November

What are we reading in SOEL and IDLL?

The Study of Early Literacy kicked off year seven this fall as a community of learners committed to deepening our literacy instructional practices through reading, experiences, and Teacher Action Research.  What we are reading aligns with the Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy PK, K-3 and 4-5, while some texts also support literacy integration, disciplinary literacy, and Culturally RelevantTeaching. 

The following practitioner texts support each SOEL member’s learning goal, as well as give background to what we’ll see during school visits in Washtenaw county.

• Letter Lessons and First Words
• All About Words
• No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching
• Reading, Writing, and Talk: Inclusive Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners, K-2
• Every Child a Super Reader: Seven Strengths to Open a World of Possible
• Interactive Writing Across Grades: A Small Practice with Big Results PreK-5
• Literacy Teacher's Playbook K-2 and 3-6
• No More Science Kits or Texts in Isolation
• No More Low Expectations for English Learners

The Inquiry into DisciplinaryLiteracy and Learning (IDLL) began our fourth year this fall as a learning network committed to building on previous work and further study of the Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in the Secondary Classroom, just officially released to the state of Michigan in June 2019.  Our text, Real World Literacies, helps us to see what literacy looks like in the disciplines while highlighting authentic literacy experiences connected to community.  We are excited to also visit Washtenaw County schools and EMU this year to examine disciplinary literacy in action.

Understanding the Social Studies Standards, C3 Framework and Essentials for Instruction in Disciplinary Literacy

In October, we offered the first ever three day series examining these three documents a little closer. The Social Studies Standards, C3 Framework, and Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in the Secondary Classroom, all have themes of inquiry in learning, literacy in the disciplines, and teaching future citizens.  Stay tuned for another offering of this series this winter and/or spring!

Additional Literacy and Social Studies Resources  

C3teachers.org- Resources to support the C3 Framework through the Inquiry Design Model

1619project- The1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. 

ReadInquireWrite- Resources for teaching reading, reasoning and writing with sources through Social Studies inquiry

Teaching Tolerance-Resources to help teachers and schools teach educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.

Commonlit.org Text Sets- Text sets to support historical, political and cultural topics across genres.

...and don't forget The Diverse Lending Library at WISD! 

October

Introducing our Diverse Lending Library!

In a collaboration with teachers Rhoshawda Miller of YCS, Kristi Schaffer of WIHI, Candice Huddleston of WLHS, Dr. Laura Jimenez of Boston University and Dr. Shayla Griffin, our Diverse Lending Library in memory of Caroline Jacob is now ready for release to Washtenaw County educators. 

The purpose of the library is to support Washtenaw County educators and students in an equitable, inclusive education. We are offering this lending library of PreK-12 culturally relevant books so that students may see themselves in texts and see others that represent our global society.

We Believe: 

📘Access to diverse books will work to interrupt bias and prejudice in our classrooms;

📕Students should see themselves, their loved ones, their peers, their languages and their celebrations represented in the books they are learning to read;
📙When students see themselves in their learning materials, they gain a sense of ownership and accountability to their classrooms, their school system, their community, and the world;
📗Literature provides the perfect opportunity for students to learn new terms, ideas, cultures and languages. When students can make personal connections to the literature, they are more engaged, inquisitive, intrigued and vested in their learning; 
📚Libraries can and should play a crucial role in empowering diverse populations for full participation. 
You can see our list of books HERE and use it to create your own Diverse Library. 

Our lending library is small right now, but we hope to grow it over time. If you'd like to know more, ask me or a colleague in SOEL or IDLL. 

SOEL to Present at NCTE Fall Conference!  

A team of SOEL educators have been accepted to present our work at the National Council Teachers of English fall Conference in Baltimore, Maryland on November 21.  

Our presentation featuring the power of inquiry based teacher professional learning is a perfect fit for the theme of the conference, Spirited Inquiry.

Melissa Brooks-Yip, WISD- Inquiry as Teacher Professional Learning 

Dr. Cathy Fleischer, EMU- Teacher Research

Chip Bennett and Kat Dudzik, YCS- 

Oral learning, social readiness and reading engagement with cross grade literacy friendships 

 Tonya Saragoza, Milan Area Schools- 
 Writing instruction in 3rd grade

Stay tuned for more after the conference in November! 

Professional Learning Opportunities

KRA Data Day-  
Access a KRA Data Webinar HERE

Social Studies Standards, Framework and Essential Instructional Practices in Disciplinary Literacy!  
 IN PROGRESS- REGISTRATION CLOSED

Join us for a series of dates to help deepen our understanding of these three documents. 
 October 21, October 29, and November 7  
 8:30-3:30 at Saline Liberty School.  

 Free to Washtenaw County educators.  
$25 for those outside of the county.

Register HERE for this three day series! 

September Back-to-School Edition!

