MAISA ELA Units: WHAT administrators want to know MIELANetwork.weebly

1. MAISA ELA Units: WHAT administrators want to knowMIELANetwork.weebly.com Laura Schiller, Ph.D. Literacy Consultant, Oakland Schools Director, Oakland Writing Project Laura.schiller@oakland.k12.mi.us

2. Today We Will Address • The history of the units • The units in relation to the common core state standards • Unit alignment within and across grades • Ways to assess the units • What administrators can look for in classrooms • Ways to facilitate staff learning in relation to the units • Ways to improve writing instruction and student learning

3. Common Core State Standards http://www.corestandards.org/

4. Common Core State Standards The development of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts was lead by National Governor Association Council of Chief State School Officers The Standards focus on learning expectations for students, not on how students get there

5. Michigan’s Context • Oakland ISD Superintendent Mandate • MAISA Collaboration www.mielanetwork.weebly.com

6. Common Core State Standards replace the GLCE’s • We are moving nationally from check lists of skills to an approach that integrates reading, writing, listening, speaking, and technology for the purpose of reasoning and learning at high levels of sophistication. • ACT: skills needed for trades are the same as those needed for college

7. Common Core State Standards… • These standards are not intended to be new names for old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the next step.” • Page 5 CCSS Introduction

8. NAEP Charts: Balance of Instruction

9. 2011 NAEP Writing Framework

10. 2011 NAEP Reading Framework

11. Writing and Reading are equally important and given equal weight.

12. Teach Reading and Writing Across the Grades

13. Shared Responsibility for Reading and Writing Across the Disciplines

14. Setting the bar high! Writing standard 5 describes the writing process, and standard 10 describes the need to write routinely as part of that process. Without these two standards, the other standards will be difficult to achieve.

15. Writing Standard 9 Careful reading and analysis precedes writing. Reading is linked to writing and writing is linked to reading. Implications for schools where different teachers instruct reading and writing.

16. Emphasis on Depth

17. 6-12 STUDENTS STUDY TOPICS/THEMES IN DEPTH

18. Student Portrait

19. CCR: College & Career ReadinessOverarching Standards

20. Michigan’s ELA Units of Study: How do they promote this sophisticated level of teaching and learning?

21. Top 6 ELA Common Core Curriculum Writing Connections 6: Independence Introduction p.7 5: Balance of Narrative, Persuasive, & Informational Units of Study W3.1, W3.2, W3.3; W4.1, W4.2, W4.3; W5.1, W5.2, W5.3 4: Writing Process W3.5 , W4.5, W5.5

22. Top 6 ELA Common Core Curriculum Writing Connections 3: Literary & Informational Textual Analysis, Reflection, & Research W4.9a,b; W5.9a, b 2: Write routinely over time and on demand W3.10, W4.10, W5.10 1: Language Progressive Skills L.3.1f, L.3.3a; L.4.1f, L.4.3g, L.4.3a, L.4.3b; L.5.1d, L.5.2a

23. K-12 Writing Overarching Considerations: CCSS ELA MAISA Units Text types: Started with argument Argument Least understood Informative/Explanatory Claim Narrative Evidence/Support Warrant Logic of reasoning

24. Units Embody Opportunities to Learn Clear Teaching Points Models Demonstration Regular Practice Repetition Conferring Individual, small group, and whole group instruction Community

25. Lesson Template: from research based on effective instructionas summarized by Mike Schmoker 2011Focus: Elevating the essentials to radically improve student learning. ASCD. 52-54.

