Essential Instructional Practices in Early Literacy K-3

Literacy Book Club Discussions!

Join the Conversation: Teacher Professional Book Clubs in Washtenaw and Livingston County 

     We are fortunate to have so many outstanding titles for educators to read on literacy instruction!   Teachers in our counties chose to meet before school, after school, online and in the Study of Early Literacy to read and discuss some of these texts.  Would you like to join the conversation? 

No More Reading Instruction Without Differentiation   (see a summary and download a sample of the book by clicking on the title)

Click HERE to read and/or contribute to our thoughts on specific passages in the text.  Please only leave thoughtful and respectful comments and/or questions for fellow readers and contributors.   

No More Phonics and Spelling Worksheets

(see a summary and download a sample of the book by clicking on the title)

Click HERE to read and/or contribute to our thoughts on specific passages in the text.  Please only leave thoughtful and respectful comments and/or questions for fellow readers and contributors.   

June

Summer Resources for Students

Michigan residents have free access to many resources through the Michigan eLibrary.  Families can find resources to help ease the summer slide, read eBooks, conduct research, create reading lists, and prepare for college, careers, and high stakes tests like the SATⓇ.

There is a playlist on the MeL YouTube Channel (https://goo.gl/fDC4Be) and a 2017 Summer Resources Letter that can be either emailed (or printed and sent home) to Michigan K-12 families.  Please help distribute this letter to as many schools and families as possible.  You may also want to subscribe to the MeL YouTube Channel, so you keep up to date on the latest with the Michigan eLibrary!

The letter is available in the following formats:

• Google Doc: https://goo.gl/63jnW5
• Word Doc: https://goo.gl/gMMb3m
• PDF: https://goo.gl/B5CuVs

Summer Professional Learning Opportunities

 

Personalize Your Learning  A New Professional Development Opportunity 

E​ducators now have the ability to participate in nine self-paced modules drawn from the 21 Things 4 Teachers content​. Each self-contained module covers current educational topics that make connections between curriculum, technology and best practice strategies. ​It takes about ten hours to complete a module.​

The complete list of modules can be found on the 21 Things 4 Teacher website. Here are two examples: Media Literacy: Real or Fake, educators can learn the difference between real and fake news. In Creating Efficiency & Productivity learn how using technology can actually increase and improve classroom productivity, efficiency and organization.
D​istricts may use the modules​ internally for professional development.

​Educators can earn 10 SCECH for each completed module and up to 90 SCECHs if they complete all nine. The modules can be started and completed between May 1 – June 30 and July 1- September 5. An instructor facilitates each course. More information can be found at https://www.smore.com/2sgdk

May

Summer Reading for All

The Library of Michigan is part of the Collaborative Summer Library Program.   Please share these resources with families for information on early literacy, elementary, teen, and adult literacy programs available at their local library this summer.  A short PSA was also created to build awareness of library resources available.

 Professional Learning Opportunities

SAVE THE DATE! MAY 20-22, 2017

The 2017 4T Virtual Conference will be held on May 20, 21, and 22.  Register HERE

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June 27, 28, 29, 2017 at EMU Student Center

This workshop will help you become part of the school reform conversation as you learn to develop your own personal stories into a public narrative. By day three, you'll have an action plan to take back. Register here.  Facilitated by Dr. Cathy Fleischer, co-director of the EMWP and author of Teachers Organizing for Change. 

Literacy Professional Learning- Summer 2017

Please click and scroll through each Smore flyer to read all information and access registration links. 
 Contact Melissa Brooks-Yip at mbrooksyip@washtenawisd.org /734-994-8100 ext. 1266  with questions. 

April

 Diverse Books in your Classroom

 We Need Diverse Books helps educators identify books and other materials that reflect children's backgrounds, personal and cultural experiences.  Visit the WNDB site for lists of books and where to find them.   WNDB also offers grants for educators! 

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

SAVE THE DATE! MAY 20-22, 2017

The 2017 4T Virtual Conference will be held on May 20, 21, and 22.  Register HERE

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June 27, 28, 29, 2017 at EMU Student Center

This workshop will help you become part of the school reform conversation as you learn to develop your own personal stories into a public narrative. By day three, you'll have an action plan to take back. Register here.  Facilitated by Dr. Cathy Fleischer, co-director of the EMWP and author of Teachers Organizing for Change. 

March

Interactive Read Aloud

   If you are new to Interactive Read Alouds, March is Reading Month is a good time to start making it a routine in your classroom.  

Disciplinary Literacy:  

A Shift that Makes Sense

University of Michigan School of Education Dean and Researcher Elizabeth Moje (2010) deepens the definition of disciplinary literacy by arguing that disciplinary learning doesn't just build knowledge but actually produces or constructs it. 

Read Disciplinary Literacy: A Shift that Makes Sense by ReLeah Lent for more on the disciplinary literacy shift.  

Upcoming Professional Learning Opportunities

February

World Read Aloud Day is February 16!

 World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words and creates a community of readers taking action to show the world that the right to literacy belongs to all people. 