Back-to-School Resources

Educators know the first weeks of the school year are a crucial time to get to know our students as individuals with unique personalities, as learners in our classrooms, and as members of families and communities.  Building relationships with students and their families should be our first goal.  If you are looking for some new ideas and resources, check out:

• Teaching Tolerance-New Opportunities for Back to School shares best practices for policies and family communications;

• Pernille Ripp's Getting to Know Our Students surveys;

• NCTE's Actions for a Culturally Sustaining Classroom Environment;

• Ernest Morrell's 7 Strengths of Super Readers Series & Parent Pledge;

• MDE's Essentials for Families- What Families Can do to Support Reading and Writing

What do you do to get to know students and families?  Share in the comments! 

Professional Learning Opportunities

SOEL and IDLL-

The Study of Early Literacy (PreK-5) and the Inquiry into Disciplinary Literacy and Learning (6-12) are our networks to support best practices in literacy instruction.  If you are interested in learning more about either, please email me at mbrooksyip@washtenawisd.org  

KRA Data Day-  If you are administering the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment this fall and are interested in exploring how you can use the data to inform your instruction, join us on October 18th 8:30-3:30 at WISD.  FREE to all.    

Register HERE

Social Studies Standards, Framework and Disciplinary Literacy! 

Join us for a series of dates to help deepen our understanding of these three documents. 
 October 21, October 29, and November 7   8:30-3:30 at Saline Liberty School.   Free to Washtenaw County educators.  $25 for those outside of the county.

Register HERE for this three day series! 

July & August

Light Summer Reads

As we end July, and I see school supplies show up in stores, I start thinking of the first days of school! I appreciate some light reads with new ideas that are offered in Choice Literacy:

• For Instructional Coaches on Building Coach-Teacher Relationships

• Building Routines in the Early Elementary Classroom

• Voice and Choice in the Middle School Classroom

• You may also want to check Literacy Updates from MDE

Upcoming Professional Learning

Teaching the Holocaust, Empowering Students

July 31 8:30-3:30 at WISD

Register HERE

Essential Instructional Practices in Literacy-

 One Day Overviews

 August 1st for grades K-3 at WISD 8:30-3:30

August 2nd for grades 4-5 at WISD 8:30-3:30

At the end of each session, registrants will be invited to join the SOEL network for the 2019-2020 school year. 

**Also, don't forget about the online modules for the PreK and K-3 Essentials

June

SOEL Celebrates Another Year of Learning!

As the 2018-2019 school year comes to a close, SOEL teachers took time in our last meetings to reflect on and share what they learned about literacy instruction, the changes they made in teaching because of that learning, and how that, in turn, resulted in student learning. 
*Please see our charts from PreK SOEL and K-3 SOEL and our quick visual summary below:

IDLL and the Disciplinary Literacy Essentials! 

After giving feedback three years ago, studying them for two, and being a pilot county for one, The Essential Practices for Disciplinary Literacy Instruction in Secondary Classrooms have finally been publicly released.  In 2019-2020, our Inquiry into Disciplinary Literacy and Learning will continue to study disciplinary literacy through book studies, school visits, and collaborations with EMU and UM.

2019 Reading Book Lists from ILA

Just in time for summer reading, The International Literacy Association released the Choices Reading Lists. Each year, thousands of children, young adults, and educators around the United States select their favorite recently published books for the Choices reading lists. These lists are used in classrooms, libraries, and homes to help readers of all ages find books they will enjoy. Check them out for yourself and the children in your life:

Teacher's Choice

Children's Choice

Young Adult Choices

Summer Learning Opportunities

Disciplinary Writing Institute
 9:00-3:00  at EMU
June 24-25

Register HERE

*This connects to the newly released 6-12 Disciplinary Literacy Essential Instructional Practices and our IDLL network here at WISD

Teaching the Holocaust, Empowering Students

July 31 8:30-3:30 at WISD

Register HERE

Essential Instructional Practices in Literacy-
 One Day Overviews

 August 1st for grades K-3 at WISD 8:30-3:30

August 2nd for grades 4-5 at WISD 8:30-3:30

At the end of each session, registrants will be invited to join the SOEL network for the 2019-2020 school year. 

**Also, don't forget about the online modules for the PreK and K-3 Essentials

May

Why is Diverse Literature Important in All Classrooms?

A start to our diverse books lending library: picture books on top,
upper EL and MS in the middle, HS on the bottom. 

Thoughtful conversations and planning with SOEL and IDLL teachers, guidance on text selection from guest speaker Dr. Laura Jimenez from our Responsive Teaching Institutes, a wish and a book list from the late YCS teacher Caroline Jacob, and ongoing collaboration with Dr. Shayla Griffin, Culture and Diversity Consultant at WISD, are all part of helping us build and shape a county-wide lending library for diverse books.  After selecting some K-12 diverse texts, SOEL met with Dr. Griffin to help understand and communicate why diverse and multicultural literature is important in all classrooms. Dr. Griffin says:

 1. Multicultural books act as mirrors that affirm, validate, and celebrate our children’s identities and lived experiences and the contributions people like them have made to the world.

