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Undergraduate Catalog 2021-2022

Elementary Education B.A. — Teaching Emphasis - Elementary Education Endorsement (Grades K-6)

College of Education and Behavioral Sciences

Contact: School of Teacher Education, Main Campus Greeley

Location: McKee 216

Telephone: 970.351.2929

Fax: 970.351.3159

Website: https://www.unco.edu/cebs/teacher-education/undergraduate-programs/elementary-education/

Contact: Center for Urban Education, Lowry

Telephone: 303.637.4334

Website: www.extended.unco.edu

Advising Information:

Students must consult with a major advisor each semester prior to registering.

To find your advisor, log into ursa.unco.edu; go to 'Student' tab and click 'View Student Information' link. If no advisor is listed, contact the major program for advisor information.

The program consists of four parts:

  1. Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC) Credits
  2. Required Major Credits
  3. Academic Tracks
  4. University-Wide Credits

Program Description:

The curriculum consists of recommended Liberal Arts curriculum requirements, courses in professional teacher preparation, courses in elementary education theory, practice, and pedagogy and courses in Liberal Arts Curriculum content to ensure teachers have the breadth of knowledge needed to be an elementary education teacher. Academic tracks provided candidates with more in-depth study of academic disciplines.

Program Admission Requirements:

  • Admission: Must be in academic good standing
  • Program: Must have a 2.75 cumulative GPA prior to Practicum and a 3.0 cumulative GPA prior to Student Teaching.

PTEP Program Requirements:

Teacher candidates who complete an approved content degree and the UNC professional teacher education program, as well as pass the appropriate Colorado Department of Education designated PRAXIS exam (if applicable), will be eligible for recommendation from UNC for a Colorado Department of Education teaching license.

If you are seeking licensure in your program area, the following items are required to complete your program.

  • Completion of Application for Initial Admission to PTEP
  • Completion of Full Admission to PTEP
  • Completion of Application for Student Teaching
  • Completion of content specific PRAXIS test prior to Student Teaching
  • Candidates may not take extra courses with Student Teaching without prior approval from the Program Coordinator and the STE Director.
  • All PTEP Field Experiences and methods courses need to be successfully completed prior to Student Teaching.
  • Student Teaching outside the supervision of UNC Faculty may or may not be approved.
  • Teacher Candidates will not be placed in a school where they were once students or where they have a close relative attending and/or working.
  • Teacher education and educator preparation licensure programs do not accept Professional Teacher Education Program (PTEP) or field based courses that are more than ten years old. PLEASE NOTE: Teacher Candidates have the right to petition this policy at the discretion of the program coordinator.

Please work with your content advisor to determine when these requirements will be completed throughout your program.

Degree Requirements — 120 Credits

1. Liberal Arts Curriculum — 31 credits

Written Communication — 6 credits

Select any courses to fulfill this requirement from the currently approved LAC course list.

These courses are recommended to better prepare students for Elementary teaching and successful Praxis testing, but they are not required by the major.

See Written Communication courses

Mathematics — 3 credits

MATH 181 (3) and MATH 182 (3) or MATH 185 (3) or MATH 186 (3) are recommended to satisfy the Mathematics requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements. (Note: Students in the Mathematics track should take MATH 185 and MATH 186.)

See Mathematics courses

Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies, and International Studies — 15 credits

To complete the LAC in the minimum number of credits, be sure to choose at least one course with an IS designation and one course with an MS designation.

The following courses are recommended to satisfy the Arts & Humanities requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.

  • ELIT 290 Survey of Culturally Diverse Literature for Children
  • ART 190 Art Appreciation or MUS 140 Introduction to Music or THEA 130 Introduction to the Theatre

Note: ELIT 290 will also fulfill the Multicultural Studies designation. 

For students choosing the CLD track: A 200-level world language course (3) will satisfy the additional course requirement in this category with International Studies designation and the CLD track requirement. MAS 110 will satisfy the additional course requirement in this category with a Multicultural Studies designation and the CLD track requirement.

  • MAS 110 Contemporary Chicano Literature

Choosing from the following courses to satisfy the Social & Behavioral Sciences category is recommended to better prepare students for Elementary teaching and successful Praxis testing, but they are not required by the major.

  • PSCI 100 US National Government
  • GEOG 110 Geography of the US and Canada
  • GEOG 200 Human Geography
  • GEOG 250 The Making of the American Landscape
  • ANT 100 Introduction to Anthropology
  • ANT 110 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • MAS 100 Intro to Mexican American Studies

Note: Selecting ANT 212 or MAS 100 will also fulfill the Multicultural Studies designation. Selecting ANT 110 will also fulfill the International Studies designation. For students choosing the CLD track: MAS 100 will fulfill both LAC and track requirements.

