Literacy Plan

READ 680: Developing Literacy Leaders

Henry Clay Elementary School
● Located in Hanover
County, Virginia
● Serves students in
Pre-Kindergarten
through 2nd Grade
● Current enrollment is
375 students
Student Demographics at Henry Clay
Elementary
The Need
We used the Kindergarten
Spring PALs to determine
our need to be Concept of
Word.
Literacy Need
Possible Solution #1: Fountas and
Pinnell Shared Reading Program
● Collection of big books,
poetry charts, individual
student readers, lesson
menus, and audio files
created specifically for
Kindergarten classrooms.
Possible Pitfalls of the Fountas and
Pinnell Shared Reading Program
● Teachers might struggle to
differentiate instruction.
● Teachers will need to be willing
to accept coaching to learn how
to effectively use the program in
the classroom.
Possible Solution #2: PALs Concept
of Word Lessons and Quick Checks
● The PALs website provides ten pre-created lesson
plans, rhymes, and materials to track student growth in
their COW development.
Possible Pitfalls of the PALs
Concept of Word Lessons and Quick
Checks
● Only ten lessons are available and some students will
need additional support past the ten lessons
● This is a tier two intervention and will not reach all
students in every classroom.
Possible Solution ● The Kindergarten team will
meet together weekly with
#3: COW the reading coach to create
Collaborative Concept of Word lessons to
Planning use in the classroom.
● Lessons will include whole
and small group instruction
that follow a weekly
framework created by the
coach.
Possible Pitfalls of COW Collaborative
Planning ● Requires a weekly time commitment during
planning each week.
● With diverse student needs, it could be
difficult for the Kindergarten team to plan
together to create one lesson that would fit
the needs of all classrooms.
● Would require additional time and effort from
the teachers to create materials and
resources.
Proposed Solution: Fountas and
Pinnell Shared Reading Program
● This program will engage students in authentic
texts through modeling and the interactive reading
of big books and poems.

● This solution as it offered a comprehensive

approach to teaching Concept of Word.
Proposed Solution: Fountas and
Pinnell Shared Reading Program
● Teachers will engage students in whole and small
group instruction using the pre-created lesson plan
menus.

● This solution will allow students to interact

repeatedly with a text through pointing, identifying
words in text, and recognizing words in isolation.
Justification of Proposed Solution

● We selected this program because over 36% of

Kindergarten students performed below the
targeted benchmark in at least one area of
Concept of Word on the PALs assessment.

● Students will be engaged in authentic texts while

learning how to point to words and identify words
in and out of context after teacher modeling.
Method and Implementation
● Kindergarten team will meet with the literacy coach
throughout the year to plan shared reading
lessons that match county standards that
encourages the development of COW in students.

● The literacy coach will model shared reading in

each classroom.
Materials
● 62 Big books, individual readers, Sing a Song of
Poetry, lesson menu cards, teacher manual, and
access to online materials.

● Literacy coach will provide: pointers, highlighter

tape, wiki sticks, and erasable highlighters.
Professional Development Plan
● We developed a plan that is transformational, job
embedded, ongoing, centered around
collaboration, instructionally focused and
supportive.

● The team will analyze data and reflect on the

effectiveness of the selected program and
implementation.
 Motivation for Change
● Teachers will play an active role in their own professional
development. They’ll be leading discussions, looking at
their specific classroom and student needs, and using their
professional knowledge to develop lessons that support
the development of COW.

● This literacy plan is simply building off what teachers

already are doing in their classroom; it’s simply offering an
additional level of support
Timeline for Implementation
Teacher Work Week
Second Week of School
Sept. 9- October 15th (before
PALs)
October 28th
November 1-January 13th
(before mid-year PALs
window)
Introduce and Organize F&P shared reading materials.
Literacy coach will model shared reading lesson in each teacher’s
classroom. They will debrief/discuss what they learned at the end of week.
Meet weekly as a grade level and with the literacy coach to plan shared
reading lessons that follow the suggested pacing and align with county
standards.
Analyze grade level and classroom PALs data with a focus on Concept of
Word.Determine areas of strengths and weaknesses in each classroom
and across the grade level. Use data to determine an instructional plan in
addressing the areas of weakness. Literacy coach will be available to
co-teach or observe/ take notes.
Teachers will meet weekly as a grade level and collaborate with the literacy
coach to plan shared reading lessons using the lesson card menus,
standards, and pre-made F&P materials. Teachers will use PALs data and
informal observations to determine students who need small group support
and plan additional small group lessons using the individual readers to
support student growth.
Timeline for Implementation
After Fall PALs Testing Literacy coach models small group COW lesson in each
teacher’s classroom for students who need additional support.

January 27th Analyze and compare Mid-year PALs COW data to Fall scores.
Determine students who are at-risk for not meeting the Spring
benchmark. Determine new areas of strengths and weaknesses
across classrooms and the grade level(COW.)Plan shared
reading instruction accordingly.

February 1- April 24th Weekly teachers will meet as a grade level and collaborate with
(Before Spring PALs) the literacy coach to plan shared reading lessons using the
lesson card menus, standards, and pre-made F&P materials.

Teachers will continue to use data and informal observations to

determine students who need small group support and plan
additional small group lessons using the individual readers to
support student growth.
Timeline for Implementation
May 11th Analyze Spring PALs scores focusing on student growth in COW.
Determine how many students and percentage of students who did not
meet the Spring benchmark. Use Spring PALs data to determine if this
program was effective in improving Concept of Word scores. Determine if
additional support and/or programs are needed for the next school year.

May 11th-End of School Teachers will continue to meet as a grade level and collaborate with the
Year literacy coach to plan shared reading lessons using the lesson card menus,
standards, and pre-made F&P materials. Teachers will continue to use data
and informal observations to determine students who need small group
support and plan additional small group lessons using the individual
readers to support student growth.
 Assessment and Monitoring Plan
● Students will be monitored throughout the year using
formal assessments and informal observations.

● Students who scored below the COW benchmark will be

assessed bi-weekly, all other students will be assessed
monthly.

● The Kindergarten team will use this data to determine who

needs additional small group support and whether the
whole group instruction is effective in developing COW.