F A L L 2 0 1 3 Elementary Literacy Times Department of Instruction and Interventions What s New! Initiatives from Around the District Digital 5 Introducing our new Chief Academic Officer: Jose Dotres The Literacy Department would like to welcome and introduce to you our new CAO, Mr. Jose Dotres. Mr. Dotres comes to us from our neighboring county, Miami-Dade, with an extensive background in the field of education. As a former classroom teacher, elementary school principal, and most recently an Assistant Superintendent, his knowledge and experiences will be a valuable asset to our district and we look forward to continuing our goal of increasing student achievement under his direction. Important Dates to Remember! Literacy Coaches Forum 9/16/13, 11/22/13, 2/7/14, 5/8/14 These all-day events are held at the Rock Island Professional Development Center where elementary level literacy coaches and science support staff from around the district will be provided the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues. This school year, 32 select elementary schools are participating in the Digital 5: Pathways to Personalized Learning Initiative (D5). This initiative integrates technology into the core instructional time of fifth grade students from these select schools, immersing them in a more digital and global education network. Students have more autonomy over their complex, real world learning experiences, giving them opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge through a learning management system (Schoology). The D5 Kickoff was an all-day event held on August 14th at Florida Atlantic University in Davie. The event proved to be a successful learning experience for both teachers and administrators.
What s New! Initiatives from Around the District continued Innovations for Learning: Teacher + Tutors + Technology Working Together to Develop Student Literacy A collaborative partnership between our district and Innovations for Learning (IFL), a nonprofit organization, will support implementation of a new literacy program that harnesses the power of teachers, tutors, and technology to deliver instruction to kindergarten and first grade students in 13 select elementary schools, with plans to expand the initiative in additional schools next year. This innovative, personalized learning model will capitalize on student application of 21st century skills through mobile devices such as ipads, ipod Touches, and MP3 players during the implementation of interactive literacy instruction. Full-time literacy coaches will support implementation, corporate executives will serve as tutors to facilitate student learning, and highly effective teachers will be equipped with resources and strategies to create engaging and relevant learning environments that lay the foundation to close the literacy achievement gap. Coconut Creek Primary Reading Initiative As part of the district's Race To The Top School Improvement Grant, implementation of the Coconut Creek Primary Reading Initiative will continue in the nine elementary schools that feed into Coconut Creek High School. Designed to support the accelerated achievement of struggling readers the research-based Leveled Literacy Intervention program (authored by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell), which includes highly engaging literature and informational texts, is used to deliver intensive guided reading intervention instruction in select kindergarten, first, second, and third grade classrooms. These comprehensive instructional resources are fully aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts, supporting the preparedness of students to be on track for college and career readiness. An accompanying Benchmark Assessment System is used to frequently monitor student progress and analyze achievement data to provide targeted instruction and determine program efficacy for potential implementation in classrooms across the district. 2
Updates From Around Our Department Below you will find the latest and greatest information from the Department of Literacy. Literacy Updates Let the Journeys Begin Social Studies Updates: We are in our 2 nd year of our adopted series McGraw-Hill s Florida Social Studies textbook. As we continue to familiarize ourselves with the many components of this series, make sure you take some time to explore the online component of this resource located in the BEEP portal. There you have access to additional lesson plan ideas, leveled readers, high-interest articles on current events, power-point presentations and a variety of assessment tools. Media Updates: Lynne Oakvik, Supervisor, Library Media Services will be facilitating bi-monthly online Adobe Connect Support Sessions for K-12 Library Media Specialists and Clerks. The support sessions will be recorded and posted on the Literacy Department webpage for easy access and will provide best practices for using Destiny (ebooks, mobile apps and online databases) as well as CCSS-ELA curriculum and technology integration. A District PLC for new media specialists and integrating the FINDS Research Process with Interdisciplinary Units of Study will be coming in October. For questions regarding library media support, please email Lynne Oakvik on CAB @ lynne.oakvik @browardschools.com or visit the Library Media webpage via the Literacy Dept. @ http://literacydept.browardschools.com/ Unpacking all the materials and resources that came with the newly adopted Journeys Common Core 2014 literacy series was exciting for K-5 teachers. Together, teachers and students are exploring the vast number of Journeys features such as classroom library sets of trade books, student anthologies, gradelevel novels, four different instructional leveled readers, vocabulary readers, intervention tool kits, and all of the online resources through the ThinkCentral portal. In the ThinkCentral portal, teachers can find interactive whiteboard activities, audio for student books and leveled readers, teaching aids, resources for English language learners, and the HMH Resource Hub. The Hub provides web tools such as Google Docs for teachers and students to share documents and Skype in the Classroom to allow students to connect with other classrooms or content area experts. Even though getting to know a new literacy program can be overwhelming, Broward teachers are collaborating in order to develop more personalized lesson plans that are based on their students differentiated needs. 3
