1. Using Assessment to Inform Instruction: Small Group Time
Thank you all for coming today. Before begin today we want to acknowledge that not all of the classrooms participating in professional development have coaches, but we hope the group can use the time set aside in today’s professional development this morning and at the end of the day to follow up on their work plans or discuss issues specific to their classrooms with one another. When we break up later this morning into coaching cohort groups if someone from these classroom could volunteer to be the facilitator that would be great.
Early Literacy Matters
February 25, 2010

2. Implementing OWL Interactive Reading Small Groups
Songs, Word Play & Letters
SWPL = Songs, Word Play, and Letters
This year during PD focuses on OWL implementation and SBRR.
Let’s Find Out About It & Let’s Talk About It
Morning Meeting
Center Time

3. Implement Small Group time 4 x 4
Expectation
Implement Small Group time 4 x 4
We have organized the ELM project’s professional development this year around the format used to implement the OWL curriculum. Our first workshop was on interactive reading. Today we will be revisiting this topic in coaching cohorts to discuss how you have implemented this aspect of the OWL curriculum.
Today we will focus primarily on small group time. However this aspect of the program is intertwined with center time/free choice and collecting assessment data to inform instruction. Our expectation is that after today, you will go back to your classroom team and discuss way to begin implementing small group time.
Our goal is that by the time we meet next month on either March 18 or 20th your classroom will have been able to implement
at least 4 small group lessons to at least 4 different groups of children. After we meet in coaching cohorts we will discuss in depth the why and how small group instruction is a critical component of the OWL curriculum.

4. Break into Coaching Cohorts
There should be Tent card on some tables throughout the room and you coach will join you at these tables. Since often there are more than 2 people in a classroom we recommend you form a circle near the tent card with your coach. Please bring your packet and pen.

5. Reflecting on Work Plan
Describe what shared reading techniques you have tried. (PEER, CROWD, Interactive Reading)
Thoughts on OWL vocabulary
How did you use the vocabulary during shared reading?
Did you implement the vocabulary across the curriculum or throughout the classroom? 
What differences have you seen in children since you began implementing interactive read aloud?

6. Moving Forward
Think about when and how are you currently doing Small Group instruction in the classroom.

7. Overview of the Day Review Materials and Housekeeping
Develop Ground Rules
Define Small Group Time
Work in Small Groups
Reflect on What Research Tells Us
Observe Small Groups in Action
Lunch
Brainstorm ways to implement small group
Discuss forming small groups
Wrap Up and Evaluations
Work Plans
Suggest switching Wrap up and Evaluation with Work plan

8. Ground Rules
As group let’s establish some norms for our work together. Start and End on time, turn off cell phones, be respectful and avoid side conversations, focus on the speaker.

9. Define Small Group
Opening the World of Learning provides three small group activities each day to address math, writing, language and print manipulatives, science, and book browsing. A tab indicates the amount of teacher support required, and each activity includes suggestions for meeting the needs of ELL students, children needing additional challenge, or children requiring social or emotional support.
ELM’s expectation is you will focus on the writing, language, print manipulatives, science and book browsing. This year our focus will remain on improving the quality of language and literacy activities in the classroom and in the environment.
What is small group. Small group is defined as regularly scheduled component of the day in which 4-6 children work with teacher on an intentionally planned activity.
Define TIME FRAME for small group.

10. OWL Small Group A regularly scheduled component of the day
4-6 children with a teacher
Intentionally planned activity.

11. What makes Small Group successful?
Preparation of materials
Efficient transitions to and from Small Group
Timing that fits instructional goals
Clearly defined roles for teachers, teaching partners and children
Preparation of materials
Efficient transitions to and from small group
Timing that fits instructional goals
Clear definition of everyone’s roles

