be left 24 hours a day via e-mail.

Written Summaries:

The summaries allow students to assimilate what has been learned from class discussions, readings and lectures.

         · Brief essay (1 to 2 paragraphs, 300 – 500 words) of critical content

         · Content of summary should be related to topic.

         · Some topics have guided questions listed on the course schedule.

         · Summary due the week listed on the course schedule

Terminology Assessment (100 Points)

This assessment measures your understanding of key terms, concepts, and definitions essential to the study and instruction of phonics. You will be responsible for accurately identifying, defining, and applying terminology related to phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, orthography, morphology, and the structure of the English language. Mastery of these terms is critical for developing precise instructional language and for effectively communicating reading concepts to students, colleagues, and families.

Phonological Awareness Skills Diagnostic Activity (100) This will count as your final exam.

Description:
Students will engage in a hands-on activity where they administer two phonological awareness screener (e.g., the PAST and Really Great Reading Phonological Awareness screener) to a child (with permission). They will identify the level of phonological sensitivity, analyze the results, and reflect on instructional implications in a 2-page report.

Purpose:
To connect theory to practice by developing knowledge of how to identify, measure, and respond to varying levels of phonological awareness.

Assessment Criteria:

  • Accurate administration of the assessment
  • Clear identification of phonological awareness level
  • Insightful instructional implications aligned with the Science of Reading
  • Reflection on the experience and student learning


 

Course Final Exam
Phonological Awareness Skills Diagnostic Activity
Evaluation of Work

The grading scale will be as follows:

Warning:  There is a lot of content in this class.  Plan on working 2 hours on your own for every 1 hour of class time.

Late assignments will NOT be accepted. Late work will earn an automatic zero. For One assignment only, you may turn in work late, losing 10% of your total grade.

 

Evaluations

96%-100%  A             72% - 75%  C

92% - 95%  A-            68% - 71%  C-

88% -  91% B+           64% - 67%  D+

84% -  87% B             60% - 63%  D

80% -  83% B-                        <60%  F

76% -  79% C+

Instructor Course Policies

Instructor's Course Attendance Policy

Unless otherwise specified, all Wilmington College classes are face to face, and in-person attendance is required. Should any student feel ill at any time during the semester it is important to contact the student health center wchealthcenter@wilmington.edu , 937-481-2217) immediately. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to contact your professors immediately in order to determine how best to maintain engagement with course content and assignments during your absence.  

Instructor's Academic Integrity Policy

Integrity is one of the Wilmington College Core Values and honesty is our mutual responsibility.  Wilmington College supports students in being fair, honest, and ethical, and assuming responsibility for their actions. Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated.  Such dishonesty may result in failing the assignment, project, test, or course and additional disciplinary action.  See the current Student Handbook for the College’s Academic Integrity Policies as they pertain to examinations, plagiarism, classroom behavior, and the process for handling academic misconduct charges.

“All work (essays, test answers, homework answers, etc) that you submit in this course must be originally produced by you and not by artificial intelligence. Failure to comply with this policy will result in penalties for academic dishonesty.”

OHIO CORE LITERACY STANDARDS

STANDARD 1: FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY KNOWLEDGE

 

  1. Demonstrate understanding and application of the Simple View of Reading, Scarborough’s Rope, the Four-Part Processing Model, and regions of the brain necessary for skilled reading.
    1. Utilize current, peer-reviewed collections of reading research from the fields of education, special education, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics to inform reading instruction.
    2. 1.3 Demonstrate understanding of and adhere to state laws and policies related to literacy.

 

STANDARD 2: PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

 

2.1 Demonstrate understanding of phonemes as a critical link to automatic word recognition and vocabulary development.

2.2 Explain the reciprocal relationships among phonemic awareness, decoding, word recognition, spelling, and vocabulary knowledge.

2.3 Explain the differences between and relationships among phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and phonics.

2.4 Demonstrate understanding of phonological processing as a foundational requirement necessary for decoding and encoding.

2.5 Demonstrate understanding of oral language development as it relates to phoneme awareness and is influenced by dialect and language variation.

