QCSD K-5 Literacy Buzz
Feburary, 2019
QCSD K-12 ELA Vision Statement
All students in QCSD will become productive citizens with a command of literacy that prepares them for the challenges of being “College and Career Ready” and enables them to achieve their personal and professional goals.
Table of Contents
Can't Miss Celebrations
- Stacey DiCicco - Focused Independent Reading
- Theresa Bash - Whole Group Instruction
- Ursula Cronin - Science Notebooks
- Tammy Thompson & Robbie Distefano - Whip Around
Implementation News and Instructional Shifts
- January Non-Instructional Day Recap
- Responding to Data
Content Area Literacy Strategy Highlight
- Jigsaw
Interesting Info
- Reading Rope
- Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Coaching Corner
- Kelly's Share - SEL and Literacy Instruction - Two topics near and dear to my heart.
Can't Miss Celebrations
Stacey DiCicco
Theresa Bash
Ursula Cronin
Tammy Thompson & Robbie Distefano
Join the learning in SeeSaw!
Implementation News
January Non-Instructional Day Recap
Both the K-2 session and the 3-5 session discussed the importance of planning backwards. Both sessions also discussed what planning with customization looks like.
One way K-2 teachers can customize lessons is by utilizing the Scaffolding Strategies Handbook when looking to scaffold lessons and concepts for students.
Grades 3-5 teachers can customize by:
- Streamlining the content of the lesson to address pacing challenges.
- Leveraging instructional routines and student routines to address a specific student need.
- Creating a scaffold for the execution of the Check for Understanding (CFU).
- Create an extension that will support learning in areas of light lift and consider how to connect the learning to another discipline.
The feedback in regards to the K-5 ELA professional development in the afternoon was overwhelmingly positive. The content and presenters fit our needs. Let's keep this momentum as we continue to work our way through implementation year 1.
Responding to Data
Mid Year Data Mining and Decision Making in QCSD
Teams across the district this month wrestled with the question, "How does planning and instruction change moving forward based on student data?"
This document attempts to summarize and capture the essence of collaboration and decision making across the district.
If there is an area noted that you would like to explore further, please reach out to your building coach or an OTL coach for more information. There is likely a colleague in our district implementing the very practice you would like to explore further!
Content Literacy
Jigsaw
Why use Jigsaw?
- It helps build comprehension.
- It encourages cooperative learning among students.
- It helps improve listening, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Read about Jigsaw here.
Watch a video showcasing Jigsaw here.
Where can you expect to see the Jigsaw strategy referenced in our curriculum specifically?
Foss and W&W
Interesting Info
Phonological Awareness, Phonemic Awareness and Phonics
Phonological awareness is a broad skill that includes identifying and manipulating units of oral language – parts such as words, syllables, and onsets and rimes. Children who have phonological awareness are able to identify and make oral rhymes, can clap out the number of syllables in a word, and can recognize words with the same initial sounds like 'money' and 'mother.'
Phonemic awareness refers to the specific ability to focus on and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. Phonemes are the smallest units comprising spoken language. Phonemes combine to form syllables and words. For example, the word 'mat' has three phonemes: /m/ /a/ /t/. There are 44 phonemes in the English language, including sounds represented by letter combinations such as /th/. Acquiring phonemic awareness is important because it is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills. Phonemic awareness is one of the best predictors of how well children will learn to read during the first two years of school instruction.
Phonics is the understanding that there is a predictable relationship between the sounds of spoken language, and the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language. Successful decoding occurs when a student uses his or her knowledge of letter-sound relationships to accurately read a word.
The Reading Rope
The Reading Rope consists of lower and upper strands. The word-recognition strands (phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition of familiar words) work together as the reader becomes accurate, fluent, and increasingly automatic with repetition and practice. Concurrently, the language-comprehension strands (background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, and literacy knowledge) reinforce one another and then weave together with the word-recognition strands to produce a skilled reader. This does not happen overnight; it requires instruction and practice over time.
To read more about The Reading Rope, click here.
Kelly's Share
Academics and Social and Emotional Learning? Absolutely.
I was excited when I read this blog by Margaret Wilson, managing editor of Humanities Content Development at Great Minds. Everyday while in classrooms I see and hear students developing not only their literacy skills but also their social emotional skills.
The work you do to help students learn to talk directly to each other, respectfully respond to each other, and build on each other’s comments will pay off for them academically as well as socially. Their rich conversations will lead to a deeper understanding of ELA content and enhance their ability to talk with and ultimately relate to others. Using these strategies in academics will help build key social and emotional skills without adding to an already packed schedule.
Click on the link above to learn more!
Quick Links to Documents
Links to Past Editions of the QCSD K-5 Literacy Buzz
Authors
Erin Oleksa-Carter
Supervisor of Literacy, Fine Arts, and ELD
Kelly Cramer
K-5 Literacy Coach