Choosing from the following courses to satisfy the History requirement is recommended to better prepare students for Elementary teaching and successful Praxis testing, but they are not required by the major.

Note: Selecting AFS 100 or AFS 101 will also fulfill the Multicultural Studies designation. Selecting HIST 114 or HIST 115 will also fulfill the International Studies designation.

In addition to the courses specifically listed above, choosing from the following courses is recommended to better prepare students for Elementary teaching and successful Praxis testing, but they are not required by the major.

See Arts & Humanities, History, and Social & Behavioral Sciences courses

Natural and Physical Sciences — 7 credits

SCI 265 is recommended to satisfy Natural & Physical Sciences requirement and will fulfill both LAC and major requirements.

  • SCI 265 Physical Science Concepts

Students in the Science track should select SCI 266 to fulfill both LAC and track requirements.

Choosing from the following courses to satisfy the additional required science credits is recommended, but they are not required by the major:

See Natural & Physical Sciences courses

See Liberal Arts Curriculum

2. Required Major — 90 credits

PTEP Core — 72 credits

Take all the following courses:

EDEC 250Diverse Early Language and Literacy

3

EDEL 101Elementary Teaching as a Profession

2

EDEL 220Teaching with Writing

3

EDEL 310Reading Assessment Informs Teaching

3

EDEL 339Assessment Data for Elementary Classrooms: Large Sets

1

EDEL 360Teaching Foundational Reading Skills

3

EDEL 420Elementary School Mathematics Methods

3

EDEL 425Elementary School Social Studies Methods

3

EDEL 455Approaches to Content Literacy for Diverse Learners

3

EDSE 201Culture of Special Education

3

EDSE 325Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities I

3

EDF 370Social Foundations of Education

3

ELIT 290Survey of Culturally Diverse Literature for ChildrenLAA2LAMS

3

ET 340Integration of Technology into Content and Pedagogy

2

ART 190Art AppreciationLAA1

3

or

MUS 140Introduction to MusicLAA1

3

or

THEA 130Introduction to the TheatreLAA1

3

HIST 224History of Colorado

3

or

HIST 230Class and Culture in America

3

or

HIST 290American Immigration

3

or

GEOG 200Human GeographyLAB2

3

or

GEOG 224Exploring Colorado

3

or

GEOG 250The Making of the American LandscapeLAB2

3

MATH 181Fundamentals of Mathematics I: Number and OperationsLAX1

3

and

MATH 182Fundamental Mathematics II: Algebra, Probability and Data AnalysisLAX1

3

or

MATH 185Number Sense and AlgebraLAX1

3

and

MATH 186Elements of CalculusLAX1

3

MATH 283Fundamental Mathematics III: Geometry and Measurement

3

PSY 347Educational Psychology for Elementary Teachers

3

PVA 310Arts Integration Elementary School

3

SCED 475Teaching Science in the Elementary School

3

SCI 265Physical Science ConceptsLAS1LASL

4

SCI 465Principles of Scientific and Engineering Practices

2

SES 403Physical & Health Education for Elementary Teachers

1

TESL 350Second Language Acquisition

3

Students in the Mathematics track should take MATH 185 and MATH 186 while students in other tracks should take MATH 181 and MATH 182.

Required Fieldwork

Required Fieldwork (Main Campus) — 18 credits

EDEL 457Social Studies/Literacy Practicum

3

EDEL 459Mathematics/Science Practicum

3

EDEL 454Student Teaching

12

Required Fieldwork (Center for Urban Education) — 18 credits

EDFE 170Introduction to Field Based Experience

1- 3

EDEL 457Social Studies/Literacy Practicum

3

EDEL 459Mathematics/Science Practicum

3

EDFE 444Supervised Student Teaching

1-15

3. Academic Tracks — 12 credits

Choose one Academic Track from the list below:

  1. Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
  2. Education New Literacies
  3. Mathematics
  4. Performing and Visual Arts
  5. Science
  6. Social Studies
  7. Special Education

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Track

Students selecting the CLD track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors. 

Take the following 3 courses:

TESL 380Introduction to Linguistics for ESL/CLD Educators

3

TESL 400Methods and Approaches of ESL/EFL

3

TESL 401TESL Practicum

3

Take one 200 level World Language as part of LAC requirement or a world language course at any level as additional credits.

