K-2 Literacy in Rochester Public Schools: Frequently Asked Questions QUESTION 1: How do | fit everything together during my literacy block? Balanced literacy Is multidimensional and involves many different elements. The good news is that we have many Breat resources to use as we build a framework for balanced literacy; the challenge is determining how best to fit the resources together to meet the needs of our students, Each element of a reading workshop and each resource serve a different purpose. Lucy Calkins (whole group instruction and structure for reader's workshop), Words Their Way (word study program), and Action 100 (structure for independent reading at school with IRLA as the formative assessment tool) are required components of our balanced literacy program in Rochester Public ‘Schools. Exactly how the resources come together in any one classroom will vary based on the teacher, the particular students, time constraints, and even the time of the year. The following summary is meant as a guide on how to blend the elements of a reading workshop and our current resources. Reading Workshop (85-50 minutes) will include: ‘+ Whole Group: Mini-esson from Lucy Calkins (about 10 minutes). At the end of the mini-Iesson, the teacher sets a focus for independent reading based on the skill from the mini-esson. ‘+ _ Independent Reading based on IRLA color levels that is fun, fast, and easy (30 minutes) While students are reading, the teacher is conferring with students. The conference is a formative assessment on whatever the student needs help on. This could be a skill from Lucy Calkins sessions and/or the IRLA, Remember that each student has one power goal set from the IRLA; however, this doesn’t mean ‘you can't coach on other strategies or skills while you confer. For example, if the mini-lesson was on scooping up words and the student has a power goal on vowel Family chunking, during the conference the teacher will listen to the student read and might 4) briefly comment/compliment/coach scooping up words with the reader, and 2) ask student about the power goal ‘and assess progress toward that goal. ‘* Mid-workshop Teaching from Lucy Calkins (1-2 minutes) Teacher briefly interrupts independent reading in order to reinforce the content from the mini-lesson only IF the teacher believes it is necessary on that day. © Accountable Talk about independent reading (5-10 minutes) Students share with their partner regarding the focus for that day's session. The teacher selects a few students to share with the whole class. + Ifa textis used in the mini-lesson, it should be visible for all students. (See question 2 for options.) Shared Reading (10-20 minutes) will include: ‘Lucy Calkins Shared Reading Lesson (found towards the back of each unit). There is a $ day cycle for a given book with a different focus each day with the text. It starts with a familiar text (ie. poem, song, chant). The five day cycle: 1) Warm-up and book introduction, 2} Cross-checking sources of information, 3) Word solving, 4) Fluency, 5) Putting it all together ‘+ After the first cycle with the given text, teachers choose other texts to model the same skills in the upcoming weeks.K-2 Literacy in Rochester Public Schools: Frequently Asked Questions ‘¢ Note from Guide to the Reading Workshop: On day 3 during word solving, you will focus on word study concepts, perhaps hunting for spelling principles you are working on with students. You will choose s by leaning heavily on your data, namely, word identification assessments, spelling inventories, sight words, parts of words, short vowel patterns, plurals, activi ‘writing samples, and running records.( rhyming, syllables.) ‘© Texts will need to be seen by al students. (This could be a big book, an electronic version of a book, or a scanned/projected version of the book.) Read Aloud (10-20 minutes) — may not happen every day and can be done any time during the da Each Unit of Study provides a selected read-aloud text. The teacher reads to students using provided post-it notes in the text to guide the discussion, Read-aloud time is both instructional and interactive, During the read- aloud, itis important to provide students time to respond to the text. Methods for responding to the text include, but are not limited to: “Stop and Think,” “What are you Thinking? Turn and talk,” “Stop and Jot/Stop and Sketch,” “Act it Out,” and “Gesture.” '* After completing the first read-aloud text, the teacher selects additional titles to use during the remainder of the unit to use in a similar way. The texts used during this time do not need to be projected for the entire class. ‘Small Group Instruction (30-60 minutes) Days without a read-aloud may provide more time for small proup instruction ‘© This time is about differentiated instruction and may include Words Their Way, writing, guided reading, strategy groups, literature circles, handwriting, etc, + Teachers may do brief whole group instruction needed for the independent work of the day. (Le grammar, writing, phonics, comprehension, etc.) # Teacher meets with small groups that may include guided reading, strategy groups, literature circles, etc. * During independent time, students should be highly engaged in meaningful reading and writing activities. QUESTION 2: How do I pace a Unit of Study over the course of a quarter’ ‘* Only one unitis taught per quarter, Teachers must use their judgment on the pacing of the sessions throughout the quarter based on students’ needs. The sessions must be taught in order; however, teachers may stop and reteach a session. They may choose to use the IF...THEN... Curriculum to reinforce concepts taught in the unit sessions ~ either inserting them between sessions as needed or at the conclusion of the unit.K-2 Literacy in Rochester Public Schools: Frequently Asked Questions QUESTION 