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| Issue 41: Week of March 23, 2009 |
The LEARNING-FOCUSED Connections Newsletter is a weekly link to exemplary practice and ideas that will help you as an educator to increase achievement in your classroom and school. Some weeks there will be a mix of articles in the mailer; other weeks we will follow a theme. We are all working with the same goal in mind, continuous improvement in student achievement.
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Is your budget keeping you from getting LEARNING-FOCUSED professional development and products that you need?
We understand that many of you are experiencing budget difficulties as states slash their educational dollars. During this short term budget crisis, LEARNING-FOCUSED is going to do everything possible to help you continue getting the training and products so necessary for increasing achievement and teacher collaboration.
Here are four ways L EARNING-F OCUSED is increasing our support to you during these difficult times! 1. Now through May 1st we are offering 15% off on all materials purchased with a credit card or check (not purchase orders) on orders over $100. This offer does not include the sale of discontinued item #800 which is already on sale for 50% off. Download our order form, and complete the credit card information, or include a check. Either fax the form (with credit card info), or mail us the form and check. Be sure to deduct the 15% on your order form! You can also place a credit card order on our website. Type in the code "Spring-09" when you are checking out. Remember, the code should only be used if the order is $100 or more, and you are using a credit card. 2. If you are a Florida administrator or teacher leader, you can attend our Updating Florida Educational Leaders Seminar on May 7th and 8th in Orlando for FREE!See the Summer Institute advertisement below for details. 3. Attend 2 days of our Summer Institute (July 13-17 in Greensboro, NC) for FREE!See the Summer Institute advertisement below for details. 4. We have a new FREE service called Focus on Funding that we have created to help you locate funds for LEARNING-FOCUSED professional development and products. We have an easy-to-use database of over 600 specially selected grants available for you to select from to apply for funding. Many of the grants include example applications that can be used as a model for yours. We also have a full time Focus on Funding staff available to help you write grant applications and review grant applications to ensure the highest probability of your grant being accepted! Visit www.L EARNINGF OCUSED.com, and click on Products and Solutions and then Focus on Funding. Thank you for allowing us to work with you and your fellow teachers and administrators. We do what we do because of your support and dedication to increasing achievement for all students. |
 Updating Florida Educational Leaders Seminar
Read below to find out how to attend for FREE!
May 7-8, 2009Orlando, FL
This seminar is for educational leaders (administrators and teacher leaders) who are experienced and for educational leaders new to LEARNING-FOCUSED.
Registration Fee: $50.00 per day or Free** Visit www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com for additional seminar information and to register.
May 7th: Leadership, Balanced Achievement and Accountability and our new Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices Have you received your dose of Max lately? Have your developed an achievement game plan with our new Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices solution? Have you learned how other schools and districts are getting (and keep getting!) results? May 8th: Unlocking the Secrets of the new LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies v. 7 ModelHave you discovered: the power of teachers collaboratively planning common assessments? how to plan standards driven assessment prompts? the secrets of distributing assessment prompts throughout lessons? the characteristics of quality lessons? the many uses of Student Learning Maps? Learn
why the latest version of L EARNING-F OCUSED
Strategies is the most powerful and highest regarded solution we have ever
developed.
**Want to attend for free? We are offering 2 different ways!:1. Submit a 3+ minute video describing why your school/district chose L EARNING-F OCUSED, the impact of L EARNING-F OCUSED in your school/district, success stories, highlights of implementing L EARNING-F OCUSED, and what it is like to work with L EARNING-F OCUSED. Videos can be submitted on VHS tape, Mini-DV tape, CD, or DVD. To qualify for free registration, videos must be received by April 27th (You have plenty of time!). Ship video to: L EARNING-F OCUSEDAttn: Video for Florida Registration 132 Laurel Chase Drive Blowing Rock, NC 28605 2. A second way of attending for free is to bring a leader, as your guest, from a school or district that has not implemented L EARNING-F OCUSED. The leader must be a Superintendent, Assistant or Associate Superintendent, Director of Title 1, Director of Curriculum and/or Instruction, Director of Professional Development, or Principal. Both you and your guest will attend at no charge. Register today! The first 20 registrations we receive will all get a free copy of The Amazing Book of Connections for Learning!Visit www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com for additional seminar information and registration.
