1. 1 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH 1 Using the content-focused Coaching® Model to Support Early childhood Literacy and Language Development Pre and Post Conferences With Coaches and Teachers

2. 2 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH “One of the central goals of an early childhood program is the development of young children’s speaking, listening and oral language skills” Supporting Oral Language, Vocabulary and Concept Development through Rich Text Discussion and Related Learning Opportunities, Text Talk Unit Overview

3. 3 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Intended Learning Understand the importance of reading aloud in early childhood settings to promote oral language development Discuss how reading aloud can help children to understand more from the texts that others read to them and to develop rigorous comprehension habits Recognize how each opportunity to discuss books supports young children’s oral language, concept and vocabulary development Consider the conditions and teacher moves that make these talk opportunities possible

4. 4 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Review Norms for Collective Study

5. 5 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH “Coaching provides the venue, rich with language and skills, to seek, find and develop the best within. Coaching offers the pathway for new responses, new awareness, new results.” Key, Anderson, Dearing, Harris & Shuster, 2010

6. 6 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Encouraging Young Children’s Language Interactions with Stories Task 1 Part I: Text Discussion Reflect on your reading. Individually, review the article, Encouraging Young Children’s Language Interactions with stories by Beck and McKeown. Take notes focusing on the guiding questions listed on your task sheet. What are the researchers saying about the benefits of the Read Aloud and its potential to build literacy development? What do the authors want us to understand about effective talk in the classroom? What do the authors want us to understand about effective questions and how we scaffold children as they learn to discuss text? What must teachers learn to do in order to scaffold children’s responses?

7. 7 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Encouraging Young Children’s Language Interactions with Stories Task 1 Part II: Text Discussion In small groups, share your notes and insights. What portions of the text were most notable? What surprised you, if anything? What points do you most agree with? What, if anything, challenged your thinking? What are the implications in leading this work on your campuses? Have one member of your group chart the key points in your discussion. As a whole group, continue the text discussion, using the charts developed in small groups to guide and grow the conversation.

8. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Content-Focused Coaching® Content-Focused Coaching ® is the regular, on-going examination of classroom practice in a content area through the lens of the Core Issues. Focuses on the concrete, actual tasks, questions, and problems of practice Provides educators with an opportunity to learn from each other and develop common habits of reflective practice Contributes to the development of a collaborative learning community Promotes high achievement for all students

9. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Framework for Rigorous, Standards-based Instruction What will be the specific content of this lesson? How will that content be taught? Why is this the content to be taught? Why is the content taught in this particular way? WHAT?HOW? WHY? WHO? Klafki (1958,1995) Aebli (1951, 1987)

10. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Core Issues of Lesson Design and Reflection WHAT? 1. What is the intended student learning? What are the skills, concepts, habits of mind being developed? 2. To what standard(s) is the lesson content connected? 3. What difficulties, misunderstandings, or misconceptions might students have about this content? 4. What theories of teaching and learning support this lesson design? HOW? 5. How will the teacher model/explain clear expectations for the students’ learning? 6. How will each activity promote rigorous thinking? 7. How will students be grouped for learning? How is the grouping related to the lesson content? 8. How will accountable student talk and collaboration be encouraged in an atmosphere of mutual respect? 9. How will students make public their thinking and learning? 10. How will assistance be provided to individual students (struggling students as well as those needing an extra challenge)? 11. How will student learning be assessed by the teacher and by the students themselves? 12. How will student accomplishment be recognized? 13. How will the teacher do things differently the next time? How will instruction proceed from here? WHY? 14. Why is the lesson content appropriate to the students’ learning needs and prior knowledge? 15. Why are these instructional strategies/learning activities appropriate to the lesson goals?

11. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH WHAT? What is the intended student learning? What are the skills, concepts, habits of mind being developed? To what standard (s) is the lesson connected? What difficulties, misunderstandings, or misconceptions might students have with this content? 4.What theories of teaching and learning support this lesson design? Core Issues of Lesson Design and Reflection

12. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH HOW? 5. How will the teacher model/explain clear expectations for students’ learning? 6. How will each activity promote rigorous thinking? 7. How will students be grouped for learning? How is the grouping related to the lesson content? 8. How will accountable student talk and collaboration be encouraged in atmosphere of mutual respect? 9. How will students make public their thinking and learning? 10. How will assistance be provided to individual students (struggling students as well as those needing an extra challenge)? 11. How will student learning be assessed by the teacher and by the students themselves? 12. How will student accomplishment be recognized? 13. How will the teacher do things differently the next time? How will instruction proceed from here? Core Issues of Lesson Design and Reflection

13. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Core Issues of Lesson Design and Reflection WHY? Why is the lesson content appropriate to the students’ learning needs and prior knowledge? Why are these instructional strategies/learning activities appropriate to the lesson goals?

14. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Using the Core Issues They are… A mental map of core instructional issues A frame for the conversation with the teacher A way for a teacher to share his/her thinking and planning for the lesson A tool for keeping the focus on the intended student learning rather than on what the teacher is doing “right” or “wrong” They are NOT… A checklist: Every conversation does not have to discuss each of these questions, or in any order. Exhaustive: There are many other specific questions a coach or teacher may pose for discussion during a pre- conference. Meant to be used verbatim: The selection and the wording of the issues and questions need to be adapted based on the coach’s knowledge of and relationship with the teacher.

15. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Discussion Question: How can teachers and coaches become more familiar with and comfortable using the Core Issues?

16. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Make them public for the entire faculty. Focus on a few at a time. Talk about them in grade level team meetings, faculty meetings, parent meetings. Use them to plan professional development. Participate in a CFC experience Summary Points: How can teachers and coaches become familiar with and comfortable using the Core Issues?

17. 17 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Opportunities for Developing Habit of Talk Discussion Books

18. 18 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Intended Learning To recognize how each opportunity to discuss books supports young children’s oral language, concept, and vocabulary development To consider the conditions and teacher moves that make these talk opportunities possible

19. 19 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 2 Part I: Analyzing the Pre-conference Individually, Read the video transcript of a coach and two preschool teachers at Ysleta Head Start. The educators are discussing the preparation for a Rigorous Comprehension Lesson. They are preparing to introduce a Unit on Nature and introducing the text, Fletcher and the Leaves. Head Start Site: Ysleta Date: April 2012 Site Manager: Ms. Hickey Teachers: Ms. Almonza, Ms. Sanchez Coach: Ms. Gonzales Take notes on the attached sheet to answer the guiding questions below. Be prepared to share your notes with your colleagues. What preparation occurred prior to the pre-conference for the teacher? For the Coach? Be specific and cite evidence. What tools help guide the discussion? What are the Coach and teacher saying and doing? What problems of practice get identified for the lesson?

20. 20 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 2, continued Part II: Implications for Practice As a whole group, we will consider the following questions: What needs to occur before an effect Read-aloud lesson is implemented? How can a coach assist you in improving your teacher practice? What practices do you want to integrate into the classroom when discussing books with children? What scaffolding and supports are discussed?

21. 21 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Preparation for the lesson Read the lesson and text before you present to students Consider the Core Issue focused in the lesson plans and think beyond to the students in your classroom Practice reading ahead of time Plan additional follow-up questions based on the knowledge you have about your students Prepare the necessary vocabulary and activities students will engage in Summary Slides: Prepare, Teach and Reflect

22. 22 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: Content-Focused Coaching The focus of the coach/teacher work is the development of students’ learning through rigorous, content-specific lessons and the teacher’s learning to plan and enact such lessons independently. Lessons are planned, enacted, and analyzed in a pre-conference, teaching the lesson, post-conference. Dialogues examine the relationship between the lesson content, instructional approaches, assessment data, and theories of teaching and learning. Lesson planning and reflection are made more rigorous when coaches and teachers specifically address expectations for and evidence of student learning, using concrete tools, such as curricular materials and student work, to focus the conversation. The coach and teacher consider themselves to be learners in their work together and hold themselves jointly accountable for students learning in the lessons they plan, model, co-teach, and analyze.

23. 23 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Practices that support learning Observing practice and assessing our own practice Studying the moves that teachers make to support comprehension Applying the Principals of Learning to our classroom practice, paying focusing attention to Accountable Talk ® Practices by the teacher and students

24. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Accountable Talk Teacher Moves and Functions Marking Challenging Modeling Pressing for Accuracy Building on Prior Knowledge Pressing for Reasoning Expanding Reasoning Recapping Keeping the Channels Open Keeping Everyone Together Linking Contributions Verifying and Clarifying

25. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Purposeful, Coherent,& Productive Group Discussion Marking Direct attention to the value and importance of a contribution Challenging Redirect a question back to the students or use student’s contributions as a source for a further challenge or inquiry. Modeling Make one’s thinking public and demonstrate a total performance in order to help learners understand the essence of the activity and to develop a mental picture of what the real thing looks like.

26. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Pressing for Accuracy Direct attention to the value and importance of a contribution Building on Prior Knowledge Redirect a question back to the students or use student’s contributions as a source for a further challenge or inquiry. Accountability to Accurate Knowledge

27. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Accountability to Rigorous Thinking Pressing for Reasoning Elicit evidence and establish what contribution a student’s utterance is intended to make within the group’s larger enterprise. Expanding Reasoning Open up extra time and space in the conversation for student reasoning. Recapping Make public in a concise, coherent way, the group’s developed, shared understanding of the content or text under discussion.

28. © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Accountability to the Learning Community Keeping the Channels Open Ensure that students can hear each other, and remind them that they must hear what others have said. Keeping Everyone Together Ensure that everyone not only heard, but also understood what the speaker said. Linking Contributions Make explicit the relationship between a new contribution and what has gone on before. Verifying and Clarifying Revoice a student’s contribution, thereby helping both speakers and listeners to engage more profitably in the conversation.

29. 29 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 3 Part I: Analyzing the Lesson Individually, Read the transcript of a rigorous comprehension lesson. Head Start Site: Ysleta Date: April 2012 Site Manager: Ms. Hickey Teachers: Ms. Almonza, Ms. Sanchez Coach: Ms. Gonzales Text: Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson Take notes on the attached sheet to answer the guiding questions below. Be prepared to share your notes with your colleagues. What practices and language does the teacher use to help students understand what’s happening in the text? How are the children responding to the teacher's questions? What are they saying and doing? What do you think the teacher did to prepare so that the children were able to discuss the text from what we read in the transcript?

30. 30 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 3 Part II: Implications for Practice As a whole group, we will consider the following questions: What transcript examples seem close to what’s already happening in your classroom or in the classrooms you support? What practices do we want to integrate into the classroom when discussing books with children?

31. 31 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: The Teacher Rigorous Comprehension Instruction Explains why this book was selected for a Read Aloud and links it to other learning Orients the children to the title, author and illustrator Stops at carefully selected moments in the text Asks text-based open-ended questions that require children to describe and explain text ideas Call upon several children to answer the same question thereby providing multiple opportunities for children to use expressive and receptive language. Restates what children say in standard English Gently redirects children to the words in the text when they make tangentially related comments.

32. 32 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: The Teacher Rigorous Comprehension Instruction Scaffolds children’s thinking by using their initial responses to form questions that encourage elaboration and development of initial ideas Asks if children agree and disagree with the author, with peers or the teacher and explain why. Supports individual children to say more by paraphrasing what the student said and asking if this is what they meant. Calls upon a wide range of children for their opions about how the characters behave, solve problems, feel, think Prompts particular children to use more expressive language by intentionally calling upon selected individuals to add on to what someone else has said…

33. 33 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: The Student Rigorous Comprehension Instruction Provide more than one word answers to initial or follow-up questions that describe or explain ideas Use their own words to explain again what someone else has already said When directed, stop at interesting, puzzling, confusing, funny or other meaningful points in the story and talk to their partners about the meaning of the words or story ideas. Pay close attention to language (rather than illustrations) as the way to make sense of complex texts Use talk as a vehicle for communicating their thinking.

34. 34 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: The Student Rigorous Comprehension Instruction Say whether they agree or disagree with the author, with peers or the teacher and explain why Respond when asked to same more Responds when asked if this is what they meant Respond when asked to add on to what someone else has said Elaborate on their initial answers when asked

35. 35 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 4 Part I: Analyzing the Post Conference Individually, Read the transcript of a rigorous comprehension lesson Post Conference. Head Start Site: Ysleta Date: April 2012 Site Manager: Ms. Hickey Teachers: Ms. Almonza, Ms. Sanchez Coach: Ms. Gonzales Text: Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson Take notes on the attached sheet to answer the guiding questions below. Be prepared to share your notes with your colleagues. What preparation occurred prior to the post-conference for the teacher? For the coach? Be specific and cite evidence from the transcript. What are the coach and teacher saying and doing? What problems of practice are discussed following the lesson? What are the next steps discussed for the teacher and the coach?

36. 36 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Task 4 Part II: Analyzing the Post Conference As a whole group, we will consider the following questions: In what ways can thoughtful reflection about our implementation of a lesson improve teacher practice? Site Managers, Coaches, Co-teachers and Colleagues can all engage in Instructional conversations that support classroom practice. Consider your experience engaging in these shared learning practices. What were the benefits? What were the challenges?

37. 37 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Summary Points: Reflecting on our Learning Administrators, coaches, teachers, and students are accountable for the achievement of rigorous academic standards by all students. All members of the community take responsibility for continuous learning in service of that goal It is safe to make the effort and take risks as a learner It is the responsibility of all educators to advance their own practice, content knowledge, knowledge of the curriculum, and pedagogy Participating in a Content-focused Coaching Model allows educators to advance their learning and practice

38. 38 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH “When educators speak with clarity, possibility, and accountability, and when they interact with others in respectful and mutually satisfying ways, they empower themselves and their organizations to produce extraordinary results.” Dennis Sparks

39. 39 © 2013 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Reflection 1. What is the most significant thing you learned from this article and/or our discussion? Why is it significant? 2. What ideas from the transcripts and our discussion are you interested in learning more about? Why? 3. What is the one thing you will try or do differently based on your learning and our discussion?