Communication / Human Information Processing 175: Learning To Read

Prof. Carol Padden
cpadden@weber.ucsd.edu
Fall 2000

 

September 21 Overview of Course
September 26 A history of reading
Readings: Kaestle, Literacy in the United States, Chapters 1-2
September 28 - October 5
 The institutionalization of reading
Readings: Heath, "Critical factors in literacy development
Herriman, "Metalinguistic awareness and the growth of literacy"
October 10-12
 Becoming a reader
Readings: Clay, "a framework of issues" and "Introducing children to print at school"
National Research Council, "Predictors of success and failure in reading"
October 17
 Contexts of literacy: The home
Readings: Anderson et al, "Low-income children's preschool literacy experiences"
Heath, "What no bedtime story means"
October 19
 Contexts of literacy: The school
Readings: Cazden, "Sharing time"
Gallimore & Goldenberg, "Activity settings of early literacy"
October 24
 Learning to read without sound
Readings: Padden, "Lessons to be learned from young deaf orthographers"
October 26
 Assignment 1 due: Reflections on the act of reading
October 26
 Controversies in the teaching of reading
Reading: Delpit, "The silenced dialogue"
Moll et al, "The organization of bilingual lessons"
Ramsey & Padden, "Natives and newcomers"
October 31
 Midterm
November 2-7
 Readership in America
Readings: Kaestle, Chapters 3, 5-7
November 9
 From the press to the web
Reading: Hesse, "Books in time" from Nunberg, The Future of the Book
November 14-16
 The future of the book
Readings: O'Donnell, "The pragmatics of the new"; Duguid, "Material matters"; Nunberg, "Farewell to the information age" from Nunberg
November 21
 The future of reading
Reading: Petrucci, "Reading to read: A future for reading"
November 21
 Reading in the context of new media
Readings: Buckingham & Sefton-Green, "Making sense of the media: From reading to culture"
November 23
 Holiday
November 28
 Hypertext and reading
Guest lecture: Tarleton Gillespie
Readings: Toschi, "Hypertext and authorship"; Joyce, "(Re)placing the author"; Eco, "Afterword"
November 30
 Conclusion
Tues, Dec 5: 11:30-2:30
 Scheduled final exam

The course

Knowing how to read is said to be one of the major requirements of contemporary life, a goal to which a young child is expected to devote much of her early years to accomplishing. This course describes how young children are transformed into readers. This is not a course about methods of teaching reading as it is a course about understanding what kind of skill reading is, and how teaching and institutional resources are brought to bear on the task of teaching children to read. The course looks at a history of how reading has come to play such a heightened role in young children's lives, and the future of reading in an age of computer screens.

Required readings

Two books are required:

Kaestle, C., H. Damon-Moore, L. Stedman, K. Tinsley & W. Trollinger (1993) Literacy in the United States: Readers and Reading since 1880. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Nunberg, G. (ed.) (1996) The Future of the Book. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Both can be purchased from UCSD Bookstore. A reading packet is also required, and can be purchased from University Professors' Reading Service. An announcement will be made in class about how to buy your reader.

Assignments

Two assignments will be distributed in class. Each assignment counts for 10 points, totalling 20 toward your final grade. You are encouraged to discuss readings with your classmates, but write your own summary and impressions. Originality of perspective counts. Your first reading summary is due October 26, and the second, November 21.

Exams

The midterm is scheduled for October 31, and contains questions pertaining to material covered before the midterm. The final exam covers material after the midterm and up to the last day of classes. It is very difficult to schedule make-up exams, so do not ask for exceptions to the exam dates unless your situation is medically urgent. Each exam contributes 40 points to your final grade.

Office hours

My regularly scheduled office hours are Wednesdays 10-12 in MCC 130. Email questions can be sent to me at cpadden@ucsd.edu but please do not email inquiries about grades, instead it's best to arrange to meet with me personally.

 

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