Elementary Education (BS)

Summary

The Elementary Education program strives to prepare elementary teacher candidates for twenty-first century schools. Students in the program develop necessary skills, knowledge and dispositions to create socially just classrooms for all learners. A key part of the Elementary Education program is completion of several extensive field experiences in elementary classrooms, which culminate in a year-long student teaching experience. 

Catalog Year

2019-2020

Degree

Bachelor of Science

Total Credits

120

Locations

Mankato

Normandale

Accreditation

CAEP

Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

Program Requirements

Required General Education

ART 225 offers art experiences with a focus on working with children. The class will be introduced to methods and materials that work best with these populations. The course includes an introduction to a broad scope of artists and artworks that reflect our culturally diverse country, as well as the global nature of our world. Visual Culture, work of fine art, museum analysis, installations, performances, video art, and graffiti will be discussed. Students will participate in hands-on art making activities through studio experiences, they will write and reflect on the outcomes, and they will participate in critiques and discussions.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06, GE-07

This lecture and laboratory course investigates the world of chemistry, the nature of matter and our interactions with chemicals on a daily basis. This course is intended for non-science majors and is not a preparation for CHEM 111 or CHEM 201. Credit will not be given to students who have previously taken a chemistry course at or above Chem 111 and received a passing grade.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-03

Study of interpersonal skills, motivation and group skills. Applied to educational settings. Meets State of Minnesota human relations requirement for teacher licensure.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-07, GE-11

Diverse Cultures: Gold

An introduction to Geography and its themes of study. The course will familiarize students with where places are located in the world together with their cultural and physical features. Students will be tasked to think critically and diversely about various cultures and features of the modern world.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-08, GE-10

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and flooding are three examples of naturally recurring events on the Earth that ultimately influence all of our lives. This course introduces the physical features and processes of the Earth that control these events. The course has a laboratory component.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-03, GE-10

This course is designed to provide an overview of America's political, social, economic, and cultural development from earliest colonization to 1877.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05, GE-07

Diverse Cultures: Purple

Addresses drugs and drug use from psychological, behavioral, pharmacological, historical, legal and clinical perspectives - while examining the effects of drug use on personal health and social functioning.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-05

Concepts of algebra (real numbers, exponents, polynomials, rational expressions), equations and inequalities, functions and graphs, polynomial and rational functions, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of equations and inequalities, matrices and determinants, conic sections, sequences and series, probability, and binomial theorem.

Prerequisites: Satisfy Placement Table in this section, or MATH 098 with grade of P. 

Goal Areas: GE-04

Nature of mathematics from a problem solving approach using sets, relations, number systems through integers, rational numbers and discrete mathematics.

Prerequisites: Satisfy Placement Table in this section, or Grade of P in MATH 098 or "C" (2.0) or better in MATH 112 or MATH 115.

Goal Areas: GE-04

Performance scenes and exercises for the beginner.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-06

Communication General Education. - Choose 3 Credit(s).

A course designed to improve students' understanding in communication, including the areas of interpersonal, nonverbal, listening, small group and public speaking.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-1B

A course in communication principles to develop skills in the analysis and presentation of speeches.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-1B

English Composition General Education. - Choose 4 Credit(s).

This course helps students develop a flexible writing process, practice rhetorical awareness, read critically to support their writing, research effectively, represent others ideas in multiple ways, reflect on their writing practices, and polish their work.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-1A

This course helps students gain greater facility with the writing process, expand their rhetorical awareness, research effectively, compose argument-driven texts, represent others ideas in multiple ways, reflect on their writing development, and polish their work.

Prerequisites: none

Goal Areas: GE-1A

Major Common Core

Core Support

Provides experience with a wide variety of biological laboratory exercises to prepare prospective elementary teachers. Emphasis is on building knowledge, skills, and confidence. The course will cover major biological concepts and environmental education through classroom-ready examples selected to illustrate each concept.

Prerequisites: none

This course provides students opportunities to: 1, understand the theories and contributions of major educational psychologists and theorists; 2, develop and demonstrate skills in educational technologies; and 3, develop context for the knowledge and skills described above through activities/field experience.

Prerequisites: none

Introduction to authors, genres, illustrations, and works of literature published for elementary age children. Current and classic works.

