shifting gears and digging deep: effective ela implementation in the elementary setting clinton city...

Shifting Gears and Digging Deep: Effective ELA Implementation in

the Elementary Setting

Clinton City Schools

Dr. Vicki Violette - Director of SchoolsKelly Johnson – Assistant Director Curriculum Instruction

Jamie Jordan - Principal Clinton Elementary SchoolSuzie Boyd – ELA Instructional Coach

OverviewClinton City Schools

Demographics

• Student Enrollment: 950

• Serving students in grades Pre-K through 6 th Grade

• 3 Elementary Schools: Clinton Elementary, North Clinton Elementary, South Clinton Elementary

• Qualify as a Title I School district with a Free and Reduce lunch rate of 70%

AMOs

• CCS exceeded all AMOs in Reading and Math for 3rd and 3-6 grades.

• CCS had 67% of students P/A in Reading (ranks 6 th in the state).

• CCS had 71.5% of students P/A in Math (ranks 6th in the state).

Subgroups/Gap Closures

• CCS did not meet the majority of the gap closures.

• However, Economically Disadvantaged (D) and Black, Hispanic, Native American (BHN) subgroups showed gains in the number of students scoring P/A in Reading and Math.

• Ranks in State with Subgroups:– BHN Math – 9th in state; BHN Reading – 3rd in state– ED Math – 2nd in state; ED Reading – 2nd in state– Students With Disabilities Math – 6th in state; SWD Reading – 6th in

state

Systematic Foundations

Systematic Foundations

The right people on the right seat of the bus

Calendar System-wide collaborative days Weekly building level PLC Mandatory Tuesday training

District-wide Shifts

• Focus on collaboration through PLCs

• Using ELA PARCC Model Content Framework • Focus on Research – Collaboration

• Pacing- 7 Day ELA Plan

District-wide Shifts

• System-wide Writing Response at each grade level every 9 weeks

• Research based live binder supporting 10 anchor standards/foundational skills

• TDOE Trainings

• TEAM Shifts

Shifting Gears and Digging Deep

“We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them.“

-Unknown

Opinions, Arguments,Inter-textual Connections

Inferences

Author’s Purpose

Vocab & Text Structure

Key Details

General UnderstandingsPart

Sentence

Paragraph

Entire text

Across texts

Word

Whole

Segments

First Read of TextKey Ideas and

Details

Second Read of Text

Craft and Structure

Third Read of TextIntegration of

Knowledge and Ideas

Digging Deeper with Close Reading

Teaching Students to Read Like Detectives, Douglas Fisher

Using ELA PARCC Model Content Framework

1 Extended Text/ 9 wks

# of short

text/ 9 wks

# of different writings to be completed/ 9

wks

1 Research Project/9 wks

All of these embedded

Pacing- 7 Day ELA Plan Using JourneysGrades 2-6

Grammar & Spelling – About 20 minutesGr. 2 – Explicit Phonics InstructionGr. 3 - Phonics can be embedded in your spelling

instruction but should be explicitWriting – About 10-15 minutes

Might do a quick mini lesson on how to answer a constructed response item

Small Group Reading

• About 1 hour

Small Group

Reading

About 1 hour

Small Group

Reading

About 1 hour

Small Group

Reading

About 1 hour

Intro. Vocab., Read and Comprehend

(skill intro)

Consider pulling from another source

for additional practice, integration

of SS or Sci orindependent practice

if time permits.

Day 1Whole Grp.

About 35 minutes

1st Read – Get the Gist

(Questions from Key Ideas and Details)

Daily Vocab Practice

Day 2Whole Grp.

About 35 minutes

2nd Read – Analyze Text (Questions

from Craft and Structure)

Daily Vocab Practice

Day 3Whole Grp.

About 35 minutes

3rd Read – Dig Deeper

(Questions from Integration of

Knowledge and Details)

Daily Vocab Practice

Day 4Whole Grp.

About 35 minutes

Small Group

Reading

About 1 hour

This day should be primarily devoted to

teaching how to respond to

literature. The entire ELA block

could be devoted to

writing on this day

Might :• meet with

struggling readers.