12. Working in Small Groups
Divide into 10 small groups of 5-6 people per group.
Each group will be given a problem to solve in the next 10 minutes.
Each group will be asked to report out their answer.
Insert the problems into script! From top to bottom Chocolate Vanilla Blueberry Bubblegum Strawberry Group 1 Don't cheat! If you do, this won’t be as fun. I promise, there are no tricks. Read the sentence below and count the F's in that sentence. Count them ONLY ONCE. Do not go back and count them again. Then compare your answer with other members of your group.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE- SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF- IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
Group 1 Answer: There are six F’s 
Group 2 You have three boxes of fruit. One contains just apples, one contains just oranges, and one contains a mixture of both. Each box is labeled -- one says "apples," one says "oranges," and one says "apples and oranges." However, it is known that none of the boxes are labeled correctly. How can you label the boxes correctly if you are only allowed to take and look at just one piece of fruit from just one of the boxes?
 Group 2 Answer:
Take a piece of fruit from the box marked "apples and oranges." Suppose the fruit you take is an apple. Then that box must be the box containing just apples. Therefore, the box marked "oranges" can't be the box containing just apples, and it can't be the box containing just oranges either -- so it must be the box containing apples and oranges. The remaining box is therefore the box containing just oranges. If the fruit you take out is an orange, the solution is derived in a similar fashion: the box marked "apples and oranges" is the box containing just oranges; the box marked "apples" is the box containing both apples and oranges; and the box marked "oranges" is the one containing just apples.
 Group 3 At a family reunion were the following people: one grandfather, one grandmother, two fathers, two mothers, four children, three grandchildren, one brother, two sisters, two sons, two daughters, one father-in-law, one mother-in-law, and one daughter-in-law. But not as many people attended as it sounds. How many were there, and who were they?
 Group 3 Answer: There were two little girls and a boy, their parents, and their father's parents, totaling seven people.
 Group 4 An Arab sheikh is old and must will his fortune to one of his two sons. He makes a proposition. His two sons will ride their camels in a race, and whichever camel crosses the finish line last will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two brothers wander aimlessly for days, neither willing to cross the finish line. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He tells them something; then the brothers leap onto the camels and charge toward the finish line. What did the wise man say? Group 4 Answer: The rules of the race were that the owner of the camel that crosses the finish line last wins the fortune. The wise man simply told them to switch camels.
 Group 5 Three men stay at a hotel for the night. The innkeeper charges thirty dollars per room per night. The men rent one room; each pays ten dollars. The bellhop leads the men to their room. Later, the innkeeper discovers he has overcharged the men and asks the bellhop to return five dollars to them. On the way upstairs, the bellhop realizes that five dollars can't be evenly split among three men, so he decides to keep two dollars for himself and return one dollar to each man.
At this point, the men have paid nine dollars each, totaling 27. The bellhop has two, which adds up to 29. Where did the thirtieth dollar go?
Group 5 Answer: The mistake is in how the thirty dollars are accounted for. The two dollars that the bellhop has are part of the 27 the men have paid. A correct accounting of the money is that 27 dollars were paid and three dollars were not, totaling 30 dollars.

13. What Does Research Tell Us?
Cooperation in small groups promotes achievement and productivity and yields strong social and attitudinal benefits. - Yager, Johnson and Johnson (1985)
Yager, S., Johnson, D.W. & Johnson R.T., (1985) Oral discussion, group to individual transfer, and achievement in cooperative learning groups. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77,

14. Small Group promotes cooperative learning by…
increasing oral interaction between students:
Child to child interactions tend to occur more in Small Groups, and are unlikely to occur in whole class settings.
Both the oral exchange of ideas and language and diversity among groups members benefit all learners. Yager, Johnson, and Johnson found that passive learners especially benefits from small group learning experiences. Small groups provide children with an opportunity to: explain materials and action to one another, arrive at joint understandings of what is being shared.
Shoran, Acterman and Hertz Lazarowitz determined that small group yielded superior higher order thinking skills.

15. Small Group promotes cooperative learning by…
increasing the number of interactive dialogues between adults and children resulting in improved comprehension.
Other researchers' such as Baker and Markham have stated that the dialogue and interaction support given in small group provide children more time for cognitive processes, and give more time for elaboration and meta-cognitive processes to occur. Such process have are necessary for deep understanding and implantation of information into memory occur.

16. Small Group promotes cooperative learning by…
building upon the diversity of the group
passive learners are more likely to benefit
teachers provide more scaffolding
children are given more time to respond and explain their thinking.

17. Opportunities for literacy in Small Groups include…
sharing books and re-reading favorite stories
modeling reading behaviors
talking about letters by name and sound
modeling use of print in the environment
engaging children in playing with sounds and words
introducing literacy-related play activities (e.g., at Center Time)
scaffolding children’s representation and writing.
Learning to Read and Write, a Joint Position Statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends the following teaching practices in preschool.
Many of these practices are best explored during center time, or where teachers can work one on one or in small groups children.
Intentionally planned small groups lesson also provide teachers with a great opportunity to scaffold her/his responses to meet individual children needs or to encourage them to work just beyond their current ability.
Teacher can also easily collect informal data during small groups using checklist and informal assessment methods.

18. Small Groups provide opportunities to observe and document what children know and can do in a systematic way.
strengths
learning style
learning goals

19. Observing and Documenting
Watch the video clip
List the language and literacy skills you observed
Discuss with your neighbor how you might use this information to inform future instruction.
View Red Riding Hood video clip (retell story) vocabulary
Three young Writers Standards and Assessment
ELLCO Video Clip rhythm sticks
Debrief as whole group!

20. LUNCH

21. ELM Goals for All Children
Increase expressive and receptive language
Increase letter knowledge and RAN
Increase children’s ability to segment words and sounds
Increase print awareness
Increase letter/sound correspondence
% of children will…
score within the average range in expressive and receptive language.
recognize 50-75% of the letters in the alphabet
segment 50-60% of phonemes
demonstrate beginning print awareness (e.g. directionality)
know 5-8 letter sound relationships.
(so these things highlighted in red are goals that we want to emphasize in classroom activities such as Small Group)
Assessment information establishes a descriptive picture of the child’s strengths and needs and to plan for instruction at program entry, teachers and others working with young children need to collect on-going assessment information to track their learning over time.
Data can be used to inform individual goals as well as in aggregate across children to see if the program implementing meeting the needs of the identified goals.
Expressive EOWPVT and Receptive PPVT
PAL letter ID

22. Progress Monitoring Identifies strengths and needs
Informs instructional practices
Documents what a child is able to know and do independently
Documents what a child is able to do with support
(to establish a descriptive picture of the child's strengths and needs, drive instruction, need to collect on-going assessment information.
Focused observations on SBRR tasks such as RAN, phonemic Awareness, concepts of print, oral language and comprehension have been shown to inform instructional practices and improve student outcomes.

23. Resources for Collecting Data
Work Sampling Alignment with OWL
Portfolios
Evaluating Language & Literacy in Four Year Olds: A Practical Guide for Teachers
Progress monitoring records
Informal assessment tools
Additional OWL Resources:
Adaptations for English Language Learners
Adaptations for Children with Special Needs
There are many tools available to all ELM classrooms that can support them in collecting and reflecting on children’s development and skills in language and literacy over time.:
Work Sampling Alignment with OWL
Portfolio (Core items) Writing samples, child name, picture, dictation of story
Using a developmental continuum or checklist such as the one provided in Evaluating Language and Literacy in Four Year Old s A Practical Guide for Teacher or Work Sampling checklist
Progress monitoring records at the end of each unit
Informal assessment tools developed by teachers (e.g., sign in sheets, initial sound letter game in grocery store story, observations during small group

24. Using Child Level Data
How can you use current data collection systems to monitor student progress on the ELM’s five goals for children?
What is important for us to know about our children’s development as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners?
What do children need to know and be able to do when they exit my classroom?
Activity
What do children need to know and be able to do?
Activity worksheet
Benchmark on side and current data collection system

25. Research Supports Assessment-Guided Instruction
Provide instruction based on Preschool Guidelines and OWL
Assess students’ performance during learning activities
Refine instruction and/or teacher new information
Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998 have found that while the seeds are planted for literacy prior to children entering school, important literacy skills such as knowledge of letters and sounds, print and pictures, words, and sentences are pre-requisites for learning to read and write. Instruction supports the development of these skills.
Two key questions must be answered before implementing assessment & guided instruction:
What is important to us?
What do we want all of our children to know and be able to do especially as it relates to their ability to become readers, writers, & speakers?

26. Progress Monitoring Using ongoing assessment information to guide
instructional decisions is a primary purpose of
early childhood assessment and should be a
component of a high quality early childhood
program.
- NAEYC & NAECS/SDE (2003)
“Using on-going assessment information to guide instructional decisions is a primary purpose of early childhood assessment and should be a component of a high quality early childhood program.”
- This quote is from a joint position statement by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and National Association for Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003).
In addition, instructional and therapy services provided to children receiving early intervention and early childhood special education should be based on the results of initial assessment information and regularly revised using subsequently collected information on children’s progress.
- Neisworth and Bagnato, 2005 DEC Recommended practices: Assessment. In Sandall, Hemmeter, McLean, and Smith (eds.), DEC Recommended practices book: A comprehensive guide for practical application in early intervention and early childhood special education pp Longmont, CO: Sopris West.

27. Effective Implementation of Small Group Requires…
Team commitment
Developing a system to ensure all children’s participation
Providing opportunities for children to revisit Small Group activities during Center Time
Ensuring smooth transitions
- Circle to Small Group or Center Time
Effective implementation of Small Group requires…
team commitment
developing a system to ensure all children’s participation
providing opportunities for children to revisit small group activities during center time
ensuring smooth transitions
- Circle to small group or center time

28. Remember that you can…..
revisit small group activities with individuals needing more support at the end of the week.
change small groups over time (flexible)
extend or revisit small group activities during center time and or an additional small group time.

29. Form small groups to:
Extend conversations between and among adults and children
Learn more about all children’s strengths, learning styles, and needs
Provide opportunities for students to interact with one another
Revisit small group activities on Friday with individual children who may need additional support
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30. Moving Forward Create 4 small groups using your class roster
Determine when and how your team will implement small groups
Discuss team member’s roles and responsibilities related to implementing small groups
Preview OWL small groups and consider what skills you will observe and document
Discuss process for revisiting small group activities in center time
Provide additional support for children identified as needing additional small group support
Work with you partners in small groups for 20 minutes then pull back together as a who group and share our thoughts before we move into work plans.

31. Work Plans: Documenting Continuous Improvement
What will your coach see and hear?
Work plan are link between professional development and classroom practice. We are asking you to work with us to create a center of preschool excellence and to document your continuous improvement. One question you may want to keep in mind as you begin thinking about your work plan is What will your coach see and hear as they observe your practice. What is your vision.
Develop work plans at each professional development session
Coach follow up and support for teachers and instructional aides
A work plans is a living document
What question do you have

32. Major Goals of ELM Coaching
Improve language and literacy outcomes for all at risk preschooler via high quality, age-appropriate language and literacy instruction.
Provide model high quality language and literature rich classrooms
Increase teachers’ knowledge and skills in using SBRR practice.
Integrate ERF with community literacy programs to foster children’s language and literacy skills, enhance home support and coordinate the Program with Reading First.
Coaches met to discuss the goals of coaching and how we could best meet ERF goals and support teachers. Targeted key areas of the curriculum to work on this year while also have focal points providing more detail on SBRR practices. Hope is that this will connect coaches and teachers goals for coaching.

33. Why develop and implement work plans?
Facilitate team communication
Develop common goals and practices
Promote team reflection and discussions
Document continuous improvement
Implement professional development
Celebrate growth
Lisa

34. Effective teams establish:
Clear goals
Result driven structure
Standards of excellence
External support
Recognition
After you create your work plan the team should have established at least one clear goal and a result driven structure for documenting achievement but the discussion may need to carry on later and focus on standards of excellence, external supports, and recognition.

35. Work plans are a living documents
Coach follow-up
Revisit work plans at next professional development session
Begin new work plan today
Work with your teaching partner to set goals for implementing:
small groups,
using data to inform instruction
shared reading. .
Coaches will be meeting with each team to facilitate discussions and share resources
Each consecutive session will begin with a time for individuals and/or teams to sharing their work plan journey and best practices with others
What does that mean to each of you, may want to bring evidence of implementation to share with others or just reflect on the journey. Each person will be given about 5 minutes in small groups. These small groups will be lead by coach and will remain consistent throughout the year.
Reflect on your own practice with your teaching partner and jointly design at least team goals around implementing small group and using data to inform instruction

36. Evaluation
Please take a minute to complete your evaluation and provide us with your suggestions.
Thank you