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LEARNING-FOCUSED Summer Institute on
Sustaining Exemplary Practices
Read below to find out how to attend for FREE!
July 13-17, 2009
Greensboro, NC
Sessions include: Training of Trainers and regular workshops at the Institute: - LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies version 7 (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Reading Comprehension Strategies and Assignments (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- LEARNING-FOCUSED Math(regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Differentiated Assignments (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Vocabulary Instruction (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Catching Kids Up with Acceleration (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Scaffolding Grade Level Learning (regular sessions and Training of Trainer sessions)
- Leadership, Balanced Achievement, and Accountability with Max Thompson
- Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices with Max Thompson
- Toolbox Training
- Toolbox Administrator Training
- Actualizing your Power Curriculum
- Unlocking the Secrets of LEARNING-FOCUSED version 7 - a new book and 1-day workshop to get those trained in version 5 or 6 the latest information and exemplary practices in version 7!
Early Registration Fee: $140.00 per person/day - includes all session materials except Training of Trainers Redelivery Kits and Support which are purchased separately. Registrations after May 1, 2009: $160.00 per person/day Session and registration information now available at www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.comSummer Institute Opportunities to attend for free!We now offer all participants an opportunity to attend two days of the L EARNING-F OCUSED
Summer Institute for free!
All you have to do to attend two days of the Summer Institute for free is to
submit a 3+ minute video describing why your school/district chose L EARNING-F OCUSED, the impact of L EARNING-F OCUSED in your school/district, success
stories, highlights of implementing L EARNING-F OCUSED,
and what it is like to work with L EARNING-F OCUSED.
Videos can be submitted on VHS tape, Mini-DV tape, CD, or DVD. To qualify for
free registration, videos must be received by June 1st (You have plenty of
time!).
Ship video to:
L EARNING-F OCUSED
Attn: Video for Summer Institute Registration
132 Laurel Chase Drive
Blowing Rock, NC 28605
Offer does not include Training of Trainers Kits and Trainer Support - Registration fee only is free.
School and District Leaders: We have a
second opportunity for you to attend two days for free!
Bring
a leader, as your guest, from a school or district that has not implemented L EARNING-F OCUSED to the Leadership,
Balanced Achievement and Accountability session and/or the Starting and
Sustaining Exemplary Practices Session, and you both attend at no charge. The leader
must be a Superintendent, Assistant or Associate Superintendent, Director of
Title 1, Director of Curriculum and/or Instruction, Director Professional
Development, or Principal.
Session and registration information now available at www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com
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 Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices
Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices is your guide to Planning Continuous Improvement. It is a framework for identifying what you need to do, how to get there successfully, and how to ensure you continue achieving at high levels. Starting and Sustaining Exemplary Practices provides a clear understanding of exactly how to implement exemplary practices to reach balanced achievement and practical and valuable plans for moving everyone to exemplary. SKU: 525 Categories: Leading Collection Notebook:
$25.00
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The Building Blocks of Reading by Jennifer Partrick
In order to read fluently,
all learners go through the same stages. So, the question is, what do we need to know and be able to
do in order to read? Beginning readers need to know how to manipulate and play
with sounds, match sounds to symbols, recognize chunks in words, memorize
a large body of high frequency words, and understand how books work. Most importantly, learning to read is
directly related to sounds; hearing sounds, producing sounds, and manipulating
sounds. Without this part, phonemic awareness, many students never learn to
become fluent readers.
Beginning readers must recognize that books are meant to be read. They must
understand that books are organized in specific ways and that words are
organized in specific patterns which work together to carry meaning. In order
to read, beginning readers must be able to track words, read from left to
right, move down one line at a time, move to the next page when finished
reading a page, and read the words. In order to read the words one must break the
code, the code being the
alphabet. As beginning readers break the code, they are also memorizing a large
body of words that are consistently used in most books. These words are often
referred to as High Frequency words. In order for readers to become fluent they
must be able to recognize and call these words accurately and automatically, so that time can be given to decoding unknown
words. Simultaneously, comprehension is taking place. As the reader is calling
or recognizing words, the words are translated to meaning so that the reader
comprehends what is written.