3: When there is a book that ALL students need to see the text, what options do | have? ‘he district cabinet provided the following guidelines for creating and distributing presentation of the trade books used in Lucy Calkins curriculum. No matter which option you choose below, you cannot make printed copies for distribution to students, ‘* Scanning on the Copy Machine: Teachers are able to scan each page on the copier and put them into a Smartboard or other presentation method. These presentations can be shared with other teachers in Rochester Public Schoo! in the same grade level who teach the Units of Study. They may not be emailed to anyone outside our district, Due to copyright issues at this time, these cannot be created at the district level OR stored on the curriculum repository. They can be stored in the shared drive at the building level. * iPad Photos: Use your iPad to take photos of each page. Use the AirServer to project the photos as you read the text. * iPad Mirroring: Teachers can position their iPad camera to project a live version of the book using the ‘mirroring function (through the AirServer). Instructional coaches can provide support on this, QUESTION 4: How are the Lucy Calkins Units of Study aligned to Minnesota Academic Standards (cess)? ‘+ Alllessons are aligned to the standards. The alignment to the CCSS can be found in the curriculum repository: ELEM->Gr level folder->LA>CurrDocs-> Lucy Calkins Common Core Alignment Document ‘+ Your district-created Scope and Sequence documents also provide alignment information, QUESTION 5 for EARLY READERS: Sometimes the messages from Lucy Calkins and Action 100 are not exactly the same. Which do | follow? Specifically... * How often should student shop for books for independent reading time for beginning readers? Lucy Calkins encourages early readers (up to 2 Blue) to re-read texts for several days, but IRLA encourages daily book shopping. The recommendation isto blend the philosophies a bit and have them book shop every few days versus daily. There is value in re-reading texts, * How soon should students be encouraged to point to words with one-to-one correspondence as they "ead? By the time students are in 2 yellow books, they should be working on the foundational skills of tracking and one-to-one correspondence as indicated in the IRLA. * What is the “right” number of books for students to have during independent reading? Students need enough books to sustain 30 minutes of independent reading. At Kindergarten, this is approximately 15 books. The number of books depends on the color level and the individual child. You will need to use your judgement when having children select books and fill their book bags. ‘¢ When should students begin to keep book logs? Lucy Calkins suggests having kindergarten and grade 1 students tally the books read rather than list titles. {tis our recommendation that kindergarten students tally their books, and grade 1 students transition into listing individual books as teachers feel that students are ready ~ possibly by the time students are in 28. Whether you send books home or not, reading logs should be done at school. This can be done on notebook paper or a photocopied book log, The elementary Curriculum and instruction team members are available to provide support to buildings, teams, and | individual teachers, This can include time at staff meetings, PLCs, classroom demonstrations, or individual questions, | Please contact Dawn Castaano-Dvsart or Rebecca Mecikaski.Ke2 Literacy in Rochester Public Schools: Frequently Asked QuestionsEHLING, PAUL SS From: LUCIO, CAROL Sent: Monday, September 26, 2016 8:59 AM To: “DISTRICT ELEMENTARY PRINCIPALS. Subject: K-2 Literacy Here is another look at the K-2 Literacy Block components and how they fit together. Please share with your staff as you see fit. K-2 Literacy Components Reading Workshop (45-50 minutes, '* Whole Group: Mini-lesson from Lucy Calkins (about 10 minutes). Independent Reading based on IRLA color levels that is fun, fas, and easy (30 minutes) Teacher conferences. Mid-workshop Teaching from Lucy Calkins (1-2 minutes, if needed) Accountable Talk about independent reading (5-10 minutes) Lucy Calkins Shared Reading Lesson — 5 day cycle May not happen every day. May include Words Their Way, writing, guided reading, strategy groups, literature circles, handwriting, etc. ‘Shared Reading (20-20 minutes] ‘Read Aloud (10-20 minutes} ‘Small Group Instruction (20-60 minutes| Carol Lucido Elementary Curriculum Coordinator 507-328-4309 lespite soe Empower Notice This E-mail transmission may contain confidential or legally privileged information that is intended for the individual or entity named in the E-mail address. Use of such information by any intended recipient shall be limited to the purpose for which such information was sent. Unauthorized use, disclosure, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you received this E-mail transmission in error, please reply to the sender and delete the message. Thank you.Lesson Preparation CIA Book Club Observation and Feedback Form Teacher Date: Things that can be observed outside of the lesson: “Each of these boxes should receive a check 2s they are necessary elements for the CIA Book Clubs throughout the entire year. Boxes without a check should become a next step for that classroom. Cheek [Observations | The book club cycle begins after students finish quadrant one of the paired read aloud unit | Students have access to read aloud charts on the classroom walls and/or in their read aloud notebook ['students are assigned a book and have their own copy to read. Each student has a book club consumable notebook purchase from Read Side By Side. (typically 4-8 students). Book club groups are an appropriate Each student is assigned to a partner or trio within their book