Middle Grades Literacy
English and Reading for the Week of May 11th 2020
Featured in this month's newsletter
- Reading: Achieve3000 Post Level Set
- Free Online PD
- ELA Adoption Information
- Reading Endorsement
- Mental Health Requirement Update
- #PascoStudentsSpeak
- Current Pasco Literacy Job Openings
- What We're Reading and Watching
- Canvas Online Conference
- Barry University Online Information Meeting
- Office Hours
If you have information or a highlight you'd like me to share in an upcoming newsletter (or you're interested in being a guest columnist!), don't hesitate to reach out via email.
#GreatTeachingMatters
Reading: Achieve3000 Post- Level Set Assessment
We know that many of you who are using the Achieve3000 platform received information about the Level Set post-test, which happens towards the end of every school year to monitor a student's Lexile growth over the course of the year.
This key piece is an essential part of the process and needs to be taken seriously by the student to insure adequate representation of their progress towards grade-level expectations.
The window for HS students to take this post Levelset will begin May 4th and will be open to the end of the year, you can decide when you'd like students to take it for your class, but be very clear that they are to do this without assistance. Stress the importance of them doing this in a quiet place without distraction and of course, encourage them to do their best work!
Congratulations, Ms. Harvey!
Achieve 3000- Read to Succeed Contest
Free Online Professional Development | Effective Online Teaching
The Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching at the University of South Florida is proud to launch its online professional development series with Effective Online Teaching. To learn more about this opportunity and reserve your space in the course, visit our registration page.
Online technologies have changed the shape of teaching and learning. Recently, millions of educators were abruptly forced to move courses online where they scrambled to solve the unique challenges of distance learning. Teaching online demands new approaches to facilitate learning and this course is an introduction to those approaches.
Choose from two sessions:
- June 15-29, 2020
- July 6-17, 2020
HOW DO I REGISTER?
To learn more about this opportunity and reserve your space in the course, visit our registration page.
Narrowing Team Application
Attention Teachers & Instructional Coaches:
Get involved! The Office of Leading and Learning has initiated the review of instructional materials for the upcoming English Language Arts adoption. Selecting instructional materials is one of the most critical decisions we will make as a district and we need your expertise to choose the best materials for our students. Many are involved in the process from the steering team, to the narrowing team, to the school-based adoption team representatives.
The steering team sets up the foundation for the entire process from logistics (dates, deadlines, forms) to overseeing and monitoring the process from start to finish. The steering team is also responsible for training and educating both the narrowing and school-based adoption team representatives on the process of selecting and piloting prospective instructional materials. This team consists of representatives from the Office of Leading and Learning.
Here is where you as teachers and instructional coaches can help lead the process:
Option 1: Narrowing Team
The narrowing team, as its name implies, is responsible for narrowing the selection of instructional materials to be piloted in our schools. This is a five day commitment at the beginning of next school year. To narrow the selection, the team will receive in-depth training on the newly released Florida B.E.S.T. ELA standards as well as how to apply our district evaluation tool to thoroughly review state approved instructional materials. The goal of this team is to recommend 2-3 instructional materials programs to be piloted in our schools.
Option 2: School-based Adoption Teams
The school-based adoption teams consists of 1-2 representatives from each school, elementary, middle, high, to receive training from vendors for the prospective instructional materials to be piloted in schools. This is a two day commitment currently projected during the month of October next school year. Following training, they will serve as liaisons between their schools and OLL with piloting the materials, providing training and support within their buildings, and assisting with the final selection of materials.
Both teams serve important roles and are integral to the success of the adoption process.
If you are interested in serving on the narrowing team, please fill out an application by clicking on the link below. The deadline for submitting applications is no later than Tuesday, May 26 at 5:00 p.m. Accepted applicants will be notified by Friday, May 29. More information regarding school-based adoption teams will be forthcoming in the fall.
ELA & Reading Teacher Perceptions Survey (ACTION REQUIRED)
Teachers & Instructional Coaches:
Share your feedback! The Office of Leading and Learning wants to hear from you! As a district, we would like to get a better understanding of how our current literacy instructional materials have impacted your classroom practices and overall attitudes toward literacy instruction. The following survey will take about 15 minutes to complete. Your answers will be used to help inform future planning, specifically the review of instructional materials for the upcoming K-12 English Language Arts adoption. We have also included questions pertaining your experiences with blended and virtual learning (Canvas/myLearning). None of your responses will be personally identifiable. The survey closes Friday, June 5 at 5:00 p.m. Please be sure your voice is heard!
Reading Endorsement Update
If you are currently pursuing your Reading Endorsement through the district pathway, please note that summer courses were released this week.
The state has waived all fees for certification exams through July 31st, which includes the K-12 Reading Subject Area Exam (035). Here is the link: http://www.fl.nesinc.com/testPage.asp?test=035. You can register now and receive a voucher during the appointment scheduling stage of the registration process to take the test once test centers are reopened.