2.6 Demonstrate ability to identify, pronounce, classify, and compare all the consonant and vowel phonemes of English.

2.7 Demonstrate ability to identify levels of phonological sensitivity and apply that knowledge to practice.

2.8 Demonstrate understanding of the progression of phonemic awareness skill development across age and grade.

2.9 Demonstrate awareness of intervention materials and techniques appropriate for students demonstrating phonemic awareness difficulties.

2.12 Demonstrate ways to provide hands-on, practical application of skills related to explicit instruction in phonological awareness.

2.13 Demonstrate understanding of the relationship between phonological awareness and early concepts of print such as spaces between words and matching one spoken word to one written word.

 

STANDARD 3: PHONICS AND WORD RECOGNITION

3.1 Demonstrate understanding of the structure of English orthography and the patterns and rules that inform the teaching of single- and multisyllabic regular word reading.

3.2 Demonstrate understanding of the systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of basic decoding and spelling skills to enable.

3.3 Demonstrate understanding of the organization of word recognition and spelling lessons by following a structured phonics lesson plan.

3.6 Demonstrate understanding of the need to explicitly teach students to apply phonics skills to the parts of words that are phonetically correct and to identify those parts that are not phonetically correct.

3.7 Demonstrate understanding of systematically teaching the decoding of multisyllabic words.

STANDARD 4: VOCABULARY

 

4.2 Demonstrate understanding of the sources of wide differences in students’ vocabularies. (IDA-KDP 4E.2)

4.3 Demonstrate understanding of developing vocabulary skills through the systems of language, including phonology, orthography, syntax, semantics, morphology, etymology, and the relationships among them.

 

STANDARD 6: COMPREHENSION

 

6.1 Demonstrate understanding of the critical factors (syntax, background knowledge, vocabulary, verbal reasoning, genres) that contribute to deep comprehension of texts.

6.5 Demonstrate understanding of the importance of teaching sentence level comprehension in texts and for writing.

6.6 Demonstrate understanding of the purposeful inclusion of writing as a support for comprehension.

STANDARD 7: WRITING

7.3 Demonstrate understanding and application of the fundamentals of sentence construction and syntax, connecting writing to content.

7.7 Demonstrate understanding of and application of teaching spelling and punctuation to automaticity.

STANDARD 9: HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCITONAL MATERIALS

9.1 Demonstrate understanding of selection and utilization of high-quality instructional materials to develop clear learning goals and outcomes.

9.2 Demonstrate the ability to differentiate between high-quality instructional materials and instructional materials that do not align with Science of Reading.

9.3 Demonstrate understanding and application of the general principles and practices of structured language and literacy teaching, including explicit, systematic, cumulative, teacher-directed instruction using high quality instructional materials.

CAEP Crosswalk Map

Course learning objective

CAEP / InTASC alignment

Ohio Core Literacy Standards

Course evidence and alignment rationale

1. Explain how scientific research informs best practices in reading, spelling, and writing instruction.

CAEP R1.2 - Content / InTASC 4: Content Knowledge

  • CAEP R1.4 - Professional Responsibility / InTASC 9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

1.1 - Apply major models of skilled reading (Simple View, Reading Rope, Four-Part Processing Model, and relevant brain systems).

  • 1.2 - Use current peer-reviewed research across education, special education, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and linguistics.
  • 1.3 - Understand and adhere to state literacy laws and policies.
  • 9.2 - Distinguish high-quality materials from materials not aligned with the Science of Reading.

Science of Reading Article Exploration and Group Presentation

  • All Ohio Literacy modules and research-based written summaries
  • Alignment rationale: candidates interpret disciplinary research and use it to make professionally responsible instructional decisions.
2. Demonstrate understanding of phonological awareness, phonics, orthography, and morphology.

CAEP R1.2 - Content / InTASC 4: Content Knowledge

  • CAEP R1.2 - Content / InTASC 5: Application of Content

2.1-2.8 and 2.13 - Phonemes; relationships among phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, and vocabulary; terminology; processing; oral language/dialect; English phonemes; developmental progression; concepts of print.

  • 3.1-3.3, 3.6-3.7 - English orthography; explicit, systematic decoding and spelling; structured phonics lessons; irregular word parts; multisyllabic words.
  • 4.3 - Language systems, including phonology, orthography, syntax, semantics, morphology, and etymology.
  • 7.7 - Teaching spelling and punctuation to automaticity.

