October

Can you believe you've already been in school for 30 days?! 


Please read on for resources on Reading Street K-6, and some important 7-12 information on CCSS:

Reading Street Users: 

From my literacy friends in Holt, who are also in their first year of using Reading Street, these are  short, sweet, and to the point YouTube videos on technology instructions for SuccessNet:


1.  Assigning Tests on pearsonsuccessnet.com


2. Adding Test Scores to pearsonsuccessnet.com


3. Adding and removing students from your roster


For additional technology help on Reading Street:


www.support.pearsonschool.com
Or 1-800-848-9500
_______________________

CCSS 7-12 FREE UNITS

The MAISA website ( Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators) offers entire units aligned to the CCSS.  Download the zip files for your use.  The last time I saw free units, just a few months later they were pulled, and are now $30 to order!

http://gomaisa.org/ela-ccrs-materials

Unpacking the CCSS

I hear the term "Unpacking" a lot with the CCSS, but the following is the first time I've seen anyone do it and publish it!

October 4th K-6 Meeting

Reading Street Notes

View the slideshow of notes from second year users, my classroom observations, and a sample outline of instruction:

Reading Street Resource Round-up!

Some of these are new, some you have seen before, some are redundant, but now they are all in one spot!  Thanks for sharing these when you find them!

• Video Tutorials on Teaching Reading Street

      Now that you've used the program for a week, these might be more beneficial.

• The IISD Reading Street Wikispace!

         Get connected with other users in the county. 
Go to the site and request an invite and I'll add you!

• NEW- Live Binders

     You'll find printables, tutorials, and other support materials. See the tab in the upper right
         hand corner.

• Welcome to Reading Street

            PowerPoints, downloads and links.

• Smart Board Goodies!-  
Slides and tips

And don't forget the ELPS Shared Drive to find other materials teachers have created and shared.

September

September 8th is International Literacy Day!

It is difficult right now to think about planning one more thing, but check out some of the ideas you can do for September 8th and beyond to promote literacy!   If you want to get a project going, but don't have time to plan- I WILL HELP, just ask me!  

Some ideas from the International Reading Association include:

• Stage a Fun Run for Literacy and provide donated books to participants.

• Use newspapers to go global — conduct a scavenger hunt for country names or compare how stories are covered by newspapers from different parts of the world.

• Invite students, parents, or guests who have lived in other parts of the world to read a story or to talk about classrooms in other countries.

• Have older students make books to share with younger students or donate to childcare centers.

• Invite a publisher to your classroom or school to discuss how books are developed.

• Ask a local bookstore to donate books to disadvantaged children or for reading contest prizes.

Read Picture Books FREE  Online with Your Students at We Give Books.
We Give Books is a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don't have them, simply by reading online.

We Give Books combines the joy of reading with the power of helping others, providing a platform for caregivers and educators to inspire children to become lifelong readers and lifelong givers.

We Give Books also helps some of the world's best, most inspiring, literacy organizations by spreading the word about their great work and by providing books to the young people these organizations support.

You'll find books like Llama, Llama, Red Pajama, Why Monkeys Swing in Trees, Why Elephant has a Trunk and many more. 

Litearcy Lesson Plans from ReadWriteThink 

 This site provides very detailed plans for celebrating National Literacy Day in K-12 classrooms and includes topics on traditional reading and writing, learning centers, e-pals, and digital literacy.  

Michigan's Involvement in International Literacy Day:

    If you have the book Memoirs of a Goldfish, click here to download activities, posters, and templates.  Memoirs of a Goldfish is the 2011 Michigan Reads! One State, One Children's Book program. 

Documents from August 30th PD with Kim St. Martin

A few of you were asking for the whole documents of Reading Next, Writing Next,
and Reading in the Disciplines. 



Print your own copies by clicking on the titles.

AUGUST

It's already time to head back!  With professional development on CCSS and Reading Street coming up next week, I'm revisiting some topics on this blog from the spring, and adding some additional information.


