This four-course certificate is designed for English/language arts (and other) secondary teachers who are interested in expanding their knowledge of expository texts and composition instruction. All RWS courses in the certificate may be applied to an M.A. in Rhetoric and Writing Studies with a specialization in the teaching of writing.

Required certificate courses (6 units):
RWS 509: Introduction to the Teaching of Composition (3)
RWS 612: Advanced Practices in Secondary School Composition (3)

Recommended electives (6 units from the following list):
RWS 600: Reading and Writing Rhetorically (3)
RWS 601A: History of Rhetoric I (3)
RWS 601B: History of Rhetoric II (3)
RWS 602: Modern Rhetoric and Composition Studies (3)
RWS 609: Seminar in Theory and Practice of Teaching Composition (3)
RWS 640: Research Methods in Rhetoric and Writing Studies (3)
Linguistics 530: English Grammar (3)
Linguistics 555: Practical Issues in Teaching English as a Second
Language (3)
Teacher Education 637: Advanced Assessment of Reading and the
Language Arts

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The first course in the certificate, RWS 509, will be offered in the Fall, 2005. The class begins on September 6, 4:00-6:40pm, AH 4144
Ann M. Johns, Instructor

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About RWS 509: Introduction to the Teaching of Composition (3 units)
Objectives: Those enrolled will:
• Analyze a range of pedagogical positions in the teaching of writing.
• Investigate issues related to teaching writing to ELL and multi-cultural students.
• Explore major scholarship about the relationships between reading and writing.
• Assess issues related to the teaching of grammar.
• Investigate and apply state language arts content standards related to reading and writing rhetorically.
• Analyze the major historical and contemporary insights on writing processes.
• Discuss how different theories of genre and process can be applied to the classroom.
• Explore text conventions and the strategies for applying knowledge of those conventions to reading and writing.
• Analyze and critique assessment practices in the secondary schools
Required text: A course reader will be available for purchase at CAL Copy, near SDSU.

Class plan (subject to change as needs of those enrolled are assessed):
Week 1: Theories and practices in expository writing
Week 2: Implications of theories for the classroom
Week 3: Writing processes
Week 4: Reading into writing: examining expository texts as models; other
pre-writing strategies
Week 5: Purposeful reading in response to prompts; content reading strategies
Week 6: Examining the features of academic discourse(s). Vocabulary
building.
Week 7: Structuring expository reading/writing tasks
Week 8: Grammar(s), especially involving ELL students
Week 9: Errors and student writing
Week 10: Responding to writing
Week 11: Classroom assessment and standardized testing
Week 12: Multi-cultural issues in the writing classroom
Week 13: Technology and the teaching of writing
Week 14: Relevant scholarship, particularly as it relates to the multi-cultural
classroom
Week 15: Professional issues:
Assignments:
Teaching Portfolio (for Writing)
• Graded student papers and reflections upon assessment practices
• Written report on a classroom observation
• Weekly responses to readings
Instructional plan: From writing task to product
Research article critique; application to classroom teaching