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B URLINGTON E DISON S B ALANCED L ITERACY M ODEL (A WORK IN PROGRESS ) W RITING S UBCOMMITTEE J ANUARY 2012

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A CTIVATING P RIOR K NOWLEDGE . Our Writing Beliefs..

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M EETING A GENDA I. Introductions/Norms II. History/Background III. Current Research/Data IV. Planning for Steps in the Writing Committee's "charge" V. Delegating tasks/items VI. Next Steps Questions/Comments

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F ORMAT AND P URPOSE OF THIS M EETING Format Work Session: To provide interactive time to share with our colleagues, process and provide feedback Purpose To create a Balanced Literacy Model for our district that encompasses best practice, high yield thinking strategies and provides the most appropriate literacy instruction for all students while supporting teachers with the most user friendly documents, tools and resources to deliver that instruction Roles Your expected role is to provide constructive feedback, share expertise and provide a clear, meaningful and supportive direction to incorporate writing into our balanced literacy framework.

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O UTCOMES FOR T ODAY AND B EYOND ! Develop a deep understanding of Writing standards, Data, Research and resources we currently use to make informed decisions and plans for incorporating a more cohesive writing plan within our balanced literacy model. Create a plan for strengthening our Daily Learning guides to incorporate writing. Develop a PD plan for guides and roll-out Be a liaison for your grade level/buildings to represent all teachers

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P ROTOCOLS Please take a couple of minutes to suggest one or two norms that will support our work together. (Share Out)

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L ET S G ET S TARTED !

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G OALS OF L ITERACY C ADRE Support the Burlington-Edison Preferred Vision for a Comprehensive Literacy Program Align the standards with our district adopted resources Create a Daily Learning Guide (DLG) that maps the skills and resources out throughout the year and grade level Provide a structure for our literacy block that supports all students at their varying levels and skills Provide meaningful professional development and resources that teachers feel confident utilizing and will bring back to share with other staff members Training Paraprofessionals in the area of Literacy to help support our Comprehensive Literacy Program Develop/or find a variety of meaningful formative and summative assessments aligned to our pacing guide Motivating students to read and write outside the day Leveling books for students/teachers

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Burlington-Edison Preferred Vision for a Comprehensive Reading Program Essential Components of an Effective Reading Program Implications from Research Daily Reading Reading to students Shared reading (modeling reading strategies) Independent reading practice (at an appropriate level for students) Guided reading (students reading at instructional level with teacher guidance) Encourage reading outside school Differentiated Classroom Environment Balance of whole group, small group, and individual instruction Focus on thinking, learning, and problem- solving Student interaction Flexible grouping Active strategies/Student monitoring Student friendly EALRs/GLEs discussed and posted Reading strategies discussed and posted Explicit Instruction Critical thinking skills with consistent strategies and graphic organizers Tiered instruction Phonemic awareness and phonics Fluency Comprehension strategies Vocabulary Variety of Materials Fiction Non-fiction Various forms/ genres Variety of levels available Assessments Variety of meaningful, ongoing assessments, e.g. performance, objective, and student self- evaluation Formative and summative assessment Align assessment with GLEs Common assessments district-wide Response to Reading Opportunities to respond to reading in various ways, e.g. writing, discussion, drama, etc. Proficient Practitioners Professional development Best practices based on current research All staff involved in on-going training Time to research, plan and collaborate Reading instruction occurs in all content areas High expectations

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T HE L EVEL OF D EPTH W E W ANT TO T AKE THIS L ITERACY M ODEL Provide a clearly articulated learning progression that represents our standards in our DLG Providing meaningful strategies to support a Balanced Literacy Program Provide professional development that aligns and supports a Balanced Literacy Program and the Daily Learning Guide Provide meaningful common/formative assessments Provide a suggested Schedule for Literacy Block that includes all of the key components for a Balanced Literacy Structure Be flexible with the format we have created to consistently view it as a draft and add appropriate materials and resources (Interactive)

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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MSP/HSPE D ATA http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/waslTrend.aspx?grou pLevel=District&schoolId=206&reportLevel=District &orgLinkId=206&yrs=2010- 11&gradeLevelId=4&subjectType=1&year=2010- 11&waslCategory=1&chartType=2 http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/waslTrend.aspx?grou pLevel=District&schoolId=206&reportLevel=District &orgLinkId=206&yrs=2010- 11&gradeLevelId=7&subjectType=1&year=2010- 11&waslCategory=1&chartType=2 http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/waslTrend.aspx?grou pLevel=District&schoolId=206&reportLevel=District &orgLinkId=206&yrs=2010- 11&gradeLevelId=10&subjectType=1&year=2010- 11&waslCategory=1&chartType=2

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T AKING A L OOK AT OUR I NDIVIDUAL C LASSROOM D ATA Guiding Thinking Points What MSP Level are the majority of your students? How do the other writing assessments you provide in your classroom correlate with these results? How would you/do you group these students according to this data? What needs do you see? How does our current writing curriculum help support these students?

