Literacy Strategies to Start the Year

In my travels, I found a couple popular literacies strategies that might be helpful as you start the school year. Some of these explanations give examples, but if you are interested in more examples or how you could use them in your classroom please contact me!

Frayer Model -- This strategy is a great one when you are introducing vocabulary. It allows you to provide examples and non-examples. I find this strategy especially helpful in math, science, or history classes.
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22369

Double-Entry Journals/Dialectical Journals -- These types of journals are great for having students interact with the text. They have an opportunity to ask questions, make predictions, make connections, clarify material, and/or reflect on the text they are reading.
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22091
http://esaliterature.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/dialectical-journal-handout.doc

Exit Slips or Cards/Entrance Slips or Cards -- Exit/Entrance Slips or Cards are not only a great strategy, but also one example of formative assessment. By collecting information from the students, you get an opportunity to see the questions, connections, and reflections they have about a reading, classroom discussion, lesson, etc. These slips or cards can happen at the start or end of a class. In many ways, they are a great way to begin a discussion at the start of class, as well as clarify any questions students have about the content the next day of class.
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19805
http://www.centralischool.ca/~bestpractice/exit/index.html
http://webpages.uah.edu/~mathewl/portfolio/321ExitCardsHumanGenomeMovie.pdf

If you have any examples of these strategies, I would love to have them for my collection!

What can I do for you as a literacy coach?

After sharing a brief synopsis of what I can do for you as a literacy coach yesterday, I wanted to give some more tangible examples to help folks see how I can help both you and your students.

• Model mini-lessons around literacy strategies -- I have worked in science and history classes modeling lessons on paraphrasing for students doing research projects. I modeled the lesson in one class section. The teacher presented the same lesson in her other class sections.


• Co-teach lessons -- A history teacher and I co-taught lessons around literature circles for a novel she was teaching about the industrial revolution. I was in her class for the entire two weeks she taught the novel.


• Partner with teachers to scaffold and differentiated literacy lessons -- An English teacher was creating an entire unit of differentiated lessons around Romeo and Juliet. We modeled in the different groups how to work on scaffolded assignments. In addition, we shared ideas for how to create differentiated lessons for the subject matter.


• Analyze student work/assessments to help teachers inform their instruction -- Having two people or a group of people look at student work/assessments allows for teachers to figure out if the assignment is assessing what they think it is as well as to see if students need more instruction in the area. Analyzing work doesn't have to wait until the final project at the end. It can be a short assignment midway to check that the students are understanding the content and skills. Sometimes, it is helpful to have someone outside the classroom faciliate those conversations.


• Help teachers develop formative assessments for their classroom -- Using formative assessment to check students' progress can be more helpful than waiting until the final project to see if they get it. There are quick ways to make this happen.


• Provide resources about literacy strategies for teachers -- Resources will be posted to this blog. In addition, articles and books will be available for teachers to access in my office. If there is a particular topic you are interested in hearing more about, please send me an email. I have resources on a wide range of subjects including comprehension, vocabulary, digital or new literacies, writing, visual literacy, etc.


• Partner with teachers to help create authentic writing tasks to prepare students for on-demand writing -- There are so many types of on-demand writing students are asked to do: NECAP, SAT, AP Tests, etc. Preparing students for these tasks is important, but making the task authentic so the students can use it in life for their on-demand writing is important as well.


• Partner with teachers and librarians on critical evaluation strategies for research -- The internet is a powerful tool for students to use. Helping students develop a critical eye is helpful for determining whether a site is appropriate to use. In addition, students need help with reading a variety of academic text (research articles, text books, etc.).


• Other ideas?

These are just a few ways I can be helpful. I hope that folks will approach me with other ideas.

Part of my job is also working with the Ninth Grade Initiative team, SB's Educational Support Team (EST), and study hall teachers around study strategies for students.

In addition to posts for teachers on this blog, I will also try to include some posts that connect directly to students so they can utilize this information as well.

Please contact me at abackman@sbschools.net with any comments, ideas, or questions. I look forward to the work we will do in the upcoming year.