World Read Aloud Day is celebrated by millions of people in more than 100 countries thanks to people like you who participate and spread the word across the globe!

To get excited for World Read Aloud Day 2017, or to rev up your read aloud routine at any time of the year, download World Read Aloud Day 2017 materials. 

Read Aloud. Change the World.

What could Read Aloud look and sound like? 

Professional Learning Opportunities

REMC Events-   Educational Technology & Professional Learning

February 2017, TRIG/Dell Online Professional Development Courses Each free course is 4 weeks requiring a total of 6 hours work. There will be two webinars during the course. Registration open until 2/10/17. SCECHs are available. February 13 - June 1,  Technology in Leadership Series: 21 Things 4 Administrators  A "Just in Time” training through an online interface for K-12 administrators. Choose one or all five Capstone experiences related to the International Society for Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (ISTE-A).   February 23, Research Writing Rewired Step into a high school classroom where students generate their own inquiry questions, explore a variety of texts from novels to non-fiction, from podcasts to photographs and, through their work, rewire the research process.. March 16 & 17, REMC “SAVINGS MAKER” booth #613, MACUL Conference. Cobo Center, Detroit. Play our game, win prizes and get “hands-on” with the Classroom Maskers kit materials.  August 1 & 2, The REMC Association of Michigan is excited to announce MI Moot 2017 – Transforming Classrooms, Lansing Community College West.  We've transformed the MI Moodle Moot conference to better meet the needs of educators committed to implementing effective change within their classrooms.  Sessions will focus on using free resources and tools, including Moodle, to provide an energizing and impactful experience for all participants.

Copyright © 2017 REMC Association of Michigan, All rights reserved. Visit us on the web at  http://www.remc.org/

Additional Opportunities in our area: 

Disciplinary Literacies Showcase-
How to Really Prepare Students for College and Career Writing
February 11 (Saturday), 9 am – 2 pm

EMU Student Center

Join colleagues from across the disciplines and subject areas at both the secondary and college level to talk about writing—and about how we can help our students make smooth transitions across the grade levels and into the workplace

Please register for the event here.

*This workshop is free to all participants

January 2017

2017- A Year to Use Our Literacies to Make a Positive Difference!

  Our reading, writing, speaking, listening and thinking skills are used to make sense of our everyday world.  How can we use them as thoughtful educators in today's classroom? How can we teach students to use them to care for themselves and for those around them?   

* Thanks to the National School Reform Faculty (NSRF), the creators of Critical Friends Groups (CFG), newsletter for featuring several resources on this topic and to nycore.org. 

Speaking and Listening to Make a Difference-

YES Magazine outlines 8 Strategies for Confronting Hate that teach us to utilize our speaking and listening skills to combat hate:

• Educate yourself
• Be the first to speak
• Practice being conspicuous
• Ask for help
• Find a heroic role model
• Make connections with people different from you
• Ask people what they really need
• Press the mental pause button

Critical Reading and Thinking to Make a Difference- 

Teaching Tolerance provides resources for teachers to help students use critical reading and thinking strategies to read Beyond Taglines and Headlines:

1. Determine a topic of relevance to your current classroom objectives or a current event.
2. Find two to three recent news sources (preferably from varying points of view) reporting on the topic. Do some fact-checking to make sure they’re real sources.
3. Read the articles with students.
4. Then, use the following questions to engage students in critical analysis of the articles.

• To analyze sources and evidence
  How does the author’s position, attitude, beliefs or point of view affect the validity of this source in relation to the topic?

• To make connections
  How do the attitudes, beliefs or points of view of the author or speaker connect to history and to other sources?

• For chronological reasoning
  How might the author and their message have been influenced by what was happening at the time this source was created?

• To create and support an argument
  How might the author’s or speaker’s attitudes, beliefs or points of view affect the argument or claim they made? How does my positioning relative to the author, topic or speaker affect my critique of this source?

Writing to Make a Difference-

On page 18 of WriteOn! Writing for Social Justice, the authors provide a collection of multi-grade level lesson plans, writing prompts, student writing, classroom activities, and other resources to encourage writing for social justice.   

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Upcoming Professional Learning

Additional Opportunities

Digital Discoveries for Black History Month with MeL. Find out where to locate material that can be used in the library and classroom during Black History Month.  This webinar is geared toward Media Specialists, teachers, and other K-12 staff.

There are two times for this hour-long webinar.  Please be sure to register and save your spot:

• Thursday January 19, 2017:   10:00 AM (EST)

• Thursday January 19, 2017: 4:00 PM (EST)

Disciplinary Literacies Showcase:
How to Really Prepare Students for College and Career Writing
February 11 (Saturday), 9 am – 2 pm

EMU Student Center

Join colleagues from across the disciplines and subject areas at both the secondary and college level to talk about writing—and about how we can help our students make smooth transitions across the grade levels and into the workplace

Please register for the event here.

*This workshop is free to all participants

Happy Holidays to SOEL and IDLL!