club group. ‘There is a place in the room where students can sign up for a conference with the teacher as needed. When flippi ig through the book club notebooks, itis evident that students are completing the assignments and varied responses show they are filling them in fairly independently. ‘An expectation of quality work in the book club notebook is evident. ‘Things that can be observed within the lesson: ‘*Depending on the lesson teacher may be working on the mini-lesson, reading work time, writing work time, share out/link, ‘and/or book club meetings. Each element that is part of the lesson should be observed and given feedback. If an element isnot part of that day's lesson mark NA. Teacher Suppart _ ‘Student Engagement ] g __T reminds students ofthe work they have been doing in| _ students refer to the charts from the | 3 read aloud connecting to previous learning while giving an _| read aloud and their book club 3 ‘explicit explanation of how to transfer that learning to the | consumable as they earn about work g book club time. time assignments. 5 _—T gives the dally assignments to each group and posts | __Students participate through turn 3 these assignments on the board. and talk or share out z _— The min lesson does not go any longer than 10 minutes. = Tasks students to collaborate with their partner and/or Participate in a class discussion at the end of the lesson. ‘Teacher Support Student Engagement Ee __ Reading Day or _ Writing Day? ___ Students complete assignments fatty 3: Tr gives at least 30 minutes to student work time. independently By —T limits interruptions to independent work time __When students struggle, they fist $3 —r confers with partners and trios when they sign up for_| meet with thelr partner or trio and then z help. T focuses first on facilitating collaboration end then signup fora conference with the moves to guided practice and modeling only as needed. __| teacher f help is still needed “Teacher Support Student Engagement £ _T facilitates discussion questions, student _ Students come prepared for book 3 uestion/answer, and sentence stem sharing lub having read and completed the 2 w expects 23 students to respond to peer thinking using |avadant charts 3 the response stems posted in the classroom. —_Allstudents participate in the g __T prompts students to move from explicit thinking to _| discussion and sentence stem sharing 3 inferences, rom inferences to larger conclusions, and | Students respond tether pee’ encourages students to form their own opinions. | thinking with evidence. ‘Comments:CIA Approach Observation and Feedback Form Things that can be observed outside of the lesson: “tach ofthese boxes should receive a check as they ae necessary elements forthe CIA Approach throughout the entire year Boxes without a check should become a next step for that classroom. Check | Observations ‘There is a meeting area where all students can get up close in a community learning space. There is an easel, chart paper, and markers readily available for co-created charting. Co-created charts are on display for easy reference. (Layering charts and using the document camera to chart is avoided.) Partner assignments are posted with color coding for higher and lower level pares. ‘A partner talk poster is central to the meeting area with the sentence stems easily traded out for each lesson All students at 3 grade and up have access to the text for reference as the teacher reads aloud (one copy per student or one copy per partnership). ‘All students have @ copy of the vocabulary handbook. ‘When flipping through the vocabulary handbook, itis evident that they ere using t regularly and filing it out with expectations for quality (e.g. complete work, high level of specificity, neat handwriting). All students at 3° grade and up have a reader's notebook. When flipping through the reader’s notebook, its evident that students are regularly copying charts and responding to the text in writing. | 'An expectation of quality work in the reader's notebook is evident. J Things that can be observed within the lesson: Meeting Area Materials Depending onthe lesson teacher may be working on vorabulary, read aloud, and / or writing. Each element that i part ofthe lesson should be observed and given feedback, tan elements not part ofthat days lesson mark NA, > | Teacher Model Guided Practice 5 _Tmodels thinking 2s appropriate throughout the lesson | __T encourages student collaboration 2 {eg. using context clues & morphemes, defining what it | opportunities in partner talk or table 2 is/isn't, making connections to the world & their own ves) | groups 1 Teacher Model Guided Practice 3 __Tintroduces the lesson with @ connection to previous | __Students are asked to practice the 2 iezrning and an explicit teaching point named. objective through turn & talk atleast s “_Tintroduces the partner talk stem, ‘twice during the lesson 3 models the lesson objective using the partner talk | _ Students use the stem to share : stem at the first stopping point and charts thinking. ‘thinking and respond. ___T charts student thinking during turn and talks. ___ Students copy charts in notebooks. Teacher Model / Guided Practice independent | —Tintroduces the lesson with an explicit teaching point, | __ Students independently complete the ‘writing frame, and quality expectations. ‘writing with access to charts, reader's y ___Tuides students through the first part of the lesson _| notebooks, and writing frames which 2 ‘modeling writing the introduction and /or referencing _| are easly accessible to them. 3 pieces of evidence on class charts. __ Students set goals for themselves as _Tconfers with students as they complete the writing | they confer with the teacher and receive 3ssignment independently giving opportunities for a grade. feedback, revisions, and adeitions. | ‘Comments: