Literacy Strategies in MCS Teachers’ Toolkit: Striving Readers Grant Data Informs Practice Elizabeth Heeren, Memphis City Schools Kelly Feighan, Research for Better Schools

What do Innovators Do? Dare Explore Persist Create Model

Top Seven Lessons From the Field 1. Reach the “tipping point” by involving all content areas 2. Foster a vibrant literacy community 3. Embrace the B-D-A format 4. Value quality not quantity 5. Implement small group instruction that includes literacy strategies 6. Rotate students through instructional tactics 7. Be a Coach

Reach the “tipping point” by involving all content areas In years 1 and 2, we only included core content teachers in PD. Years 3 and 4 were much more successful by being inclusive and making literacy everyone’s business. Art, music, computer, health, Spanish, ESL teachers were some of our most creative literacy teachers. CDC students can do literacy!

Foster a vibrant literacy community Consider: Mentioning a literacy strategy or tactic in weekly staff meetings Making PA announcements that celebrate literacy Looking for student strategy use Literacy-driven team meetings Incorporating literacy practices into your SIP Literacy coaches as school leaders

Embrace the B-D-A format Brain research shows us that new learning is easier when schema is activated first (support before reading) Struggling readers have difficulty reading grade- level texts independently (support during reading) Comprehension and retention of information increases with discussion and synthesis (support after reading)

Value quality not quantity Strongest implementers used strategies more effectively, not more frequently Strong implementers felt more prepared to model strategies, differentiate instruction, and teach students to ask B- D-A questions Deep not wide; higher cognitive demand

High implementers used X strategies Under construction

Implement small group instruction that includes literacy strategies Small group instruction is the most powerful teaching. In small groups, teachers should model literacy strategies and make sure all students are engaged. Homogenous and heterogeneous groups are both beneficial, depending on the purpose/level of the activity

Rotate students through instructional tactics Learners have the approximate attention span of their age ( a 12 year old has 12 minutes) Everything is easier when adolescents are engaged (Classroom management, teaching, learning) Motivation matters Teacher can move until students are ready

Be a Coach Like in sports, good coaches do not simply practice the game, they do drills Every part of the B-D-A process is important and should be coached Principals are the first coach teachers have and can be the most important

What are the effective SRG strategies? Academic Word Walls Graphic Organizers Frayer Model Semantic Feature Analysis Modeled fluency/Choral Reading QAR/Student Generated Questions Readers Theater/Radio Reading THIEVES KWL

Let’s See it in Action: A sample lesson in B-D-A format Before reading, please turn to a partner and talk briefly about a time when you may have had the feeling someone was watching you or spying on you. Let’s look at the academic word wall. During reading, please participate in the choral reading of the Stargirl exerpt. After reading, we’ll answer some questions from the different QAR levels

Thank you! Contact us anytime: Elizabeth Heeren: mcsk12.net Kelly Feighan: