Curriculum Vitae MICHELE KNOBEL, PhD.

APPENDIX 1
An overview of university-based teaching experience
Courses I am teaching or have taught at Montclair State
University, Montclair, NJ (2003-present):
Undergraduate course:
READ 400: Initial Inquiry into Literacy Development. In this core course, key theoretical
and pedagogical dimensions of effective literacy instruction for K-8 classrooms are
examined, evaluated and discussed. This course aims at enabling pre-service teachers to
develop a theoretically-informed and pedagogically sound repertoire of instructional
strategies for teaching a diverse range of students. Subject matter covered includes
emergent literacy, phonemic awareness, beginning reading and writing instruction,
effective literacy assessment, teaching students who struggle with school literacy,
teaching ESL students, critical literacy and technoliteracy. The course also aims at
assisting students in recognizing the significance of their own development as critical
readers, writers and thinkers.
READ 408: Content Area Literacy for Elementary Classrooms. In this course,
prospective elementary teachers continue their exploration of key theories and methods
for teaching literacy, with an emphasis on the intermediate grades. They focus on reading
comprehension, vocabulary development, writing instruction, literacy across the content
areas, and the use of technology to develop a breadth of pedagogical knowledge.
Particular attention is given to developing expertise in planning differentiated instruction
that meets the needs of a diverse range of learners, including English Language Learners,
those with learning disabilities, struggling readers, and advanced students, among others.
Graduate courses:
READ 500: The Nature of Reading. This required graduate course is designed for preservice
and in-service teachers to examine critically the field of literacy. Emphasis is
placed on introducing students to three broad sets of theories that have influenced literacy
education in the U.S.: psychological (including psycholinguistics), humanist, and
sociocultural theories. In addition, students are introduced to key classroom approaches
to literacy education, including emergent literacy, balanced literacy, whole language,
critical literacy, new literacies, the NJ Language Arts Literacy Standards, and so on, as
well as connections between literacy theory and efficacious classroom practices. The
course also examines public policy as it impacts literacy programs followed in most
elementary and middle schools in New Jersey. The course also aims at assisting students
in recognizing the significance of their own development as critical readers, writers and
thinkers.
READ 600: Contemporary Issues in Reading (New Literacies and New Technologies).
This special seminar course is designed to provide a context in which pre-service and
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