Terminology Assessment

  • Phoneme/grapheme, orthographic mapping, morphology, and multisyllabic-word activities
  • Alignment rationale: candidates acquire the central structures of language and apply them to decoding, encoding, word recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension.
3. Identify and administer reading assessments and use data to inform instruction.

CAEP R1.3 - Instructional Practice / InTASC 6: Assessment

  • CAEP R1.3 - Instructional Practice / InTASC 7: Planning for Instruction
  • Supporting link: InTASC 2 - Learning Differences

2.7 - Identify levels of phonological sensitivity and apply that knowledge to practice.

  • 2.8 - Understand the developmental progression of phonemic-awareness skills.
  • 2.9 - Identify intervention materials and techniques for learners with phonemic-awareness difficulties.
  • 9.1 - Use high-quality materials to develop clear learning goals and outcomes.

Phonological Awareness Skills Diagnostic Activity (PAST and Really Great Reading screener)

  • Administration, analysis, identification of instructional implications, and reflection
  • Alignment rationale: candidates collect and interpret evidence of learning, then use results to select goals, instruction, and intervention.
4. Develop structured literacy lesson plans incorporating explicit, systematic instruction.

CAEP R1.3 - Instructional Practice / InTASC 7: Planning for Instruction

  • CAEP R1.3 - Instructional Practice / InTASC 8: Instructional Strategies
  • Supporting link: InTASC 4 - Content Knowledge

2.12 - Provide hands-on application of explicit phonological-awareness instruction.

  • 3.2 - Use systematic, cumulative, and explicit instruction in decoding and spelling.
  • 3.3 - Organize word-recognition and spelling instruction through a structured phonics lesson plan.
  • 9.1 and 9.3 - Select high-quality materials and apply explicit, systematic, cumulative, teacher-directed structured literacy practices.

Decodable Text 5-Minute Micro-Lesson (I Do, We Do, check for understanding)

  • Lesson-planning work on sequencing, pacing, cumulative practice, assessment, and decodable text
  • Alignment rationale: candidates translate literacy content into coherent plans and evidence-based instructional routines.
5. Differentiate instruction to support diverse learners, including English language learners and students with dyslexia.

CAEP R1.1 - Learner and Learning / InTASC 1: Learner Development

  • CAEP R1.1 - Learner and Learning / InTASC 2: Learning Differences
  • CAEP R1.3 - Instructional Practice / InTASC 6, 7, and 8: Assessment, Planning, and Instructional Strategies

2.5 - Connect oral-language development and phoneme awareness while accounting for dialect and language variation.

  • 2.8-2.9 - Use developmental progressions and appropriate intervention techniques for phonemic-awareness needs.
  • 4.2 - Understand sources of wide differences in students' vocabularies.
  • 9.3 - Apply structured literacy principles using explicit, systematic, cumulative instruction and high-quality materials.

Supporting Diverse Learners unit: differentiation, intervention decisions, progress monitoring, English learners, and dyslexia

  • Diagnostic assessment reflection and instructional implications
  • Alignment rationale: candidates use learner variability and assessment evidence to design accessible, responsive literacy instruction.

Institutional and Program-Level Policies

Final Exam Schedule
All exams will follow the Final Exam Schedule. Students scheduled to take three or more final examinations on one day may request to arrange their examination schedule, so no more than two exams occur on one day.
Requests for early or late exams are considered only under extreme circumstances. Prior to the exam period, the student must file a written request on the Early/Late Exam Form available in the Student One Stop Center, Academic Records, and on the WC portal. The form must be signed by the Instructor and the Academic Dean, approving the alternate exam time. This process must be completed prior to the scheduled exam period.

Undergraduate:  FA26 Final Exam Schedule    

 

Out-of-class Work Expectation

A minimum of 2 hours of out-of-class student work is expected for each hour of in-class time for traditional face-to-face courses. For online and hybrid courses, the combination of face-to-face time and out-of-class work should be equal to 3 hours per credit hour per week.

Instructional Course Delivery                                                                                                            

Definition of Courses

Academic Integrity Policy

The use of generative AI is prohibited except where expressly allowed in assignment instructions.

Academic Integrity Policy

Class Attendance Policy                              

Institutional Class Attendance Policy