Welcome to the Literacy Design Collaborative!From CAS to Colorado Classrooms

The Big Picture

Common standards, local choices!

CAS and CCSS

Just give us a little time to fix things.

CAS (CCSS) Standards are a blueprint.

CAS (CCSS) = clear goalsStandards for reading, writing, and communicating in all grades must be clear and rigorous so that our public educational system gives students the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need to succeed in postsecondary education and the workforce, to be well-informed and responsible citizens, and to lead more fulfilling personal lives.

Source: Colorado RWC Standards, p. 10

CAS (CCSS) = literacy into content areas Language skills are necessary for academic success in all disciplines. The ability to integrate reading, writing, speaking, and listening effectively builds understanding across all academic subjects as well as allowing for the development of 21st century skills within the context of these subjects. Critical thinking and reasoning, information literacy, collaboration, self-direction, and innovation are vital 21st century skills.

Source: Colorado RWC Standards, p. 9

CAS (CCSS) = challenges.Unlike mathematics, secondary literacy is not a discipline. It is “homeless” in that it belongs to everyone and no one. Literacy is used in secondary classrooms, but it is not taught in a systematic way.

CAS (CCSS) = rich possibilities!

With the Common Core of Standards, many things now become possible. Because states will be working from the same core, we can create broad-based sharing of what works but, at the same time, provide local flexibility to decide how best to teach the core.

– Vicki Phillips & Carina Wong (PDK, February 2010)

But We Need to Move …

From blueprint… …to action!

From where many of us are now.If students are not proficient when they enter a course, what is the chance that teachers will “stop, drop and teach them to read and write?”

Grade 9 Reading WritingEnglish

U.S. HistoryMath

SciencePE/Health

World LanguageElectiveElective

All too often, the common answer is …

Grade 9 Reading WritingEnglish Low Low-Medium

U.S. History Low LowMath Low Low

Science Low LowPE/Health Low Low

World Language Low LowElective Low Low

Elective (Reading) High Low

Our Typical Approach

READ WRITEPLE

ASE

?PLE

ASE!

READING & WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

LDC Offers a Different Choice!So teachers don’t have to

‘move from blueprint to action’ alone.

The Literacy Design CollaborativeAn expanding set of classroom, district, state and service providers with the will to meet the challenge of expecting high levels of secondary literacy, head-on. With state and district partners in such as

Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia, Colorado, Louisiana and more to come!

An expanding array of national partners such as the National Writing Project, New Visions for Public Schools, MetaMetrics, Achievement Network and others.

The LDC System:

Courses

Modules

Tasks

• New courses• Existing courses

• Task• Skills• Instruction• Results• Prompt• Rubric• Scoring

exemplars

The LDC Framework

Module Section 1: What Task?What task sets clear, measurable goals for learning? YOU select template

YOUR CCSS (CAS) standards are “hard-

wired” in

YOU add your state/local content standards

YOU “plug and play” to build teaching task

YOU score results using LDC common rubric

Task 2 Template (Argumentation/Analysis L1, L2, L3): [Insert essential question] After reading _____ (literature or informational texts), write an _________(essay or substitute) that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the text(s). L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Module Section 2: What Skills?What skills do students need to succeed on the teaching task?

YOU identify, define, cluster, and order the skills students need to complete the task.

Skills Cluster 2: Reading Process1. Reading “habits of mind”

Ability to select appropriate texts and understand necessary reading strategies needed for the task.

2. Essential Vocabulary

Ability to apply strategies for developing an understanding of a text(s) by locating words and phrases that identify key concepts and facts, or information.

3. Note-taking Ability to read purposefully and select relevant information; to summarize and/or paraphrase.

4. Organizing Ability to prioritize and narrow supporting information.

Module Section 3: What Instruction?How will students be taught to succeed on the teaching task?

Skills Cluster 2: Reading Process (Skill: Essential Vocabulary)Mini-Task: In your notebook, identify key words or phrases as you read and define them denotatively and connotatively in context of the passage you are reading. Add terms we identified as the “language of the discipline.” Scoring Guide: Selects appropriate text(s) for task Creates a first draft of a bibliography (if applicable). Writes in readable prose. Instruction: Lesson plans, pacing guides to teach skill via mini-task(s)

YOU establish the instructional plan – or instructional ladder – to teach students the skills necessary to succeed on the task

YOU create plan includes mini-tasks w/ scoring guide, instructional strategies, pacing guide

Module Section 4: What Results?

How good is good enough?

