Elementary Education (K-5)

Fundamentals of Biology & Sustainability
In this course, students will learn about the organization of life from cells to organisms to ecosystems. This course will explore exchange of energy and resources in ecosystems, and students will be introduced to ways in which natural selection and inheritance of genes drives ecosystem composition. From this foundation, students will examine how human activities impact the natural world in which we reside and assess the sustainability of these practices and behaviors. Students will be challenged to examine the ethics of sustainability in light of Christian stewardship. In the laboratory, students will directly consider specimens from microscopic organisms to whole ecosystems, and they will implement field and laboratory techniques for assessing ecosystem health.

English Composition I
This course introduces students to university-level writing and focuses on communication structure, rhetorical strategies, writing processes, argumentation, research, and documentation. The course also includes an emphasis on revision through workshops and other formats.

Literature for Children & Adolescents
This course surveys the field of children’s literature. It includes an examination of effective ways to use literature with students in primary and intermediate educational settings. It is designed to enable students to become familiar with many books, authors, and illustrators.

World History
This course examines the global history of humanity from paleolithic times to the present. This will be accomplished by focusing on three inter-related topics: the relationship between human beings and the environment; the development of religious ideas and institutions; and the development of political, racial, economic, and gendered structures.

Introduction to Mathematics
This is the first class of a two-semester study of the basic concepts of elementary mathematics, including the nature and structure of the real number system, number theory, whole
numbers and integers, and rational and irrational numbers. Basic concepts of algebra, geometry, and measurement are studied, including applications of percent, metric conversions, probability, data analysis, and statistics.

Mathematics Concepts
This is the second class of a two-semester study of basic concepts of elementary mathematics, including the nature and structure of the real number system, number theory, whole numbers and integers, rational and irrational numbers. Basic concepts of numeration systems, algebra, geometry, and measurement are studied, including applications of percent, metric conversions, probability, data analysis, and statistics.

Science Concepts & Methods with Lab
This course is an integrated science course encompassing major concepts and principles of physics, chemistry, astronomy, or earth sciences. The emphasis is on these concepts and principles and their application to real-world views.

American History Elective-choose one:

American History I
This is a study of the social, political, economic, religious and cultural developments of the United States from the era of exploration and settlement through the Civil War. It focuses on events and processes involved in the expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean and leading to the Civil War.

American History II
This is a continuation of HIST 2100. It presents the development of the United States from the post-Civil War Reconstruction to the present time. Its focus is on America’s modernization and emergence into a world leadership role.

Fine Arts Elective-choose one:

Music Appreciation
This course exposes students to the fundamentals of musical notation and literature. It introduces music from historical perspectives (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century) of Western civilizations, as well as composers and forms of music from each of these perspectives. The course also addresses cultural and historical aspects of each historical perspective and how these influenced composers and their music. The course addresses non-Western music as an individual unit in addition to highlighting similarities between Western and non-Western music throughout the term. An overview of Old Testament and New Testament music is also included.

Christian Thought and Film
This course offers instruction in discerning theological elements inherent in modern film. Films selected for study feature examples of either Christian theology or theologies in competition with Christianity. Students receive tools for making moral decisions about movie-going and for evaluating a film’s content.

This course is a study of the characteristics of exceptional persons and the etiologies of some disabilities. The roles of the family and community agencies (especially the church) are discussed, and particular emphasis is given to the role of public education in the lives of persons with disabilities.

Students develop knowledge and skills needed to teach writing, spelling, handwriting, and study skills. Students employ appropriate practices to promote effective communication, expression, and reflection in all subject areas. Students become more aware of the interactive nature of the language arts.

This two-part methods course introduces students to theory and methods regarding the teaching of Social Studies and the Bible as classroom subjects. Students develop and use knowledge of spiritual development in children and effective methods to support student acquisition of spiritual knowledge and understanding. During the second part of the course students learn effective instructional strategies that integrate the ten strands of Social Studies as developed by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) — including culture, economics, geography, governance, civics, history, individual development, and group interaction.