26. Clear Teaching PointsModeling/DemonstratingGuided PracticeChecking for Understanding

27. The Writing Process Today

28. We Stand on the Shoulders of Great Writers and Teachers of Writing • Across K-college, the writing workshop has been the accepted forum for teaching the skills and strategies of effective writing. • Experts: Donald Murray, Pulitzer Prize Winner, & Roy Peter Clark, Journalist • Writers: Annie Dillard, Mary Oliver, Anne Lamott, E.B. White • Great Writing Teachers: Peter Elbow, Georgia Heard, Ralph Fletcher, & TCRWP Pathways to the Common Core, 2012, Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, p. 111

29. CCSSAligning to a Writing Process Tradition This quality of writing can be achieved by mandating the explicit instruction, opportunities for practice, centrality of feedback, assessment-based instruction, and spiral curriculum that have all been hallmarks of rigorous writing workshop instruction. Pathways to the Common Core, 2012, Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, p. 112

30. Workshop models assume: • Conferring • Building community to promote risk-taking • Opportunities for independent, small group and whole group instruction • Small group work (K-5) • Partner work • Promoting independence

31. Explicit Instruction VersusAssign and Assess

32. Process & Product

33. Considerations for Reading Units • Alignment with writing units • Balance with CCSS Literary & Informational Text • Assessment with an eye toward text complexity • Close reading of text • Historical core documents • Depth of Knowledge (Norman Webb)

34. Where to find the New ELA Common Core Scope Units • Google: Atlas Rubicon Oakland • Another resource—go to Oakland Schools webpage. Under EDUCATORS click Common Core Initiatives • Under Links to Other Resources you’ll find the Public Atlas SCoPE Curriculum. • Only select those units that have a cc (for Common Core) next to them. Those are the new units.

35. Professional Learning for Literacy Leaders “To help young people learn themore complex and analyticalskills they need for the 21st century, teachers must learn to teach in ways that develop higher-order thinking and performance. To develop the sophisticated teaching required for this mission, education systems must offer more effective professional development.” Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009

36. Introducing the units at a staff/department meeting • Select one grade level to explore • Find the common core units on Atlas Rubicon • Then do the following:

37. Using Atlas Rubicon to Study Alignment • Notice the alignment of units within a grade level • Is there evidence of argument/opinion, information/explanation, and narrative/personal experience writing in the curriculum? • What do you wonder? What surprised you? • Look at the grade below. • Compare the unit titles. • What do you notice about alignment? • What do you notice about narrative/opinion/argument units?

38. Template Exploration

39. Using Atlas Rubicon to Study Alignment • Repeat by looking at the grade level titles above the grade you selected first. • Compare the unit titles. • What do you notice about alignment? • What do you notice about narrative/opinion/argument units?

40. Using Atlas Rubicon to Study Alignment • Notice the suggested pacing of the units • Follow the template—note the graphic organizer laying out the lesson sequence across the writing process • Notice the list of lessons and the link to access the daily lessons.

41. Template Exploration

42. Template Exploration

43. Digging into the Standards: Another staff/department meeting • Start with kindergarten • Read those grade level standards • Imagine a very simple story that meets those descriptors. • Reread just the first part of the kindergarten description. • Note what added work first graders are expected to do. • Continue to read horizontally noting the added work at each grade level. These learning progressions make the writing standards attainable if students grow up in a strong writing curriculum. Pathways to the Common Core, 2012, Calkins, Ehrenworth, Lehman, p. 116

44. What should administrators look for? • Extended student writing should be evident in the classroom i.e., portfolios, writers notebooks, published pieces, drafts… • Teachers model/demonstrate HOW to write using mentor texts, teacher or student writing, and whole class writing • Students write both on-demand and process pieces for a range of purposes and audiences • Students use writing to help them learn information and uncover their thinking • Writing and reading are given equal time and instruction.

45. What should administrators look for? • There is extended independent writing time on a regular basis in class. • Students make decisions about their writing. • Clear teaching point • Evidence of student uptake

46. Instructional Shifts • Proportion of Writing Types: Narrative, Information/Explanation, Argument/Opinion/Persuasion • Emphasis on claims, evidence, reasoning • Teaching Writing versus Assigning Writing • Time students spend writing independently • Both on-demand and extended writes • Writing throughout the school day

48. Writing Must Not be “OUTSOURCED!” In order to coach and provide feedback, students must write during class. They can also write at home, but time for writing during class is absolutely non-negotiable.

49. ASSESSMENT

50. Systematically build a focus on writing • Teach the units of study • Three times a year have teachers bring class sets of papers to a staff meeting to score and analyze • Narrative, essay/argument, information