• Benchmark papers are being produced by SCALE (Stanford), Measured Progress

• You can also produce your own as a state (Pennsylvania did a first round)

• And you can also produce your own locally.

YOU score and share sample student work

YOU can opt create classroom assessment tasks by using same template task– a “dipstick” to see how well students do on their own

Enough of this. Let’s look at some modules.

Comparing Economic Systems

Kathy Thiebes(Oregon HS Teacher)

Opportunities and Challenges: U.S. Immigration

1880-1930Melissa Hedt

(National Paideia Center)

Let’s look at… Organization (what makes LDC a system)

Template tasks and teaching tasks built on the template

The sections of an LDC module, what’s in each one

But DON’T WORRY right now about… Style (you will make that call) Substance (all yours!) Time, energy, and overload (we have

clever tricks) Connecting to CAS and other Colorado

initiatives

ORGANIZATION: pp. 66-110

LDC Module Requirements and Options

MARK THESE PAGES!

pp. 53-54

What is required?

What can be changed or added?

A pretty packed morning. Questions? Comments?

LDC in Colorado

LDC your Colorado way…of course!

Our view of LDC?

Template Tasks and Colorado LDC

Teacher Kathy Thiebes calls our template tasks

“teacher candy”.

Template Task(Argumentation/Analysis)

After researching ______(informational texts) on _________(content), write __________ (essay or substitute) that argues your position on_____ (content). Support your position with evidence from your research. L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Social Studies Teaching Task(Argumentation/Analysis)

After researching academic articles on censorship, write an editorial that argues your position on the use of filters by schools. Support your position with evidence from your research. L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Science Teaching Task(Argumentation/Analysis)

After researching technical and academic articles on the use of pesticides in agriculture, write a speech that argues your position on its use in managing crop production. Support your position with evidence from your research. L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Your choice!Teachers use additional “plug and play” flexibility within the template to adjust: Task level: Select level 1, 2, or 3 task Reading requirements: Vary text

complexity, genre, length, familiarity, etc. Writing demands: Vary product, length,

etc. Pacing requirements: Vary workload

and time allowed to complete

Basic Task Design Process

Trick 1

LDC Template Task Collection 1

Your Turn! Design your own teaching task. Get in groups of 2-3. Take a look at the template task collection.

Pick a favorite argumentation template. Look at your CAS standards. Concepts/skills

and Inquiry questions can be used in templates to create strong, aligned tasks.

Design a teaching task you think is worthy of 2-3 weeks of quality instruction.

Put your teaching tasks on a flip chart.. and be prepared to share out!

A Great LDC Teaching Task Establishes a teaching task that is both

challenging and feasible for students, with a balance of reading demands and writing demands that works well for the intended grade and content.

Addresses content essential to the discipline, inviting students to engage deeply in thinking and literacy practices around that issue.

A Great LDC Teaching Task Selects reading texts that are sufficiently

complex , that use and develop academic understanding and vocabulary.

Makes effective use of the template task’s writing mode (argumentation, information/explanation, or narrative).

Designs a writing prompt that requires sustained writing and effective use of ideas and evidence from the reading texts.

Strategy Option: “Common Assignment”

After researching ______ (informational texts) on ______ (content), write ______ (essay or substitute) that argues your position on ______ (content). Support your position with evidence from your research.

ALIG

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DISTRIBUTION across content areas

Template Modules and Colorado LDC

Modules

Module templates support teachers in developing instruction to use over about 2-4 weeks. They help teachers design instruction – their choice – focused on guiding students to complete a single literacy task linked to content.

Template modules-re-use & recycle!

Let’s look at a template module

How does a module template….

…turn into a module?

Teaching task + module template=LDC Module

But don’t forget!1. You can select the template module of your

choice. 2. You can change it any way you like. 3. Or you can create your own!

Your turn! Design your own module.1. Get back into your same groups

2. Insert your teaching task into the module template.

3. Work your way through the module to see how a module template works with a new task.

4. Don’t worry too much about whether or not you like this particular template module. Remember, you can design your own. Just glimpse possibilities!

5. Be ready to share your thoughts.

Strategy Option: Module templates that fit CO initiatives

Such as…

• RtI-connecting with LDC instructional planning

• CAS- collect and organize modules around content

• Teacher evaluation- align instructional strategies with evaluation components

• ESL- develop modules that crystalize effective ESL approaches

• Assessments- use formative data from mini-tasks to prepare students to succeed on summative assessments

Welcome to LDC!