Writing to Achieve The Early Years Part 2 Debbie Jura Literacy Coach Wilson School, Rm. 22 Ext ,

Welcome to Day 2 Sign in sheets Bathrooms Break Lunch Parking Lot

Goals for the Day 1.To continue to work and grow more comfortable as a Professional Learning Community. 2.To begin to use data to drive instruction and to plan interventions. 3.To learn about and experience some new resources.

Ice Breaker In the center of the card write your name, school site, grade level, room number and a contact phone number. In the top right corner write the title of the best book or movie you have recently enjoyed. In the top left hand corner write the number of years you have been teaching. In the bottom left corner write your favorite activity outside of work. In the bottom right corner write your biggest challenge in writing this year.

Forming Table Groups Please look at the back of your 5x8 card. There should be a sticky do on it. Please move to the table with that color on it. This will form our morning working groups.

AM Goals Working on capacity building as a PLC Using assessments to drive instructional choices.

“Teacher learning communities appear to be the most effective, practical method for changing day to day classroom………

How is a PLC different from other groups? “Members of a professional learning community recognize they cannot accomplish their fundamental purpose of high levels of learning for all students unless they work together collaboratively.” –Richard DuFour, Rebecca DuFour, Robert Eaker and Thomas Many

In order to respond to the challenge of changing their practice, teaches need an opportunity to collaborate.” -Dylan Wiliam

Where do we start? Define our goals. Measure students work against those goals. Plan what’s next.

Step 1 Defining our goals “Great schools “row as one”; they are quite clearly in the same boat, pulling in the same direction in unison. The best schools we visited were tightly aligned communities marked by a palpable sense of common purpose and shared identity among staff-a clear sense of “we”. -Lickona and Davidson (2005)

5x5 Activity In your working group, work together to define the following: 5 essential learning’s that all students should acquire as a result of writing instruction in 1 st grade. 5 ways you will know when each student has acquired these essential learning’s. This is about having the END in mind.

Analysis of Student Work Here’s what! So What? Now what?

Here’s What! First divide your student work into 2 piles. (High and Low) Next divide those 2 piles into 2 more piles. You now have 4 piles of student work..Adv,Pro, Basic, and Below Basic

Here’s What…continued Looking at each group make some general, factual statements about –What students control –What students need

So What? What are the implication of this information? Write factual statements that describe the problem or hypothesize reasons for the problem…. Determine the groups top 2-4 areas of greatest need…..please chart these responses.

Now What? Plan specific actions to address the top 2-4 areas of greatest need. Please chart these responses. Prepare to share your work with the group.

Using Assessment to Drive Instruction Sight Word Testing

Practice Analysis of Student Writing Samples Find a partner Gather a set of cards with numbers 1-4 on them. Work together to score the writing samples. Be prepared to share your score and rationale with the group.

How can I use the Sight Word test results? Fluency work: fluency binder, reading and writing Word Wall words Word club Small group work Personal word walls Centers Personalized spelling tests

Reading Like a Writer Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing

Reading Like a Writer Frank Smith taught us about reading like a writer. “The author becomes an unwitting collaborator. Bit by bit, over time, the learner learns, through reading like a writer, to write like a writer.”

Bill Martin Jr. expresses it this way: “Each of us has a linguistic storehouse into which we deposit patterns for stories and poems, sentences and words. These patterns enter through the ear and the eye and remain available throughout the course of a lifetime.

Therefore we need exposure to a wide range of literature and other printed materials in order to build up our linguistic storehouse, so that we in turn can use the language to which we have become exposed. This is the way we learn the language of books, the language of literacy.

Using Mentor Text’s “With you as a guide, and literature as the landscape, you can open young writers’ eyes to the full range of possibilities before them.” –Fletcher and Portalupi, Writing Workshop:The Essential Guide

“Mentor texts are pieces of literature that we can return to again and again as we help our young writer’s learn how to do what they may not yet be able to do on their own. “ Dorfman and Cappelli, Mentor Texts

“Mentor texts serve to show, not just tell, students how to write well.” Dorfman and Cappelli, Mentor Texts

How do we pick Mentor Texts? Do you connect with the text? Does the book serve your students needs and connect with your curriculum?

Writing Fix Select a partner Go to the computer lab and select a work area. Log onto Look around on the site. Select a lesson you would like to use.

When you have selected the lesson prepare to share with the group. Please include: why you selected this lesson title of the book lesson focus steps in the lesson

Internet Resources Santa Maria Bonita School District  Writingfix.com  Mentor text and lessons

Summing Up! What one thing are you taking away from today’s in-service?

Evaluation Please fill out an evaluation for today. It has been my pleasure to work with you. Let me know if you have questions, concerns, or special needs. –Debbie Jura –Next in-service date 10/29 –Please give your kids a sample prompt and bring their papers to our session.