QCSD K-5 Literacy Buzz
April, 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
- Kerry Foley and Jane Germani - Team Teach
- Suzanne Altner - Student Ownership
- Sari Miller - Text Clubs
- Melissa Riedi - Plan With The End In Mind
- Azure Spigelmyer - Develop One Idea
- Rachel Miller - Appreciate and Explore Author's Craft
Implementation News
- Curriculum Implementation Survey Summary
- Webinar - Beyond the Exam
Content Area Literacy Strategy Highlight
- 3 Favorite Wit and Wisdom Strategies to Try in All Classrooms
Coaches Corner
- Momentum - Kelly's Reflection
Can't Miss Celebrations
Kerry and Jane - Half Day K
Suzanne - First Grade
Sari - First Grade
Melissa - 4th Grade
Azure - 3rd Grade
Rachel - 5th Grade
Join the learning in SeeSaw!
Implementation News
Year 1 ELA Curriculum Survey Summary Results
Beyond the Exam - Assessing Student Success in ELA
I recently watched a webinar from Great Minds titled, Beyond the Exam - Assessing Student Success in ELA. The webinar description is as follows: When it comes to measuring your students’ success in English language arts (ELA), which factors really matter? To find out, watch a pre-recorded webinar discussion on various types of student achievement assessments. The presenters also discuss why it’s important to focus on instruction that is integrated, not skills based. Click here for Kelly's cliff-notes.
Ten of Kelly's Takeaways from the Webinar
1. Lior is a presenter in the webinar. Need I say more?
2. We have 5 days of external accountability. What about the other 165 days? (Give or take.)
3. Fluency Reads - Key across grade levels. Seeing how fluently a student can read a text is a bridge between vocabulary and comprehension. Doesn’t have to be a long read, half of a page. Students need instruction and feedback in terms of fluency.
4. What is the best way to prepare students for state assessments and assess students to determine what they need to become stronger readers and writers? Integrated curriculum.
5. Warm Read - Student knows the skill or has some background on the topic. Students are aware of the skills to solve the problem or they have some background on the topic. Is the student making progress towards what is being taught. Testing overall comprehension. Cold Assessment - State Assessment can’t really tell us why a student struggles with comprehending text. It does tell us who is reading at grade level with overall comprehension and can measure growth.
6. Transferability - Example. A skill you learn in ELA class that you can use in science class, like Notice and Wonder. Language or skill transfer out of ELA and into other domains.
7. Transportability - I learn a skill in one class and take it with me to that state assessment. For example, students learn about George vs George in 4th grade. They learn about the civil war in 5th grade and in 8th grade WW1. Students take knowledge from grade to grade and class to class. This is what is needed for state assessments - Less of a focus on the question and skill but more important on being able to read the text closely to build knowledge.
8. When students read short paragraphs about many different topics practicing different skills - there is no transportability. This isn’t reading to learn. It MATTERS what we are reading about.
9. With internal accountability (local common assessments) you can assess skills and transferability.
10. Be aware of the state test, but not excessive panic. No stopping instruction and drilling for the test. Not fun. Not effective. Not how the world works as far as skills in isolation.
These tests are testing integrating knowledge of texts.
Content Literacy
Three Wit and Wisdom Strategies that Work in All Subject Areas and Grade Levels
Gallery Walk
A Gallery Walk deepens engagement and understanding by allowing students to share
their work with peers in a gallery setting.
1. Post work around the room. The work can include individual writing pieces, small groups’ Graffiti Walls, a variety of module texts, etc.
2. Students circulate, closely viewing the work. They can discuss with peers or record written observations. Optional: Some students stand by their work to present it to viewers.
3. Students debrief through discussion and writing.
Graffiti Wall
A Graffiti Wall helps students organize and deepen their thinking as they collaboratively
explore key concepts. This routine supports visual learners and promotes collective
learning.
1. Give small groups a large piece of chart paper.
2. After investigating, reading, and/or discussing a task, students record their ideas and learning on the paper through symbols, illustrations, words or phrases, and quotations. The routine can be scaffolded by giving a minimum or maximum number of symbols or phrases to be included on the wall.
Tableau
A Tableau encourages students to visually and kinesthetically express understanding of an idea or text excerpt.
1. Students use their bodies and facial expressions to create a scene that represents a specific idea or re-creates a scene from the text.
2. The students in each tableau do not speak.
3. A student outside of each tableau may narrate the scene for the viewers.
Variation Moving Tableau: As appropriate, motion can be included in a tableau to meet the needs of kinesthetic learners and represent elements of the text.Coaches Corner
Momentum
As we continue on our journey through ELA implementation year 1, I'm constantly thinking about the implementation stages. When I heard the morning motivation session, Momentum, I thought of the past year and the importance of moving forward. Let's keep creating energy and moving forward one step at a time! Build your small wins. Kelly
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