CSTP DOMAIN A
MAKING SUBJECT MATTER COMPREHENSIBLE TO STUDENTS
TPE 1: Specific Pedagogical Skills for Subject Matter Instruction
Background Information: TPE 1. TPE 1 is divided into two categories intended to take into account the differentiated teaching assignments of multiple subject and single subject teachers. Multiple subject credential holders work in self-contained classrooms and are responsible for instruction in several subject areas; single subject teachers work in departmentalized settings and have more specialized assignments. These categories are Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills for Multiple Subject Teaching Assignments (1-A), and Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills for Single Subject Teaching Assignments (1-B).
TPE 1A: Subject-Specific Pedagogical Skills for Multiple Subject Teaching Assignments
Teaching Reading-Language Arts in a Multiple Subject Assignment. Candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential demonstrate the ability to teach the state-adopted academic content standards for students in English-Language Arts (K-8). They understand how to deliver a comprehensive program of systematic instruction in word analysis, fluency, and systematic vocabulary development; reading comprehension; literary response and analysis; writing strategies and applications; written and oral English Language conventions; and listening and speaking strategies and applications. They know how to strategically plan and schedule instruction to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards. Candidates create a classroom environment where students learn to read and write, comprehend and compose, appreciate and analyze, and perform and enjoy the language arts. They understand how to make language (e.g., vocabulary, forms, uses) comprehensible to students and the need for students to master foundational skills as a gateway to using all forms of language as tools for thinking, learning, and communicating. They understand how to use instructional materials that include a range of textual, functional and recreational texts and how to teach high quality literature and expository text. They understand that the advanced skills of comprehending narrative and informational texts and literary response and analysis, and the creation of eloquent prose, all depend on a foundation of solid vocabulary, decoding, and word-recognition skills.
Candidates teach students how to use visual structures such as graphic organizers or outlines to comprehend or produce text, how to comprehend or produce narrative, expository, persuasive and descriptive texts, how to comprehend or produce the complexity of writing forms, purposes, and organizational patterns, and how to have a command of written and oral English-language conventions. They know how to determine the skill level of students through the use of meaningful indicators of reading and language arts proficiency prior to instruction, how to determine whether students are making adequate progress on skills and concepts taught directly, and how to determine the effectiveness of instruction and students’ proficiency after instruction.
Teaching Mathematics in a Multiple Subject Assignment. Candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential demonstrate the ability to teach the state-adopted academic content standards for students in mathematics (K-8). They enable students to understand basic mathematical computations, concepts, and symbols, to use these tools and processes to solve common problems, and apply them to novel problems. They help students understand different mathematical topics and make connections among them. Candidates help students solve real-world problems using mathematical reasoning and concrete, verbal, symbolic, and graphic representations. They provide a secure environment for taking intellectual risks and approaching problems in multiple ways. Candidates model and encourage students to use multiple ways of approaching mathematical problems, and they encourage discussion of different solution strategies. They foster positive attitudes toward mathematics, and encourage student curiosity, flexibility, and persistence in solving mathematical problems.
Teaching Science in a Multiple Subject Assignment. Candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential demonstrate the ability to teach the state-adopted academic content standards for students in science (K-8). They balance the focus of instruction between science information, concepts, and investigations. Their explanations, demonstrations, and class activities serve to illustrate science concepts and principles, scientific investigation, and experimentation. Candidates emphasize the importance of accuracy, precision, and estimation.
Teaching History-Social Science in a Multiple Subject Assignment. Candidates for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential demonstrate the ability to teach the state-adopted academic content standards for students in history-social science (K-8). They enable students to learn and use basic analytic thinking skills in history and social science while attaining the state-adopted academic content standards for students. They use timelines and maps to give students a sense of temporal and spatial scale. Candidates teach students how social science concepts and themes provide insights into historical periods and cultures. They help students understand events and periods from multiple perspectives by using simulations, case studies, cultural artifacts, works of art and literature, cooperative projects, and student research activities.