| Month |
Title |
Topic Description |
| May 2016 |
Navigating the 4C's through Metacognitive Skills |
Want to find strategies that strengthen and enhance learner agency among teachers and students alike? Look no further than the metacognitive strategies outlined in this issue of Literacy Lifesaver. As the academic year comes to a close, reflection is natural. Why not harness these reflective notions and deepen them through cycles that help your "thinking about thinking." |
| April 2016 |
Navigating the 4C's through Writing and Reading |
We continue our in-depth look at the SWRL acronym by exploring the expressive literacy strategy of writing and the receptive literacy strategy of reading. In both, student voice and choice is key to student engagement and growth. This issue includes a helpful infograph sure to spark discussion in PLT's and classrooms alike as well as helpful tips on incorporating low stakes writing and an eye-opening report on the decline of reading in the last 20 years. |
| March 2016 |
Navigating the 4C's through Speaking and Listening |
Did you know that teachers do over 80% of the talking in classrooms identified as low-performing? Experts agree that the people doing the talking in a classroom are likely the people doing most of the thinking as well. The need to change the ratio of teacher-talk versus student-talk is imperative. Find out how to use SWRL to increase focused, literacy-rich speaking and listening skills today. |
| February 2016 |
Navigating the 4C's through Effective Feedback |
Advice, critiques and praise are all given to students as feedback. However, did you know that there are essentials necessary to make these comments into effective feedback? Feedback, at its core, should be goal-oriented and actionable. In addition to these feedback essentials, WCPSS has created a writing continuum that gives teachers the ability to give feedback fast and targeted. |
| January 2016 |
Navigating the 4C's through Assessment Strategies |
Learn how to help students tap into "multiple cognitive zones" as they find their way through formative and summative assessments. No matter where you are in the "January Hump" (preparing current students for final exams, helping new students become accustomed to their curriculum, or even aiding current year-long students as they struggle to re-engage) this month's Literacy Lifesaver contains an abundance of tips. Students are like plants. What are you doing to help feed, water and fertilize them this academic season? |
| December 2015 |
Navigating the 4C's through Access to Rigor |
Only 63% of current students feel comfortable asking questions in class. To increase access to rigor for all students we must do what it takes to ensure 100% of our students feel a level of comfort in inquiry-based learning. This comfort level can greatly be increased by using the 4C's of the Strategic Plan: Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical Thinking. Core Belief #2 of the Strategic Plan says, "Every student is expected to learn, grow, and succeed while we eliminate the ability to predict achievement based on socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity." This edition of the Literacy Lifesaver gives teachers an opportunity to reflect on the rigor of their current curriculum and instruction while dispelling myths on rigor and ensuring access to rigor for all. |
| November 2015 |
Navigating the 4C's through Cultural Responsiveness |
Most of us are culturally "aware" in our dealings with students and peers; however, what does it mean to be culturally "responsive"? This edition of Literacy Lifesaver explorers these differences and gives 5 Steps to help you on your journey towards a truly culturally responsive classroom. Chock full of resources that include Carol Dweck's research on Growth Mindset, excerpts from "The Skillful Teacher", and groundwork findings from originator of cultural responsiveness, Gloria Ladson-Billings. Educators are sure to find both quick, easy techniques for instant implementation as well as deep-probing content to engage conversation and spur lost-lasting transformation. |
| October 2015 |
Navigating the 4C's through Student Engagement |
Student Engagement is instrumental to the success of any classroom. This issue of Literacy Lifesaver defines student engagement and differentiates between Schlechty's five levels of engagement. The use of student engagement is connected back to the Strategic Plan through Learning and Teaching, Balanced Assessment and the 4C's. A highlight of this issue is a link to 56 fast, fun, formative assessments along with an actual lesson that has been revised to better include eight aspects of student engagement. |
| September 2015 |
Navigating the 4 C's |
The 2015-2016 Literacy Lifesavers will focus on Vision 2020, WCPSS's strategic plan. Our first issue this academic year outlines the strategic plan and highlights important areas in the five subcategories of: Learning and Teaching, Achievement, Balanced Assessment, Human Capital and Community Engagement as well as the 4 C's of Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical Thinking. Next month's Literacy Lifesaver will dive deeper into the 4 C's through Student Engagement. |
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| May 2015 |
Summarizing, Note-taking, Homework & Practice |
Students need literacy-rich strategies to be successful on final course assessments. Research indicates the use of these instructional strategies can show a gain of 21 to 44 percentile points. While summarizing, note-taking, homework and practice are regularly used concepts in most classrooms, this edition gives tips on how to deepen and extend the understanding of these common techniques. |
| April 2015 |
Non-Linguistic Representations |
"Reading" involves more than lettered text. It includes numbers, graphs, charts, pictures, videos, music, and any other "text" that demands analysis and close attention. Having students "translate" lettered text to non-linguistic text helps students learn deeply and transfer concepts to new situations. |
| January 2015 |
Generating and Testing Hypotheses |
The complex cognitive task of predicting outcomes, looking for evidence, and testing the prediction motivates students to learn while prompting deep and meaningful learning. |
| December 2014 |
Identifying Similarities and Differences
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This strategy is THE most effective strategy for teaching students to understand and transfer course concepts. It is worth its price in gold. |
| November 2014 |
Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback |
Objectives and Feedback thread their way through all literacy-rich instruction. Hattie notes that Feedback alone affect student learning by over 1 standard deviation. Another way to say it is that these teacher behaviors raise student learning by 2-3 years' growth within 1 year's time.
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| October 2014 |
Cues, Questions, Advance Organizers |
Literacy-rich relationships to the Marzano high-yield strategy that can make a 40% difference in student achievement. Also included: Disciplinary Literacy ideas and Peer Coaching ideas.
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| September 2014 |
Instructional Strategies for Student Success: The Marzano 9 |
Literacy-rich connections to high-yield instructional strategies help students learn content knowledge at a deep and transferrable (to EOCs and PLAN and SAT and...) level. In this issue are specific instructional strategies to support Reading Complex Text and Student Effort, as well as ideas about Disciplinary Literacy.
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Archives
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May 2014 Content Learning through Performance Tasks
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April 2014 What Makes Complex Text So... Complex?
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March, 2014 Complex Text: It Makes a Difference
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February, 2014 Putting Together the 5Es
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January, 2014 EVALUATE: The 5E Instructional Framework
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December, 2013 EXTEND : The 5E Instructional Framework
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November, 2013 EXPLAIN! The 5E Instructional Framework
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October, 2013 EXPLORE! The 5E Instructional Framework
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September, 2013 ENGAGE! The 5E Instructional Framework
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August, 2013 The 5E Instructional Framework
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May, 2013 Strategic and Extended Thinking
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April, 2013 Digital Literacy
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March, 2013 Expect Your Students to Argue! |
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February, 2013 Three Tiers for Content-Area Vocabulary! |
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January, 2013 Constructed Response for Common Core...and More! |
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December, 2012 At the Heart: Common Core Classroom Practices |
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