Common Core Literacy: K-2 Creating a rich learning community for Everyone Meredith Liben

PAGE 2 The Mathew Effect and the Achievement Gap “What’s in Your ELA Program?” What Causes it Proficient readers start off at a higher entry point than non- proficient readers Proficient readers move faster each year relative to non- proficient readers What needs to be addressed Vocabulary Knowledge Fluency Syntax Foundational Skills

PAGE 3 Foundational Skills in K-2 Not to be neglected! If students don’t have rock solid foundational skills, everyone is in trouble ever after. The research base we saw early in the ELA keynote is clear – and bleak. Students need to learn how to read during the primary grades. Developing foundational skills while developing (listening) comprehension is the potent formula.

PAGE 4 Our K-2 foundational skill programs privilege students who enter school with this habit…

PAGE 5 Widely used phonics programs such as Fundations, Reading Mastery etc. explicitly teach spelling/sound patterns. Leveled readers include some of these patterns but also words that don’t fit these patterns. Many schools use either only leveled readers or a combination. Students with less of a habit of asking questions and figuring out the answers and less comfort with language likely have more trouble with this switch.

PAGE 6 Foundational Skills in K-2 (con’t)

PAGE 7 Take a hard look at your current foundational reading program: How satisfied are you that you are providing every single child in your class adequate instruction and practice so they can/are on track to decode with automaticity and read with appropriate fluency coming out of second grade?

PAGE 8 1. How much are you relying on inferential learning? 2. How many of your children are currently inferential learners? 3. Is there a disconnect? Now what? 4. Is each child getting the abundant practice or stretch opportunities s/he needs? 5. How do you know? 6. Do you have powerful diagnostic tools available to you at all times?

PAGE 9 But what about comprehension and those pesky ELA standards? What about exposure to rich complex texts? What about building vocabulary at warp speed? What about developing word awareness and a culture that celebrates words & language? What about building knowledge systematically so all of the above happens at 4x the efficiency?

PAGE 10 Comprehension in K-2: What Do the Standards Say? Read the standards that address this (CCSS p. 11,13 & 23). Notice how relatively straightforward they are in the reading standards (p. 11, 13). Notice how much comprehension lives in the speaking and listening standards (p. 23).

PAGE 11 Comprehension in K-2 (cont.) What follows from this about where comprehension of complex text is intended to live ? What are the implications for curriculum and instruction – specifically, for creating clarity between foundational reading and reading comprehension ? What can carry over (what might not?) from what we know about close reading of complex text in the older grades ?

PAGE 12 Rich interactive reading aloud is your ally…

PAGE 13 Access to the Read Aloud Project (RAP) on Edmodo (also on achievethecore.org) 1. Make a teacher account at 2. On the left side of home screen, it will say “Groups” under your name and picture. Click on the + next to “Groups” and choose “Join.” 3. Group code: pkx52i

PAGE 14 Some basic principles of CCSS read alouds…

PAGE Teachers need to be intentional about planning. They must practice so they read as well as possible. They must have an end in mind. 2. Books worth reading are worth reading more than once! 3. The first read should be as pleasurable and uninterrupted as possible (just stop to clear confusion or provide meaning of unknown words quickly) 4. Each subsequent reading should serve a clear purpose. 5. Model and expect a strong “standard of coherence”

PAGE Readings can be spread out over days or weeks. Children don’t mind. This helps share scarce resources. 7. Use reading aloud to build strong knowledge base. 8. Use reading aloud in text sets to fulfill science and social studies standards. 9. You don’t always have to read in text sets! 10. Everyone in the classroom should love read aloud time or something is wrong.

PAGE 17 Building Knowledge: What Do the Standards Say? “Staying on Topic Within a Grade and Across Grades: How to Build Knowledge Systematically in English Language Arts K–5” pg. 33 Handout

PAGE 18 Knowledge & the Standards: Why?

PAGE 19 Long history of research showing connection of knowledge to reading comprehension Knowledge of the world helps grow vocabulary which also has a long history of research connecting to reading comprehension Knowledge and equity Restore the early elementary classroom to a place where teachers and students together are on quests to learn about the world

PAGE 20 Knowledge and the Standards: How

PAGE 21 Series of texts for read aloud Mostly but not all informational Should try to align with social studies and science standards, but not essential Discussions need to focus on knowledge, vocabulary growth, syntactic exposure - not only developing comprehension skills Does not mean the elimination of other activities: dramatic play, hands on, videos, games, journals… Does not mean we are losing Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, Anansi and Goodnight Moon!

PAGE 22 The Why of the How Series of texts within a topic is 4 times more effective in growing vocabular y Jumping from topic to topic privileges those children with more background knowledg e Series of texts allow more opportunities for additional related activities, which reinforce learning and joyous rigor.

PAGE 23 Text Set Project on Edmodo Make a teacher account at On the left side of home screen, it will say “Groups” under your name and picture. Click on the + next to “Groups” and choose “Join”. Type in the group code: sma265 From your home screen, you should now see “Text Set Project” listed under “Groups”. Click on this tab. Choose “Folders” from the left side of your screen.

PAGE 24 Merlin on Learning “The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

PAGE 25 What stands in the way of the rich mix of activities and learning we’ve been exploring here?

PAGE 26 But what if you could? Spend the balance of the time brainstorming the perfect daily schedule for the grade (a grade) you currently work with. What could you do to move toward this? To effect any of these changes? What will you do?