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O UR A HAS

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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Writing is not simply a way for students to demonstrate what they know. It is a way to help them understand what they know. -The Neglected R, 2003

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W RITING N EXT . E FFECTIVE S TRATEGIES TO I MPROVE W RITING .. Jigsaw ALL: Executive Summary Introduction p. 7-10 Recommendations: p. 11-14 The 11 Key Elements: p. 15-18 The 11 Key Elements cont. p. 19-21 Implementing the Elements p. 22-24 Accumulation of Research : p. 25-28

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Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing, co-authored by The Council of Writing Program Administrators (CWPA), the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and the National Writing Project (NWP), state that writing activities and assignments should be designed with genuine purposes and audiences in mind (from teachers and other students to community groups, local or national officials, commercial interests, students friends and relatives, and other potential readers) in order to foster flexibility and rhetorical versatility. Standardized writing curricula or assessment instruments that emphasize formulaic writing for non-authentic audiences will not reinforce the habits of mind and the experiences necessary for success as students encounter the writing demands of postsecondary education (2011, p. 3). Writing dispositions/ habits of mind (or the ways writers approach writing) include: engagement through making connections among ideas; persistence to grapple with challenging ideas and texts; responsibility to incorporate ideas of others, giving proper attribution; flexibility of approaches and styles to match purpose; and utilizing met-cognitive skills to reflect on their development as writers.

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B EST P RACTICES IN T EACHING W RITING 1. Establish a positive atmosphere for writing, reading and learning. 2. Organize for writing. 3. Provide meaningful student writing activities. 4. Ensure that students read, respond to, and use a variety of materials written for a variety of purposes and audiences. 5. Write regularly across the curriculum and grade levels. 6. Arrange for students to have constructive response to their writing and to offer response to other writes. 7. Provide opportunities for students to collaborate as writers, thinkers, and learners. 8. Conduct effective mini-lessons.

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F RAMEWORK OF W RITING I NSTRUCTION The Writing Process Prewriting Drafting Revising Editing Publishing The Structure of Writing Genre Forms and Structures Writing for Meaning/Response Writing Across Content Areas Writing with Spelling, Handwriting and Conventions

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F OUR C OMPONENTS OF W RITER S W ORKSHOP (R OUTMAN, 2000; F OUNTAS AND P INNELL, 2001) Writing Aloud Shared Writing Guided Writing Independent Writing

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PRACTICES THAT HAVE NOT PRODUCED QUALITY WRITING . Formulaic Writing. Barry Lane states in his book After the End that writers dont need to be given formulas; they need to be shown possibilities. Too often, formulaic writing leads to mediocre, dull writing where student engagement with the text is absent. While a formula may be useful for beginning or novice writers who need scaffolding in organizational techniques and in the crafting of elaboration, it should not be an outcome expectation for student writers at any grade level.

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O UR A HAS

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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C OMMON C ORE S TANDARDS OF W RITING . To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students need to learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. They learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and they begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose. They develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing, producing numerous pieces over short and extended time frames throughout the year.

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CC A SSESSMENT A second decision was to assess writing of three specific text types identified as the focus in the CCSS: Writing assessment targets for Claim #2 address all three text types (W1, opinion/argument, W2, informational, and W3, narrative writing) and their unique features. Assessment targets for claim #2 make specific distinctions that align with CC standards for each type of writing at every grade level. The wording of Claim #2 ( Students can produce effective writing for a range of purposes and audiences) and descriptions of what sufficient evidence of student performance should look like address all three writing genres and a range of purposes.

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D AVID M ATTESON S B ENCHMARKS Much of the work has already been done Significant investment P-3 and community partners

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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C URRENT W RITING G UIDES Resources Matrix Reflection on strengths/holes Current DLG Current One-Pager Sharing out how we see this all fitting together

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W HY DO WE NEED TO PRIORITIZE ? Research tells us that it would take between 22 and 26 years for teachers to teach all the standards and objectives in the state curriculum. (Marzano and Kendall) Since research tells us this, teachers have two choices: Teach everything equally Teach prioritized standards for a deeper level of understanding Prioritizing does not mean eliminating any standards. It means focusing on some standards more than others.

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A HAS

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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O UR G RADE L EVEL D RAFT S TANDARDS P ACING G UIDE . Link

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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W HERE W E S TART . Looking at the Data Digging into the Research Deepening our understanding of the Standards, and David Matteson Benchmarks Deep Curriculum Alignment Specifically, aligning the standards with our current writing curriculum find the strengths and the holes Create a Draft writing component on our DLGs Created a Draft District Grade Level One pager Where we are now..

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W RITING C OMMITTEE T IMELINE

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W HERE WE ARE GOING NEXT Completion of Writing portion of DLG Completion of one-pager representing writing Professional development Tools to support

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D ISCUSSION T IME C OMMENTS /Q UESTIONS Please fill out an Plus/Delta before leavingPlus/Delta A Huge Thank You For Attending and Providing Such Great Feedback! For further comments/questions please contact: Mdarragh@be.wednet.edu