Teaching PreK-Grade 3 Language Arts, Hertz Hausman, Spring 2026

Course Number:	EDU 5515 S04
Instructor:	Christine Hertz Hausman, M.Ed.
Location:	Online
Dates and Times:	January 5-April 26, 2026
Credits:	3 Graduate Credits
Tuition:	Set by and payable to VT-HEC

Course Description

Course Description:

This course is designed to address the competencies for the early childhood educator (PreK-3^rd grade) endorsement. It delves into how children construct knowledge about literacy and develop the ability to read and write. It also focuses on how teachers can support the early literacy development of children in preschool, kindergarten, and the primary grades by creating literacy rich environments and using developmentally appropriate instructional and assessment strategies.

Audience:

Aspiring or current early childhood educators with an earned bachelor’s degree seeking to develop or enhance their knowledge of children’s early literacy development and strategies for how to support their development.

Course Goals & Objectives

Course Goals:

Participants will develop the knowledge and skills to:

Make connections between oral language and literacy development, including connections between phonemes and graphemes, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension.
Create a literacy environment that fosters interest and growth in all aspects of oral and written communication.
Use engaging instructional approaches for supporting emergent and developing readers to acquire effective literacy skills, strategies, and habits.
Use a variety of approaches to broaden children’s vocabulary.
Organize and implement an emergent writing program that promotes engagement in writing on a regular basis.

Course Objectives:

This course is designed to build upon participants’ understanding of how children construct knowledge about literacy, develop the ability to read and write, and how educators can support that development. This will be accomplished through:

Selecting and making accessible to children a wide variety of quality, engaging and developmentally appropriate books of various genres and formats which represent diverse cultures, racial and linguistic groups, and historically underrepresented populations.
Acquiring knowledge of phonological awareness and learning instructional practices to support skills related to phonological learning.
Learning how to provide multiple opportunities for beginning writers to represent their ideas, write purposefully, and explore sound-symbol relations.
Using a variety of valid assessment strategies to regularly evaluate children’s progress in all the dimensions of emergent/early literacy development.
Using the results of literacy assessments to adjust and/or target instruction, and to flexibly group children in all areas of literacy instruction.

Required Readings/Resources

Costs for required readings, if any, are not included in the course tuition.

Lindsey, Julia B. (2022). Reading above the fray. New York, NY: Scholastic Professional.

Ray, K. & Cleaveland, L. (2018). A teacher’s guide to getting started with beginning writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Publishing.

Vermont Early Learning Standards (download: https://education.vermont.gov/sites/aoe/files/documents/edu-early-education-early-learning-standards.pdf)

Common Core State Standards - ELA (download: https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf)

Other Suggested Readings/Texts:

Supplemental course readings/articles will be provided electronically on VT-HEC Canvas course shell.

Materials needed for each class:

Notebook (reading/writing notebook/journal)

Sticky notes (1 pad is sufficient)

Electronic device with Internet access, video/microphone required

For additional course information

Christine Hertz Hausman

(802) 498-3350

For additional registration information

Center for Schools Team

(802) 468-1325