Literacy Strategies in Literacy Strategies in MCS Teachers’ Toolkit: MCS Teachers’ Toolkit: Striving Readers Grant Striving Readers Grant Data Informs PracticeData Informs Practice

Literacy Strategies in Literacy Strategies in MCS Teachers’ Toolkit: MCS Teachers’ Toolkit: Striving Readers Grant Striving Readers Grant Data Informs PracticeData Informs Practice

Elizabeth Heeren, Memphis City Elizabeth Heeren, Memphis City SchoolsSchools

Kelly Feighan, Research for Better Kelly Feighan, Research for Better SchoolsSchools

What do Innovators Do?Dare

Explore

Persist

Create

Model

Top Seven Lessons From the Field1. Reach the “tipping point” by

involving all content areas2. Foster a vibrant literacy

community3. Embrace the B-D-A format4. Value quality not quantity5. Implement small group

instruction that includes literacy strategies

6. Rotate students through instructional tactics

7. Be a Coach

Reach the “tipping point” by involving all content

areas

• In years 1 and 2, we only included core content teachers in PD. Years 3 and 4 were much more successful by being inclusive and making literacy everyone’s business.

• Art, music, computer, health, Spanish, ESL teachers were some of our most creative literacy teachers.

• CDC students can do literacy!

Foster a vibrant literacy community

Consider:• Mentioning a literacy strategy or tactic in weekly staff meetings

• Making PA announcements that celebrate literacy

• Looking for student strategy use• Literacy-driven team meetings• Incorporating literacy practices into your SIP Literacy coaches as school leaders

Embrace the B-D-A format

• Brain research shows us that new learning is easier when schema is activated first (support before reading)

• Struggling readers have difficulty reading grade-level texts independently (support during reading)

• Comprehension and retention of information increases with discussion and synthesis (support

after reading)

Value quality not quantity

• Strongest implementers used strategies more effectively, not more frequently

• Strong implementers felt more prepared to model strategies, differentiate instruction, and teach students to ask B-D-A questions

• Deep not wide; higher cognitive demand

• High implementers used X strategies

Under construction

Implement small group instruction that includes

literacy strategies• Small group instruction is the most powerful teaching.

• In small groups, teachers should model literacy strategies and make sure all students are engaged.

• Homogenous and heterogeneous groups are both beneficial, depending on the purpose/level of the activity

Rotate students through

instructional tactics

• Learners have the approximate attention span of their age ( a 12 year old has 12 minutes)

• Everything is easier when adolescents are engaged (Classroom management, teaching, learning)

• Motivation matters • Teacher can move until students are ready

Be a Coach

• Like in sports, good coaches do not simply practice the game, they do drills

• Every part of the B-D-A process is important and should be coached

• Principals are the first coach teachers have and can be the most important

What are the effective SRG strategies?• Academic Word Walls• Graphic Organizers• Frayer Model• Semantic Feature Analysis• Modeled fluency/Choral Reading

• QAR/Student Generated Questions

• Readers Theater/Radio Reading

• THIEVES• KWL

Let’s See it in Action: A sample lesson in B-D-A

formatBefore reading, please turn to a partner and talk briefly about a time when you may have had the feeling someone was watching you or spying on you. Let’s look at the academic word wall.

During reading, please participate in the choral reading of the Stargirl exerpt.

After reading, we’ll answer some questions from the different QAR

levels

Thank you!

• Contact us anytime:

• Elizabeth Heeren: mcsk12.net• Kelly Feighan: feighan@rbs.org