Common Core State Standards:
The Ingham ISD gave an information session in March:
http://www.inghamisd.org/programsandservices/sds/curriculum/commoncore/


-This shows a draft of the connections between state standards (GLCES and HSCES) and the CCSS for ELA
http://glce.wikispaces.com/Common+Core+State+Standards+draft+documents

-These are K‑12 ELA Curriculum Maps aligned with the CCSS:
http://www.commoncore.org/maps/index.php/maps/

-Current news from ASCD

-There are many useful documents I've stored on our Companion Wikispace:

 -Documents detailing the alignment of the CCSS with Michigan’s Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) and High School Content Expectations (HSCE) in English Language Arts and Mathematics are now available at 

The Michigan Department of Ed

Educators will need to unfold these standards in order to compare them to current classroom practice and identify adjustments to instruction and materials that support the depth of understanding implicit in the CCSS.

READING STREET

SMARTBOARD RESOURCES ON THE ELPS SHARED DRIVE!

In addition to the resources below, you can now find SmartBoard resources on the ELPS Shared Drive for 1st grade from Okemos teacher Penny Wallace.   Go to the 1st grade folder and see "Penny's Reading Street Files"

ALSO:

Welcome to Reading Street and SmartBoard Goodies were made by teachers and include ideas for:

• organizing materials (pictures and descriptions)
• activities for centers in the 90 minute block of instruction
• Smart Board Activities
• Parent forms

90 Minute Block:

If you don't already know about this great resource, check out Laura Candler's website called Teaching Resources. She has a whole section explaining the 90 minute block and provides many great templates for organizing centers. This is not tied specifically to Reading Street, but a general structure of a 90 minute block. As you get to know all of the elements of Reading Street, I'm sure you'll see how they plug into this framework of the 90 minute literacy block.

July

Just two quick points of interest on literacy:

1. If you have a Facebook page and like to stay up-to-date on teaching resources, check out and "like" Laura Candler's Facebook Page which she updates regularly.




2.  Choice Literacy offers free newsletters to non-members and provides links to many literacy related articles and resources.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and are able to get in some of your favorite reads!

June

Literacy Instruction: End of the Year Activities

1. Story Starters for End of the Year Writing:

START WITH WHO

• The person I most enjoyed having in class was...
• The person who most surprised me in class was...
• I’ll never forget the day that ...

...OR WHEN...
• The first day of school was...
• Definitely the best time in class was...
• The best class we had was...

...OR WHAT...
• I most enjoyed learning about...
• The hardest thing to understand was...
• I will always remember that ...
• I am most proud of the fact that this school year, I...


2. Literacy Keepsakes to take home at the end of the school year.



3. Digital Literacy- An End of the Year Digital Scrapbook



4. -Ways to keep kids motivated at the end of the year- Laura Candler


5. End of the Year and Summer Reading Lists to Share:

-See these Scholastic lists and tips and others to keep students reading during the summer.

- End of Year and Summer Reading Lists.

-NCTE Books for Summer Reading

-RIF- Summer Reading for all Kids



Literacy Learning for the Future

2011 Education Policy Platform

This position statement from the NCTE calls for funding to advance literacy learning for all students. Read the entire statement at the link above.

Online Tutorials for Reading Street

Get a review of all Reading Street PD topics by checking out the
My Pearson Training- Reading Street 2011 site. You can view videos and download tutorial materials.

Reading Street and 90 Minute Block Websites

Reading Street:

Thanks to Jodi Lepla for the following sites filled with Reading Street resources for teachers.

Welcome to Reading Street and SmartBoard Goodies were made by teachers and include ideas for:

• organizing materials (pictures and descriptions)
  
• activities for centers in the 90 minute block of instruction
• Smart Board Activities
• Parent forms

and more!

It looks like these give a nice snapshot of how other teachers are implementing Reading Street successfully. I know some of the K-1 Haslett teachers used these sites for the SmartBoard help and the organization tips.

90 Minute Block:

If you don't already know about this great resource, check out Laura Candler's website called Teaching Resources. She has a whole section explaining the 90 minute block and provides many great templates for organizing centers. This is not tied specifically to Reading Street, but a general structure of a 90 minute block. As you get to know all of the elements of Reading Street, I'm sure you'll see how they plug into this framework of the 90 minute literacy block.