The online licensure program in middle school communication arts and literature is intended to serve three primary audiences:
The English Department and the Elementary Education and Early Childhood program are committed to making the program as accessible as possible. All required courses are offered both online and on-campus (almost exclusively at night) each year.
Several of the courses include chat sessions and discussions using Desire to Learn (D2L), the MnSCU online learning platform.
Note: The Licensure Requirements described below are changing as of Spring Semester, 2008. Students who have started the program as of fall semester, 2007 may finish the program as outlined below. Those who begin the program spring semester, 2008 will be subject to new requirements. The English requirements will remain the same, but there will be additional coursework required in EEC and KSP. The precise requirements and schedule for the EEC and KSP courses will be posted here early in spring semester.
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 242 | Introduction to Creative Writing | 4 |
| ENG 285 | Practical Grammar | 2 |
| ENG 4/525 | Topics in Children's Literature | 3 |
| ENG 4/564 | Teaching Literature in the Middle School | 3 |
| Course # | Course Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EEC 4/528 | Teaching Reading and Writing in the Content Areas | 3 |
In addition to the fifteen credits of courses, students may need to take Praxis II exam 10049, Middle School English Language Arts. Anyone adding the communication arts and literature middle school license to an elementary major needs to take the Praxis exam, and so does anyone adding the license to an existing secondary license in a content area other than English. Anyone changing a 7-12 English license to a 5-12 Communications Arts and Literature does not need to take the Praxis exam.
This is an introduction to writing poetry and fiction. The course does not assume previous creative writing experience. One hour chat per week.
This course is designed for those who will work with language professionally—language arts teachers, writers, and editors. It is not intended as a remedial course for students who have difficulty writing correct sentences. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify the part of speech and the grammatical function of every word in most English sentences and to identify the most common kinds of phrases in English sentences.
This course may be repeated provided the topic is different. Topics may include different genres—fantasy, historical fiction, realism—or thematic topics—survival or journeys or world literature.
Students will become familiar with a variety of books on topics of interest to middle school students, will become familiar with print and internet resources for teaching literature in the middle school, will experiment with a variety of methods of responding to and analyzing literature, and will be introduced to methods of teaching English in the middle school.
The course presents a variety of strategic approaches to and elements of teaching reading and writing.
Note: Syllabi for most courses are posted well before registration.
| Spring 2008 | English 242 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| English 4/525 | Mon, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm | |
| English 285 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5pm or 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm | |
| EEC 4/528 | To be determined | |
| Summer 2008 | English 285 | May 19 – June 20, T and R, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm |
| English 4/525 | June 23 – July 25, W, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm | |
| English 4/564 | May 19 – June 20, M and W, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm | |
| Fall 2008 | English 242 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| English 4/564 | Wed, 4:30 pm – 5:30pm | |
| Spring 2009 | English 242 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| English 285 | Thu, 4:15 pm – 5:00 pm or 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm |
|
| English 4/525 | Mon, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm | |
| EEC 4/528 | To be scheduled | |
| Summer 2009 | English 285 | May 19 – June, T and R, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm |
| English 4/525 | To be determined | |
| English 4/564 | May 19 – June 20, M and W, 4:30 – 5:30 | |
| EEC 4/528 | To be determined | |
| Fall 2009 | English 242 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| English 4/564 | Wed, 4:30 pm – 5:30pm | |
| Spring 2010 | English 242 | Thu, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |
| English 285 | Thu, 4:15 pm – 5:00 pm or 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm |
|
| English 4/525 | Mon, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm | |
| EEC 4/528 | To be scheduled |