Dr. Shayla R. Griffin, PhD. 2018

2. Multicultural books act as windows that expose students to the diversity of the broader world. 

3. Multicultural books can help students and educators interrupt bias and prejudice. 



Stay tuned for more on the Caroline Jacob Memorial Diverse Lending Library available in the 2019-2020 school year for Washtenaw County educators. 

What are We Reading to Learn? 

SOEL Teachers summarize, review and recommend books from
professional reading time this year

Professional books, and the time to read them, has always been part of SOEL since we formed in 2013. 
A few of our titles this year were:

• Every Child a Super Reader: Seven Strengths to Enter a World of Possible, by Ernest Morrell and Pam Allyn, was a favorite for a second year in a row.   Centered on Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, Confidence, Courage and Hope as Super Reader strengths, this book will certainly be on our SOEL list again next year, as it connects specifically to Essentials #1 and #10. 

• Interactive Writing Across Grades: A Small Practice with Big Results PreK-5  by Kate Roth and Joan Dobrowski.  Connecting to Essential #6, this text is highly engaging for the reader with many practical, immediate applications of the interactive writing practice.  This was voted to be a SOEL selection again next year as well.

• The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, K-2: Four Steps for Turning Assessment Data into Goal Directed Instruction, by Jennifer Seravallo. Connecting to Essentials #3 and #9, this coaching text directs teachers in using formative assessment to meet every child's literacy needs.  This text, as well as the grades 3-6 edition, was voted for offering again in SOEL next year. 

Upcoming Learning Opportunities

Essential Instructional Practices in Literacy- One Day Overviews

 August 1st for grades K-3 at WISD 8:30-3:30

August 2nd for grades 4-5 at WISD 8:30-3:30

At the end of each session, registrants will be invited to join the SOEL network for the 2019-2020 school year. 

Disciplinary Writing InstituteJune 24-25 at EMU

Register here- Disciplinary Writing Institute 

Participants will be given an invitation to join the IDLL network after completing the institute. 

April

Professional Learning is Collaboration 

Relationships matter!  SOEL & IDLL had the opportunity to learn together with partners in our community during our March meetings. We are thankful for collaborative relationships with the Assessment Literacy Network, 826 Michigan, the EMU Office of Campus and Community Writing, and the Responsive Teaching Institute.

SOEL 1 teamed up with Assessment Literacy on March 13th on the work of Instructional Agility: Responding to Assessment with Real Time Decisions.   

Designing a rubric with learning targets

Throughout our day long session with author Nicole Dimich Vagle, we:

• Identified classroom conditions to set up instructional agility and student investment;
• Learned key components of instructional agility;
• Learned strategies for developing student investment through instructional agility;
• Reflected on our current instructional agility and student investment practices to determine next steps.

Take-aways centered on what student investment in assessment can do for their engagement in the classroom, particularly around literacy.

Examining diverse texts

SOEL 2 learned more about equity, inclusion and social justice in literacy and in school leadership during the March 14th Responsive Teaching Institute.  SOEL learning on the importance of a book being written by who it is about will influence an upcoming county wide lending library of diverse books.  Here are a few reputable sites educators can visit to help build a diverse classroom library:

• Latinx in Kid Lit

• Hijabi Librarians

• We are Kid Lit Collective

SOEL 3 took a field trip to 826 Michigan to learn about the writing non-profit in Ann Arbor and volunteer with a 2nd grade classroom from Lincoln Community Schools.

Amy Baxter works with a small writing group

 We witnessed and learned from The 826 Stand for student voices, and their mission to build diverse and inclusive environments supportive of student writing ages 6-18.   During our visit and book study of Interactive Writing Across Grades, SOEL made connections to Essential Instructional Practices 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 &10. 

IDLL teamed up with the EMU Office of Campus and Community Writing to examine Disciplinary Literacies in college classrooms and the support for students at the University Writing Center. 

Levels of Concern for Writing

Writing is prioritized in many classrooms across various subjects at EMU. From writing to learn in the various content areas, to learning to write genres specific to the discipline, professors and instructors detailed their instructional thoughts and decisions around writing in their classrooms.  The University Writing Center helps student writers prioritize their writing in levels of concern- with purpose and audience of the highest concern and conventions of the lowest concern.

Upcoming Professional Learning

Essential Instructional Practices in Literacy Overviews- 

May 1 and May 9

Disciplinary Writing Institute June 24-25

Register here for Disciplinary Writing Institute