Literacy Plan to boost Concept of Word Scores Created by Traci Freeman Devin Gilbride and Angela Gruss

Demographic Information  Economically Disadvantaged: 53.3%  Special Education: 9.3%  Limited English Proficiency: 4.8%  Ethnicity:  Caucasian 45.3%  African American 27%  Hispanic 11.5%  Others 16.2%

2014 Kindergarten Spring PALS Scores  90% of students passed the benchmark.  Strongest Area: ABC Recognition (95%)  Area of Deficit: Concept of Word  Broken into three areas:  Pointing (24% did not meet the benchmark)  Word ID (22% did not meet the benchmark)  COW word list (27% did not meet the benchmark)

PALS Results

5 Possible Solutions  “Unifix Words”  Predictable repetitive text  Scaffolded Writing  PALS electronic lesson plan

6 “Unifix Words”  How does it work? Students build and rebuild sentences by connecting unifix cubes.  Students learn about COW as they begin to understand that each cube represents a word.  Possible Pitfalls? Prep-time for teachers

7 Predictable Repetitive Text  How does it work? Students read high- interest, predictable, repetitive text with heavy picture support.  Possible Pitfalls? Book sets may be expensive. Creating texts is time consuming.

8 Scaffolded Writing  How does it work? Teacher draws a line for each word in student’s dictated sentence. Teacher and student repeat the words and tap each line. Eventually student tries to write each word on the line.  Possible Pitfalls? Requires one-on-one teacher support.

PALs Emergent Reader Electronic Lesson Plan  How does it work? Teacher uses well known nursery rhyme and teaches it to students. Teachers and students work from reading whole text, to sentences of text, then to words from text.  Possible Pitfalls? Need to be done during small group time, takes prep time before instruction to set rhyme “packets” up. 9

SOLUTION  The PALs electronic lesson plan for Emergent Readers is the ideal solution to fix the concept of word literacy need.  This plan is effective in developing a concept of word, as well as being able to identify words from text in isolation.  It is easy to use and manageable for teachers.

SOLUTION  This plan utilizes a nursery rhyme per week. Teachers would teach the rhyme and then ask students to perform different tasks throughout the week.  This would be ideal to use during small group instruction for students who have not yet developed a concept of word. The lesson would take about 15 minutes.  Materials needed: electronic lesson plans, chart paper, sentence strips, student personal readers

SOLUTION sample lesson plan  Below is a sample of day 2 of the plan. Day 1 would consist of teaching the rhyme and tracking on chart paper. DAY 2: REVIEW THE TEXT: 1) Ask the children to repeat each sentence of the text after you have read it (echo reading).  Invite individual students to come up and recite as much of the text as you think they can while pointing to each word. Be prepared to guide students as needed to ensure accurate pointing. PLAY WITH LANGUAGE:  Continue the skill and language play activity chosen for the week to reinforce phonological awareness: Rhyme, Beginning Sounds, Syllable Awareness, Phoneme Blending

SOLUTION sample lesson plan MATCH THE SENTENCE: 1) Hand out sentence strips. Ask students to match their sentence to a sentence in the pocket chart. Have them place it there. 2) Discuss how they knew the sentences were the same. Prompt for specifics like “starts with” or “the word…”. 3) Rebuild the text with and without a model for reference. Use 4-square illustrations (cut up) if helpful. READ THE TEXT: 1) Practice Individually - Pass out individual copies of the text. Read together as every child tracks the print. Glue copy into their personal readers. 2) Buddy Read - Pair students with a buddy and have them practice reading the text to each other while fingerpointing. Ask the non-reading buddy to make sure his or her partner is saying and pointing to each word. Have each partner read twice.

Professional Development Plan Summer Workshop  Computer lab setting  Website and electronic lesson plan explained in detail  Modeled lessons to demonstrate to teachers how to use during small group instruction  Time for teachers to explore and create 14

Professional Development Plan Motivation for Change  Concept of word is a necessary pre-cursor for reading development.  Electronic lesson plans are user-friendly and practical within small group instruction  Used in place of guided reading to develop concept of word skills. 15

Professional Development Plan Role of Coach/Specialist  Support teachers in implementation of plan  Provide materials to teachers  Analyze data  Lead workshops and optional make & take sessions throughout school year 16

Timeline of Implementation August 2014 Work Week  Specialist present workshop to teachers - computer lab - modeled lessons - overview of lesson plan 17

Timeline of Implementation Late September/Early October  Administer PALS  Review data - determine students in need of concept of word instruction 18

Timeline of Implementation October, November, & December  Use lesson plan daily in small group instruction  Specialist offer make and takes to keep teachers on track 19

Timeline of Implementation January  Administer mid-year PALS assement  Analyze data  Guide teachers into applying concept of word activities during guided reading 20