Courses in Reading
E RDG 404 Literature for Reading Programs (3)
Examination of the broad range of genres and the rich variety of materials for use in classroom settings. Focus includes strategies for incorporating texts into various curricular areas. Topics include literacy events with text for emergent readers, knowledge of book difficulty, and uses of literature in the classroom.
E RDG 406 Young Adult Literature (3)
Examines the broad range of genres and the rich variety of texts for use in classroom settings. Presents strategies for incorporating literature into various curricular areas. Topics include motivation issues, text difficulty, and use of literature with controversial themes.
E RDG 487 Institute in Education (2-9)
A special program, not part of the pattern of regular offerings, designed to meet particular nonrecurring needs. Available for department use and subject to department approval.
E RDG 490 Literate Thinking (3)
This class is designed to strengthen the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills of participants using a variety of challenging texts and rigorous writing exercises. Beginning with a discussion of folk tales and creation myths, the class will move through a variety of texts (including short fiction, novels, poetry, essays, journalism, and film) to examine how “story” addresses and expresses human experience. Throughout the semester the course examines why humans are drawn to narrative and why certain topics/themes appear repeatedly in stories of all cultures and periods. The course will also spend time thinking about the role of language in thinking and how language serves to limit expression.
E RDG 491Z Reading and Writing the Happier Self (4)
Reading and writing transform the way we think, and how we see ourselves in the world. This writing-intensive class presents a set of cognitive tools and practical skills that will help students refine and enhance their educational goals while examining a broad range of life issues. Relying on texts from psychology, neuroscience, literature and narrative theory, this writing-intensive class will examine patterns of human behavior and thinking that tend to produce lasting fulfillment and deep reward. In addition to classroom work a special two-hour laboratory session, with attendant readings and writing exercises, will be required each week to demonstrate how mindfulness exercises help to reduce stress. Prerequisite(s): permission of instructor.
