Literacy News You Can Use - December 2018
INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE - RESOURCES & MATERIALS
Iowa Department of Education
Voice From the Field Blog - A Trip to Rome Yields a Valuable Lesson in Disciplinary Literacy - Check out this NEW Iowa Core blog!
Iowa Reading Research Center (IRRC)
Early Literacy Blueprint Initiative - High Priority Milestones for K-3 Reading Development - New web version (with searchable feature) of the Milestones document outlines the high-priority skills students need to master in each grade level and each area of reading development. For each grade level, the skills are specified in greater detail and accompanied by references and links to the Iowa Core standards, where appropriate.
Student Achievement Partners - Achievethecore.org
- ELL Supports for Writing and Discussion - This handout describes, and provides examples of, three research-based strategies: sentence frames/starters, signal words, and word banks.
- Revised Lesson Planning Tool - This digital resource guides teachers through a series of prompts about the lesson content, structure, and activities to ensure the Shifts required by the Standards are central to the lesson. The update reflects changes made to the Instructional Practice Guide to improve the clarity and concreteness of the indicators.
- Reading Instruction with the End in Mind: Rethinking “Reading Levels”(December 2018 Webinar) - Examine the common practice of matching readers to texts and its impact on students. You will learn when and where to consider scaffolds based on individual student needs, while ensuring successful opportunities for all students to engage with complex text.
- We’re Bullish on Bookworms - A Reflection on the free Bookworms ELA Curriculum for K-5 - Sharon Walpole and Open Up Resources have just completed an extensive expansion of the Bookworms program and the EdReports review of this new version is forthcoming in early 2019.
- Choosing Text Excerpts for Close Reading - A teacher's recommendations for how to select text excerpts that make students love reading.
American Federation of Teachers
- Phonics Faux Paus: Avoiding Instructional Missteps in Teaching Letter-Sound Relationships - Professors Nell Duke and Heidi Anne E. Mesmer focus on seven instructional missteps in early reading instruction that deserve serious attention.
- How Knowledge Helps - It Speeds and Strengthens Reading Comprehension, Learning—and Thinking
Learning Forward
Strong Materials in the Hands of Great Teachers - Barbara Davidson, executive director of the Knowledge Matters Campaign and Susan Pimentel co-founder of Student Achievement Partners elaborate on how a year of school visits highlights what makes curriculum work.
Education Post
TEACHER LEADERSHIP RESOURCES
UnBoundEd
Bias Toolkit - Find directions for how to get started facilitating conversations about race, bias and prejudice so we can listen, lead and teach towards equity.
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Iowa Department of Education
- Coming in January 2019 English Language Arts/Literacy Standards On-line Modules and Self-Paced Course on AEA Learning Online - Iowa's Academic Standards in ELA/Literacy Standards require key shifts in learning and teaching. Through engagement with the content in these modules, educators will learn from national resources and tools to make this significant change by becoming knowledgeable about the Standards and prepare to teach them through the instructional shifts. More information to come.
- Check out the Department’s Statewide Social Studies and Science Leadership Teams’ disciplinary literacy professional learning opportunities:
- Building Literacy in Social Studies Statewide Professional Development Modules
- Science + Literacy Professional Development - Contact your region’s AEA for offerings.
Iowa Department of Education
Iowa Core Advocate Network: Learning Series - Join in the conversation and engage in new learning about Standards-aligned instructional practice and materials during monthly webinars.
Student Achievement Partners’ (SAP) Core Advocate Webinar Series
Register today for this upcoming Core Advocate Webinar. Even if you can't attend, your registration ensures you get notified once recordings are available.
2019 Line-Up of SAP Virtual Mini-Courses
During the 2018-2019 school year, Student Achievement Partners will host virtual mini-courses to support college- and career-ready, standards-based instruction. The courses will center on practical, equitable, research-based instructional practices to advance achievement for all students. Each mini-course is an independent learning opportunity and participants are not required to take all courses. Mini-courses are open to all educators.
- Spring Mini-Course: Foundational Skills Instruction in Action: Course Starts on April 2 (registration will be available on February 4)
MORE
Archived Literacy News You Can Use Updates
Literacy Resources Subject Pages on IowaCore.gov
Voice From the Field Monthly Blog