This methods course gives students an overview of teaching methods and strategies for Science, Health, and Physical Education. Students learn and apply skills needed to apply inquiry-based, open-ended and materials-based investigation to the classroom. Students develop understanding and use strategies and pedagogy to enhance children’s learning of life science, earth and space science, and physical science. Students also learn strategies for encouraging children to adopt healthy lifestyles, practice wellness concepts, and incorporate physical activity into their lives.

This course explores two areas of significance and potential difficulty for the beginning teacher: effective classroom management and successful organization of the inclusive classroom. In this course, participants study management theory and teacher style, and explore a variety of strategies for developing a plan for classroom management based on Christian principles. They also gain understanding of the special needs of the mainstreamed child and ways to meet these needs within an effective inclusive setting.

This methods course includes in-depth study of methods of teaching reading in early childhood, elementary, and middle grades classrooms. Students come to know, understand, and use appropriate practices for promoting and developing beginning literacy skills for integrating reading instruction across all subject areas and for enabling all children to become to become proficient and motivated readers. Students begin to develop skills in applying explicit approaches to support student acquisition of phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

This course assists students in integrating knowledge and skills learned in their methods courses into cohesive units of study that help children make connections in their learning. Students research integration and learning theory, and they apply those methods to comprehensive teaching units.

This course examines the development of Christian education through the ages and philosophies that have influenced it. Major educational philosophers and schools of philosophy are discussed, and students are encouraged to apply insights to their own educational philosophy.

This methods course is a comprehensive study of effective instructional strategies that integrate mathematical content and processes. Students develop knowledge, understanding, and skill in problem-solving, number operations, algebraic concepts, geometry, measurement, data analysis, probability, reasoning, communication, connections, and representations. Students apply those skills in planning effective units of study that develop these processes in children, and they integrate appropriate reading and technologies.

This practical field experience is designed to acquaint entry-level students with a variety of schools and classrooms in the Knoxville area. Students examine various aspects of the classroom environment, management, and teaching methods in the classrooms they visit. This information is shared in written and oral form with their classmates and the faculty supervisor at regular meetings. This course is a prerequisite for other field experiences.

This course is a one-on-one tutoring session with an at-risk child in partnership with Mooreland Heights Elementary and Johnson University.

This course is a term-long experience spending after-school hours on Mondays at Bonny Kate Elementary School. Students work in teams preparing and teaching science lessons complete with hands-on activities, incorporate technology into lessons, reflect and discuss experiences with a field experience coordinator, and complete assigned tasks.

Teacher Education students are placed in local schools where they gain classroom-related experience. See the Teacher Education Handbook for the placements required for a given program.

Practicum: A Day in School
This course is a term-long experience for five full days at Maryville Christian School. Students observe classroom teacher instruction, prepare weekly lessons, reflect and discuss experiences with a field experience coordinator, and complete assigned tasks.

Practicum: Christian School
This course is a term-long experience for 30 hours in a Christian school classroom. Students observe classroom teacher instruction, prepare weekly lessons, reflect and discuss experiences with a field experience coordinator, and complete assigned tasks.

This course is a term-long experience working with literacy and reading activities, assessing an individual child’s reading fluency and comprehension, preparing activities, and participating in Math Day at Gap Creek Elementary School. Students observe classroom teacher instruction, prepare weekly lessons, reflect and discuss experiences with a field experience coordinator, and complete assigned tasks.

The course is a 40-hour field experience in a local public school taken with EDUC 4111 Reading Methods. Students will observe and practice what they are studying in their course in the public-school classroom.

This course includes a study of the physical, social, emotional and mental development of the child from birth to adolescence. This includes the role of preschool through eighth-grade teachers as they work with these children. Observations and assessments of children are included in this experience. Special attention is directed to working with students with emotional and family problems in early childhood, elementary and middle schools.