Teaching English Language Arts in Secondary Schools closes the ELA methods sequence with oral communication, language application, and a comprehensive action plan tying every ELA strand together.
What D840 covers
The course equips candidates with skills and strategies to effectively teach ELA to middle and high school students, beginning with designing learning experiences that promote effective oral communication, then applying knowledge of language, guiding candidates in teaching language use, reading comprehension, and vocabulary acquisition.
The course emphasizes assessing students' speaking and listening skills through formative assessments, and candidates create a comprehensive action plan for ELA instruction, reflecting on strategies and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, balancing content rigor, scaffolding, and evidence-based support for diverse learners.
The D840 performance assessment
Expect a performance assessment requiring you to design oral-communication and language-focused instruction, culminating in a comprehensive ELA action plan with reflective analysis.
Key topics in D840
- Oral communication instruction
- Language use, comprehension, and vocabulary
- Speaking/listening formative assessment
- Comprehensive ELA action planning
Writing tips for D840
Follow the task instructions and rubric line by line
WGU performance assessments for D840 are graded against a fixed rubric — every rubric line has to be visibly addressed, usually with a labeled heading that mirrors the rubric language. Skipping a rubric point because it seems minor is the single most common reason a competent submission comes back "Not Yet Competent" for revision.
Ground every claim in a specific secondary grade level and content
MAT Secondary Education courses like D840 typically ask you to apply content knowledge and pedagogy to a specific grade level and topic rather than write about teaching in the abstract. As a post-baccalaureate candidate, connecting your prior professional background to your instructional reasoning strengthens a response further.
Because WGU is self-paced, don't let "no deadline pressure" become no submission
There's no weekly due date forcing progress, which means procrastination costs more at WGU than at a traditional term-based school — a stalled task can quietly eat weeks of a term. Treat your own target date for each D840 assessment as a real deadline.
Stuck on your D840 task?
Our writers know WGU's competency-based format and this course's performance assessment. Get an original, properly cited paper matched to your task instructions.
Why students seek help with D840
Candidates sometimes submit an action plan that doesn't genuinely tie back to reflective analysis of their own instructional strategies across the course — the rubric typically wants the plan explicitly grounded in that self-reflection.
How GradeEssays helps with D840
Share your instructional focus and grade level, and your writer will build an action plan explicitly grounded in genuine reflective analysis of your instructional approach.
Get Help With D840
Share your task instructions and rubric and we match you with a writer who knows this course and WGU's evaluation standards.
Place Your Order View All ServicesPrerequisites and program context
D840 has no listed additional prerequisites.
- Master of Arts in Teaching, English Education (Secondary)