Blended with comprehension and word calling or word recognition is
reading rate. Readers read
different books at different rates, and
that must be considered, as students are expected and encouraged to read at specific rates in
order to pass timed reading tests. If students can call words or read fluently
but do not comprehend what they read, what is the purpose of reading? For whom is the student
reading? Rather, as soon as students begin interacting with books, comprehension
should always be the outcome and the purpose for reading. If comprehension is always the purpose when
reading, then we should be able to
eliminate word callers. How are word callers developed? For many students,
understanding how words work is at the heart of their problems. They most
likely do not fully understand that letters and sounds are related and that
blending the sounds in different ways produces words. Also, memorizing sounds and symbols is
often difficult for these students. Add the layer of chunking to the
difficulty they have with letter and sound relationships, and many of these students give up. How can we
avoid this pitfall?
Much time must be spent on phonemic awareness. Students must be able to play
with sounds to make words, recognize sounds at different parts within words,
recognize and produce rhyming words, manipulate sounds to form different words,
and add and delete sounds to form words. As students learn to read, they rely
on their understanding of phonemic awareness to help them navigate the
minefield of reading words. In order to decode, students must match sound to
symbol. They must put sounds together to form words. They learned to do that
when playing with sounds- phonemic awareness.
Students' ability to write or read a rhyming word is supported by their
ability to hear the rhyme and translate the sounds to letters. Manipulating
chunks that they learned in phonemic awareness supports students' ability to decode words by using
chunks they know from one word to help them decode a new word.
Too often, phonemic awareness is overlooked or bypassed to the detriment of
students. Phonemic awareness plays a vital role in learning to read. Phonemic
awareness, sound phonics instruction, reading practice, and exposure to
listening to stories supports students' ability to learn to read.
Refer to Learning to Read K-2 for more information and ideas.
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Preparation for Summative Writing Assessments
by Brenda Hill
In the spring most states
across the country administer grade level specific writing tests. Though
the targeted grade level and the required writing genre vary from state to
state, there are several
similarities among all. In most cases students are asked to plan or pre-write (Graphic organizers may be developed by students as part of the pre-write plan.), elaborate on a topic from a prompt, edit and
revise as needed, and demonstrate a knowledge of the required genre. For
example, if the required writing is a persuasive composition, students are expected to include an introductory
paragraph that includes a viewpoint and then give reasons or justifications
throughout the passage to support that point of view. In order to have
students effectively demonstrate their writing capabilities, it is imperative we prepare them for the
task. Often much time is devoted to having students practice writing from
a prompt by developing a plan, organizing thoughts, and revising and editing
work. This is important, but by placing so much emphasis on the writing
process, we sometimes fail to
adequately prepare them for other key testing factors. In preparing our
students for summative writing assessments, we need to provide multiple opportunities for
them to write within an allotted amount of time, select and independently
choose a graphic organizer, assess written products with rubrics, and have a
thorough knowledge of writing genres.
Writing within an allotted time frame is an essential factor to successfully
complete summative grade level state assessments. Students need to
understand and apply the writing process within a frame of time similar to the
test taking experience. Preparing students for writing using an allotted amount of time
helps to alleviate unnecessary frustration and anxiety when taking the state
assessment. Students write throughout the year for different reasons and
for different purposes. A variety of graphic organizers may and should be used. Using many graphic
organizers prepares students in the selection of an organizer that best suits
their writing needs to adequately address the writing prompt on the state
assessment. When students feel comfortable using a variety of organizers, this helps prevent wasting of valuable time
during the pre-write process.
Writing prompts consistently and pervasively used, as we model with think alouds, prepare our students for the state
assessment. In addition, a rubric to assess and provide specific feedback
helps students improve writing performance and allows them to set clear,
precise, reasonable writing goals. Teachers may collaborate within grade level teams to score
individual student work, so that writing expectations are the same within every classroom across
the grade level.
As we prepare our students for summative assessments by modeling strategies and
creating learning opportunities throughout the year, writing quality greatly
improves, and students' anxiety
gradually diminishes. Multiple, varied writing experiences develop confident, competent students who effectively write for assessments and who
become successful lifelong communicators.
See the LEARNING-FOCUSED Literacy Collection for more writing ideas.