• do some short reading here (possibly exemplar poems, pull in SS or Sci, or pull in a non-fiction piece).

• do the read aloud-speaking and listening.

• Re-teach• Teach CCSS that

are not covered in basal

Day 5Whole Grp.

Companion Text

Domain Specific Vocab

Day 6Whole Grp.

About 35 minutes

Grammar & Spelling

Writing Mini -Lesson

This day should be primarily devoted to teaching a

specific genre for writing. The

entire ELA block could be devoted to writing on this

day

Might :• meet with

struggling readers.

• do some short reading here (possibly exemplar poems, pull in SS or Sci, or pull in a non-fiction piece).

• do the read aloud /speaking and listening.

• Re-teach• Teach CCSS that

are not covered in basal

• Author’s Chair

Day 7Whole Grp.

PARRC:

Routine writing, such as short constructed-responses to text-

dependent questions, builds content knowledge and provides opportunities for reflection on a specific aspect of a text or texts.

Routine written responses to such text-dependent

questions allow students to build sophisticated

understandings of vocabulary, text structure,

and content and to develop needed

proficiencies in analysis.

Teacher Built Pacing Guides

Goals

1. Balance literature and informational text

2. Teach all CCSS weekly

3. Research project (used TCAP data)

Balance

ALL CCSS

Exte

nded

Re

ads

Reminder

Collaboration through PLCs

• PLC meetings bimonthly for ELA

▫ In-depth discussions about Common Core Anchor Standards at each grade level (Common Core Resource Notebook)

Strategies for teaching each standard

What it looks/sounds like at that specific grade level as well as grade levels above and below

Artifacts/strategies shared by teachers

Focus on Research Collaboration

• Media Specialist– Final paper typed in computer lab

• Research at each grade level– Primary grades participate in 3 shared research and writing

projects

– Grades 3-6 - Conduct short research projects using sources to build knowledge in content area subject. (3 this year/4 next year)

System-wide Writing Responses

• Per nine weeks– No accountability/practice– Gr. 3-6 respond to two texts

• Reading passage(s)/responding to a prompt– Narrative – Informational text– Opinion

• Results shared/discussed at PLC

The Real Magic

Clinton Elementary School

• 525 Students K-6

• 50% Free and Reduced Lunch

• ELA Proficient and Advanced: 71%– 3rd : 62%– 4th: 71%– 5th: 81%– 6th: 83%

• Reward School for past 2 years

Clinton Elementary Foundational Structure

• Follow TDOE recommendation for instructional blocks and intervention times

– K-2 - 2½ hours ELA Block– Grades 3-6 – 2 hours ELA Block

• Schedule to allow Focus on Integration

Clinton Elementary Collaboration

• Instructional Assistants and Special Area Teachers Utilization

• Research Focus and Teacher Collaboration

• Strategic Plan for Cross-Curricular Common Core Implementation

Strategies at the Building Level

Clinton Elementary Strategies

• Non-fiction integration

• Write, Write, Write!

• Focus on Vocabulary Strategies

RACE

ACE Strategy

A = Answer

C = Cite Evidence

E = Extend your answer

Accountable Talk Stems

Extended Reads

Essential Questions

Twitter and Insta-gram

Writing Conferences and Thinking Hats

Focus on Research K-6

Clinton Elementary Resources

• School-wide incentive for Study Island Common Core

• Approximately 500 hours of after-school tutoring with targeted populations

• Before School Computer Access

Clinton Elementary Resources

• TDOE Reading Course and Summer Training

• Tncore.org and PARCC resources

• Leveled Reader Library

Key Take-Aways

•Paradigm shift is a non-negotiable

•Staff support is imperative

•Dig deeper into curriculum

The challenges we face are great! How will we meet the challenges?

Responding to

literature

Embedding LA

Text-based Questions

Extended Reading

Writing to inform, argue, narrate

Grade Level Writing AssessmentsPARRC

Contact Information

• violettev@clintonschools.org

• johnsonk@clintonschools.org

• jordanj@clintonschools.org

• boyds@clintonschools.org