#PascoStudentsSpeak
Mental Health Instruction Requirement- Update
As was shared previously, the state mental health instruction requirement was to be completed through 6-12 ELA classes. Since distance learning will continue through the end of the school year, the requirement will not be placed in the ELA distance learning courses. There will be a separate course for students to complete this curriculum, for which the ELA teachers would not be responsible. Your principal will be giving you specific information as it pertains to your site and payment for those who completed the training.
What We're Reading and Watching
Getting All Students to Think, Talk, and Listen in Classroom Discussions
In this Educational Leadership article, author/consultant Zaretta Hammond says that under ideal conditions, classroom discussions, debates, conversations, and dialogues increase students’ brainpower “so that they are able to take on more rigorous work and engage in deeper learning down the road.” But for that to happen, classroom talk has to be high-quality, and that’s not always the case. Too often, says Hammond, the same students talk in class – “those who are comfortable conversing in English, have mainstream background knowledge, or are more extroverted.” Turn and talk and think, pair, share are useful, but they’re “not sturdy enough” for high-level discussions and what Hammond calls “cognitive chewing.”
Hence the need for well-thought-out structures, protocols, and skillful facilitation by teachers so that all students have time to think, talk, and listen. High-quality discussions:
- Give marginalized students access to the substance;
- Honor the knowledge each student brings to the table;
- Give students more agency in directing the conversation;
- Give students a robust cognitive workout by leveraging the way they talk every day.
The structured nature of protocols strikes some educators as too rigid for a free-flowing discussion that welcomes all students. But just the opposite is true, says Hammond. Here are her suggestions for making protocols work:
• Offer structures and time for small talk. Helping students chat and get to know each other paves the way for deeper discussions; there are several protocols for this, including dyads, the tea party, and diversity rounds.
• Shake up inequitable participation. Rounds is a small-group protocol in which one person has 2-3 minutes to talk, then the other members take turns around the circle, each with a set amount of time to respond, then a second person is the presenter, and the process is repeated. The tuning protocol is best for collectively revising and improving a piece of student work in preparation for discussion with a larger group.
• Use the elements of hip-hop culture to modify protocols. Some possibilities, which include an element of just plain fun (see details in the full article linked below):
- Remix the fishbowl protocol as a cipher.
- Use a cipher-like protocol like the kiva to help students focus on “cognitive stitching” as they build on each other’s ideas.
- Reconfigure the chalk talk protocol as a graffiti tag billboard.
“The idea,” says Hammond, “is to leverage students’ comfort with multimodal expression as a way into dialogue, discussion, or debate.”
• Invoke performance elements of spoken word poetry. The idea is to use lyrical expression to draw out metaphors and deepen understanding.
• Give students the power to facilitate. Students can learn how to hand off discussions to classmates (rather than always going through the teacher), channeling their inner “MC” to become skillful facilitators of discussions.
• Provide enough time. High-quality discussions take longer than turn and talk, says Hammond. She recommends carving out enough time two or three days a week.
• Be patient. “Recognize that, like the first pancake, deep discussions are going to be a bit messy in the beginning,” she says. But students quickly get used to using protocols to take their discussions to a deeper level.
• Don’t over-police language. Students shouldn’t be stigmatized or scolded in their use of dialects and the vernacular (within reason), says Hammond. She recommends explicit instruction in code-switching – moving seamlessly from one register to another, as appropriate.
“The Power of Protocols for Equity” by Zaretta Hammond in Educational Leadership, April 2020 (Vol. 77, #7, pp. 45-50), http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr20/vol77/num07/The-Power-of-Protocols-for-Equity.aspx.
The Write Idea
Free Canvas Online Conference
The annual conference for Canvas users has shifted to a virtual conference this year. It's FREE, and you can register here:
Register for the Barry University Online Information Meeting + Win Free Gift
You are invited to attend an upcoming online meeting to learn more about our Master’s degrees offered at lower online tuition rates.
Please choose the best time that works for you:
Thursday, May 14
3:00pm to 3:30pm
Friday, May 15
12:00pm to 12:30pm
10 Tips for Supporting Virtual Professional Learning Communities
SEL/Compassionate Schools
It’s important to maintain your relationship momentum with your students during this last stretch of learning for this school year. Consider ways that you can empower students to wrap up their learning. Could a student lead a virtual class lesson? Could a group of students create a reflection activity based on what they’ve been learning? By allowing for student voice and choice in their learning, you’re showing them that they are a valuable member of the class and that you believe in them and their abilities.
Gradebook Tips Sheet
Included here Gradebook Pro Tips.pdf are some helpful tips to assist you in as you grade and respond to student learning.
Contact Us
Cassie Hernandez
Literacy 6-8
Email: crhernan@pasco.k12.fl.us
Twitter: @herncas22
Tressa Lima
Literacy 9-12
Email: tlima@pasco.k12.fl.us
Twitter: @TressaLima