Journeys Through Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning by Dr. Teri Acquavita, Literacy Curriculum Supervisor When students walked into their elementary classrooms this fall, although it appeared similar to any other brand new school year with new friends, new teachers, and new supplies, there would be more "new" than they imagined. So, what else is "new" in our journeys through interdisciplinary teaching and learning? Teachers, support staff, and administrators spent the summer learning about a more integrated, interdisciplinary approach to inquiry-based teaching and learning in the elementary classroom. Effective implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts lays the foundation for integrating curriculum. By integrating the literacy standards across the content areas of science, social studies, and mathematics through an interdisciplinary approach more authentic teaching and learning experiences can be created to provide students relevancy for their learning. It is important that students understand what they read about they can write about and talk about through interactive discussion with their peers and teachers. This practice supports the building of knowledge among a community of learners, which mimics life skills and provides a direct connection to preparing students for college and career readiness. A "new" comprehensive core literacy program, Journeys Common Core 2014, has been provided to every K-5 classroom throughout the district. These core literacy materials utilize a wide variety of print and digital resources for teachers to enhance their classroom collections and expand upon their instructional repertoire. Another "new" is the K-5 matrix of Conceptual Topics. These topics vary across grade levels throughout the year supporting the coverage of all science and social studies Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for instruction through literacy integration. Also "new" are the K-5 Curriculum Frameworks that are organized by the Conceptual Topics across the year throughout each grade level. The frameworks include all science and social studies standards to ensure instructional coverage. Built into the Curriculum Frameworks are a variety of print and digital resources that include all core and supplemental materials teachers have to integrate their instruction. 4
Also "new" are the K-5 Interdisciplinary Units of Study. Two, six-week units for each grade level serve as exemplar models that incorporate resources across all content areas to support inquiry-based learning practices. The Units of Study are based on all instructional practice shifts required for effective implementation of the Common Core. Authentic teaching and learning experiences embedded in the Units of Study integrate literacy development across science, social studies, and mathematics curricula through Common Core literacy activities and performance tasks using a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction print and digital resources. Inquiry-based learning practices that follow the Florida Research Model, FINDS, are strategically placed throughout each unit to support completion of a culminating project. Additionally, a "new" model reconfiguring the elementary school day into interdisciplinary instructional blocks of time provides a framework for organizing all content-area curriculum into integrated teaching and learning experiences. Through interdisciplinary instructional blocks, teachers are able to ensure all curricula are covered every school day providing students ample opportunity to master all standards across all content areas. Combining all of these "new" efforts affords teachers the best opportunity to effectively implement the Common Core State Standards through a relevant curriculum that supports students as collaborators among a community of learners within a more authentic environment. Connecting real-world opportunities to the daily teaching and learning experiences of our youngsters will increase the likelihood of developing, in every student, an intrinsic desire to learn. Special Recognition: Designing the new elementary interdisciplinary instructional plan has been made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Literacy and STEM & Instructional Resources Departments along with school-based Common Core Cadre members and writing teams that include teachers, literacy coaches, and library media specialists. Documents are posted in the Elementary Literacy Resources CAB Conference. The FINDS research process provides a framework for inquiry -based learning for students in grades K-12. Using FINDS, students can develop research skills to investigate, analyze, organize, synthesize, collaborate, create and share knowledge. FINDs provides a framework for students to apply the Common Core State Standards. The FINDS Research Process has been embedded in all of the Integrated, Interdisciplinary Units of Study for grades K-5. For more FINDS Resources, please explore the link: http://finds-research-process.wikispaces.com/. 5
In Our Next Issue In the Winter Edition of SBBC Elementary Literacy Times we will explore the topic Authentic Student Performance in Literacy. Our experts will share research-based strategies for developing and analyzing authentic performance tasks that align to the Common Core State Standards and the Marzano Framework. Did You Know??? Scholastic Summer Reading Program Sets New World Record! Broward students from over 100 schools logged over 2 million minutes reading this summer through the Scholastic Summer Reading program. As part of a global online reading program, Broward students were able to participate with thousands of students from around the world and track their reading and literacy activities from May 6 to September 6. Worldwide, students read over 145 Million Minutes! Kudos to our Top Ten Broward Schools! For more information on the summer reading and literacy resources visit the Literacy Department webpage: http://literacydept.browardschools.com/bcps-summer-reading.html The Lorem Ipsums [Street Address] [City], [State][Postal Code] Top 10 Scholastic Summer Reading Broward 1. SOMERSET ACADEMY MIRAMAR 2. COUNTRY [Recipient] ISLES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 3. WALTER C YOUNG MIDDLE SCHOOL 4. NOVA MIDDLE SCHOOL 5. SILVER SHORES ELEMENTARY 6. HERON HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 7. IMAGINE CHARTER SCHOOL WESTON Address 8. Line LAKESIDE 1 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Address 9. QUIET Line 2 WATERS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 10. Address SOMERSET Line 3 ACADEMY MIDDLE SCHOOL MIRAMAR Address Line 4
Meet Our Dynamic Team Michele Rivera, Director of Literacy Curriculum Supervisors Dr. Teri Acquavita Ms. Alescia Smith Ms. Shellie Gory Ms. Margaret Livingston Mr. David Shelley Dr. Louise Ball Ms. Lynne Oakvik Staff Developers Ms. Barbara Kruger Ms. Joanne Sterling Ms. Laura Quintana Ms. Jane Guterman Ms. Marie DeRito Mr. Mike DiPierro Ms. Tammy Netherton Support Staff Ms. Vivian Garcia Ms. Christine McAuliffe Ms. Desiree Berger For frequent updates and information, please visit us at: http://literacydept.browardschools.com