Prerequisites: none

A continuation of MATH 201, including rational and real number systems, informal geometry and measurement, statistics, and probability.

Prerequisites: MATH 201, with “C” (2.0) or better or consent

For prospective teachers in elementary schools. Topics include weather, weather forecasting and record keeping, simple machines, electricity, chemistry, sound, light, and others. May not count as a physics elective. Not available for P/N grading.

Prerequisites: none

Block I - Choose 17 Credit(s).

This course is designed to develop elementary teacher candidates¿ understanding of mathematics content, children¿s mathematical thinking, and creating high-cognitive demand tasks as well as cultivating an equity mindset that is needed to teach mathematics to increasing diverse student populations. This course will strengthen teacher candidates¿ understanding of number sense, place value, addition, and subtraction concepts taught in primary grade classrooms.

Prerequisites: none

Instructional strategies, theories of curriculum and development, integrated curriculum for kindergarten children. Coreq: EEC 413 for early childhood education major only.

Prerequisites: none

This course explores young children's (birth to age 8) development of emergent literacy skills related to reading, writing, visual representation, speaking, listening, and viewing. The role of parents and early childhood learning environments are included. Observation, assessment, and strategies to promote emergent literacy are discussed. The use of appropriate children's literature is promoted.

Prerequisites: none

A field experience focused on diagnosis and remediation of the struggling reader.

Prerequisites: none

Students will develop the knowledge they need to understand the difference between assessment and evaluation; what validity, reliability and bias mean; the uses, advantages and limitations of different types of assessments and how to interpret their results. Students will also design assessments and scoring instruments.

Prerequisites: EEC 333 

This course is designed to provide students with a variety of experiences and teaching methodologies for teaching life science topics in the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

Block II - Choose 16 Credit(s).

TThis course is designed to develop elementary teacher candidates¿ understanding of mathematics content, children¿s mathematical thinking, and high-leverage practices as well as cultivating an equity mindset that is needed to teach mathematics to increasing diverse student populations. This course will strengthen teacher candidates¿ understanding of multiplication, division, fraction, decimal and algebraic concepts taught in intermediate classrooms.

Prerequisites: none

Selection and organization of content, materials, activities, and procedures for the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

Science/health/math experience in elementary classrooms. Coreq: EEC 322, 324, 407, 421, 444

Prerequisites: none

TThis course is designed to develop elementary teacher candidates¿ understanding of mathematics content, children¿s mathematical thinking, and high-leverage practices as well as cultivating an equity mindset that is needed to teach mathematics to increasing diverse student populations. This course will strengthen teacher candidates¿ understanding of multiplication, division, fraction, decimal and algebraic concepts taught in intermediate classrooms.

Prerequisites: none

A theoretical and practical methods course pertaining to children¿s intermediate literacy development.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide students with a variety of experiences and teaching methodologies for teaching physical science topics in the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

Student Teaching 1 - Choose 15 Credit(s).

To provide the methods and materials necessary to teach music in the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to provide necessary methods and materials for use in teaching art in the elementary classroom.

Prerequisites: none

This course is designed to prepare the elementary classroom teacher with methods and materials for teaching physical education.

Prerequisites: none

Assessment (benchmarking, progress monitoring & diagnostic) and strategies for assisting struggling learners in reading and mathematics within the Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Coreq: EEC 424 and Eng. 491

Prerequisites: none

Provides elementary education majors with information about special needs students in the regular classroom. Including strategies for effectively teaching and managing behavior of these students.

Prerequisites: none

This course is the first semester of elementary (K-6) student teaching. It includes lesson planning, small and whole group teaching, designing assessments and planning interventions.

Prerequisites: none

This course introduces education majors to teaching ELLs. Included in this course is an investigation of the attendant orthography, morphology, and snytax of English, and exposure to lesson planning, assessment, and differentiated instruction appropriate for ELLs in the mainstream classroom.

Prerequisites: none

Student Teaching 2 - Choose 12 Credit(s).

Student teaching in the elementary school. Includes weekly seminar. Prereq: Methods Courses; admission to student teaching.

Prerequisites: Methods Courses; admission to student teaching.