Take one of the following two courses:

MAS 275Education of Mexican American Students

3

HISP 395History and Philosophy of Bilingual Education

3

Education New Literacies Track

Students selecting the New Literacies track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors.

Take the following courses:

EDNL 321Literacy in the Digital Age

3

EDNL 322Digital Literacy and Multimodal Texts

3

EDNL 423Multimodal Design: Language Arts

3

EDNL 424Multimodal Design: Literacy, Invention and Learning

3

Mathematics Track

Students selecting the Mathematics track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors. Students in the Mathematics track are encouraged to take MATH 185 and MATH 186 in LAC Mathematics.

Take the following courses:

MATH 286Elements of Discrete Mathematics

3

MATH 341Introduction to Modern Geometry I

3

MATH 386Problem Solving

2

MATH 391Introduction to Number Theory

3

MED 385Fundamentals of Mathematics Education

1

Performing and Visual Arts Track

Students selecting the PVA track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of Elementary Education majors.

Take four 3-credit courses from the list below for a total of 12 credits. Courses may be chosen from one Prefix Area or be a combination of two or three areas. 

Art and Design:

ART 1832D Design

3

ART 1843D Design

3

ART 234Drawing I

3

ART 290Visual Problem SolvingLAA1

3

Music:

MUS 140Introduction to MusicLAA1

3

MUS 143Musical Styles and ContextLAA1

3

MUS 150History of Rock and RollLAA1LAMS

3

MUS 210Introduction to Music Education

1

MUS 247Music Cultures of the WorldLAA1LAIS

3

MUS 296Jazz Music: History and AppreciationLAA1LAMS

3

MUS 310Teaching General Music in Elementary Schools

2

Note: If chosen, students must take MUS 210 and MUS 310 together for a total of 3 credits.

Theatre:

THEA 130Introduction to the TheatreLAA1

3

THEA 255Creative Drama

3

THEA 265Theatre for Young Audiences Tour

3

Science Track

Students selecting the Science track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors.

Take the following courses:

SCI 365Advanced Physical Science Concepts

4

BIO 365Advanced Life Science Concepts

3

ESCI 365Advanced Earth Science Concepts for Elementary Teachers

3

SCED 381Science Education Teaching Assistant

2

Social Studies Track

Students selecting the Social Studies track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors.

Take one 3-credit course from each of the social studies disciplines as listed below, for a total of 12 credits:

Economics:

ECON 203Principles of MacroeconomicsLAB1

3

ECON 205Principles of MicroeconomicsLAB1

3

Geography:

GEOG 250The Making of the American LandscapeLAB2

3

GEOG 315Nature and Society

3

GEOG 320Population Geography

3

GEOG 330Cultural Geography

3

GEOG 335Geography of Middle America

3

GEOG 370The City

3

GEOG 390Geographic Inquiry: Applying Spatial Thinking

3

GEOG 391Western Colorado Rivers

3

History:

HIST 290American Immigration

3

HIST 314History of Latin America to 1855

3

HIST 315History of Latin America: 1855 to the Present

3

HIST 320Early America to 1763

3

HIST 321Revolutionary America, 1763-1815

3

HIST 323Marriage and Family in the United States

3

HIST 329Indigenous North America

3

HIST 338Advanced Overview of American History

3

HIST 347United States Women's History to 1877

3

HIST 396World History

3

Political Science:

PSCI 301Electoral Politics in the United States

3

PSCI 302Power in America

3

PSCI 303Public Policy in the United States

3

PSCI 309American Political Development

3

PSCI 315Comparative Public Policy

3

Special Education Track

Students selecting the Special Education track must successfully complete 12 course credits in addition to the Liberal Arts Curriculum and Required Major Credits required of all Elementary Education majors.

Students must take the three following courses:

EDSE 203The Individualized Education Program and the Collaborative Process

3

EDSE 320Assessment in Special Education

3

EDSE 460Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students with Disabilities

3

Then choose one of the following courses:

EDSE 326Behavioral Dimensions of Students with Exceptionalities II

3

EDSE 431Introduction to Early Childhood Special Education

3

EDSE 442Language and Literacy for Students with Severe Delays

3

EDSE 443Support Systems in Special Education

3

4. University-Wide Credits — 0 credits*

*Note: Students must apply the recommended courses to both the liberal arts curriculum requirements and the major requirements to complete this degree program in 120 credit hours. This degree does not require university wide electives.