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| School-Based Coaching and the Text Based Seminar by Toni Enloe
The responsibilities of school-based coaches are often broad and specific to a school's needs and culture. After interviewing
many coaches and reviewing the roles and responsibilities of the coaching
position from various school districts, LEARNING-FOCUSED researchers have
identified several common goals. Those include:
- Assisting teachers in
efficient, effective instructional decision making through reflective practice
and planning
- Accelerating the use of exemplary
practices in instruction
- Promoting teamwork and the use
of data for planning
- Accelerating positive change
through collaborative relationships based on trust and mutual respect
(LEARNING-FOCUSED School-Based Coaching)
The use of Text-Based Seminars is an excellent way to provide professional
development, create an on-going dialogue about current topics and exemplary
practice, and encourage reflective thinking.
What are Text-Based Seminars? The Center for Comprehensive School Reform
and Improvement describes the Text-Based Seminar as a 45-60 minute discussion
in which "a team examines an issue in a short article or excerpt from a
book that is related to teaching and learning and then talks about it
together." The purpose of the discussion is not to persuade but rather to
deepen the participants' understanding of the issue or practice. Once teachers become comfortable
with the protocol, it can easily be used in the classroom with their students.
How do we begin? As
the Instructional Coach you initially take on the role of facilitator for the
discussion. Your responsibilities include:
- Identifying relevant text that
will either address the observed needs of the school or the interests of the faculty
- Creating a framing question
(Essential Question) on which the discussion will center
- Creating follow-up questions
(Key Questions) that will encourage the participants to raise their level of thinking and increase their
understanding
- Refocusing the participants
when they stray from the text
Why have ground rules? They help facilitate the smooth
flow of discussion. The Center for Collaborative Education (2003) offers the
following suggestions:
- Listen actively.
- Build on what others say.
- Expose/suspend your assumptions.
- Do not step on others' talk. Silence and pauses are OK.
- Emphasize clarification,
amplification, and implications of ideas.
- Converse directly with each
other, not through the facilitator.
- Let the conversation flow
without raising hands, as much as possible.
- Make references to the text, and encourage others to do the same.
- Watch your air time for how
often you speak and how much you say when you speak.
Using this protocol will also give the coach an opportunity to model the
Acquisition Lesson. The Lesson might look something like this.
Acceleration/Previewing
Three to five days prior to the scheduled discussion, distribute a copy of the
article or text that will be discussed. This will give participants an
opportunity to look over the information. (NOTE: Since this may be the first time for many of them, start with
something fun...maybe a couple of LEARNING-FOCUSED Connections Newsletters.)
Acquisition Lesson
Essential Question: Pose a framing question that will set the
focus for the discussion. Make sure the question is both relevant and clear and
encourages them to deepen their understanding.
Assessment Prompts: Create a few additional questions that can be used to assess their
level of understanding. These questions will be used periodically to maintain
the focus and provided additional feedback.
Activating Strategy: Give participants about ten minutes to go back through the text and make notes about anything that
made an impression, caused them to think, or generated questions.
Teaching Strategy: (20 minutes) Review the ground
rules for the discussion. To begin the conversation, have each participant take
turns reading aloud a sentence or passage that spoke to them. They should
reference the page number, allow time for others to find it, and then give the
paragraph. The facilitator may want to refer back to the
Essential Question before the formal discussion begins. Allow the discussion to
continue, refocusing as neededand posing additional questions, when either the conversation begins to lag, or there is a need for clarification.
Summarizing: (5 minutes) Have participants individually
identify two to three main points and discuss them with a partner. The Text-Based Seminar allows teams to review
current research and safely discuss difficult issues. In some cases you may have teachers who are reluctant to participate.
Rotate the facilitator's role among the group members. This practice will
encourage them to participate and to become comfortable with to protocol.
For more information about School-Based Coaching check out the LEARNING-FOCUSED School-Based Coaches Kit. Variations on the Text-Based Seminar may be found by searching the topic.
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Subscribers, feel free to share the information, tips and strategies
that you receive in LEARNING-FOCUSED Connections with your colleagues.
Administrators and coaches, pass them on to the teachers in your school;
teachers, share them with your teammates and leadership team. The
newsletter can be the basis for discussion in team meetings or provide
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them to visit our website, www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com, and subscribe through the link on our homepage.
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Past Connections Articles
Past Connections articles are available through the archive tool of this newsletter. Please click here to view the resources.
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If
there are questions you want answered or strategies you want to know
more about, please let us know by emailing info@LEARNINGFOCUSED.com.
Insert "newsletter article request" in the subject line.
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