Liz Marino, District Literacy Coordinator

Available Monday - Friday between 8AM and 3PM EST.
Phone: 802-264-5815
E-mail: marinoe@csdvt.org

News

State Subject Area Network Meetings

Click the link below and choose your subject area to access information about state network meetings.

Vermont Department of Education

Early Literacy

Adolescent Literacy

Content Area Literacy

Union Memorial Elementary School

At UMS we have spent this year engaged in professional development with Jane Miller from Burlington. We have learned about how to use the State Benchmarks to score student pieces. This has really helped us to understand how looking at our students’ writing can help us to strengthen our teaching during Writing Workshop.

We are looking forward to next year where we will revisit our yearlong reading/writing curriculum calendars. We are using this as a means to continue strengthening that connection between these two literacy curriculum areas.

Porters Point Elementary School

At Porters Point School this year we are in the 2nd year of a writing initiative. Through professional development we have looked at ways to improve our writing practices. We have specifically addressed the components of Writers Workshop. Additionally we have been guided through the process of scoring pieces based on the State Standards and rubrics.

Our writing instruction took on a new level with the addition of a mobile lab which made laptop computers available in the classrooms. With all children in a classroom on a computer at the same time, students can bring their writing pieces to the final stages using MaxWrite and MaxShow. These programs are the student versions of what is better known as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. After typing and illustrating their stories using this software they can have the computer read their stories back to them. This helps them in the editing process because many times what is read back to them is not exactly what they had intended to write.

With the implementation of the NECAPs it has been our goal to look at the data so we can improve instruction. Again this year we have organized data teams to review the released items from the NECAPs. As a result we have adjusted our teaching to address areas of need.

Malletts Bay Elementary School

As Spring approaches, teachers watch with fascination as their students grow. At Malletts Bay, children have been continuing to practice using active reading strategies as they explore text. As students become more comfortable and confident, we see how this shines through in their independent reading. Kids have a chance to show their learning as they integrate these critical thinking skills into author studies and across content areas. In preparation for the Science NECAP, students make connections between a variety of topics and apply prior knowledge to new information. We continue to encourage our learners to share their thinking through writing. We were so fortunate to host a visit from Erica Denman in February, who modeled several lessons for our classroom teachers surrounding various aspects of the Writer's Workshop. We are thrilled to collaborate with one another as we support our students in developing a love for reading and writing.

Colchester Middle School

Colchester High School

May 2008 CHS Humanities Literacy Notes, by Wayland Cole, Humanities Team Leader

This year, CHS humanities teachers have focused on several key areas to improve student literacy skills and teacher literacy instruction. We started out the year identifying one literacy area to study within our classrooms; for us this year, it is the state Grade Expectations in writing related to responding to literary and informational texts. Once we nailed down these essential skills, we defined what formative assessment means for our team (assessments for learning), which prepared us to share formative assessments we use to teach these specific skills. We also reviewed common formative assessments used among teams; throughout the year, we have spent much of our department team time reviewing student work on common formative assessments, and talking about how to use student data to improve instruction. Additionally, we now have NECAP data for the first year, ever, so we have been busy the past few months merging our formative assessment data review with our NECAP data review. It’s great to have so much information about our learners! From now until the end of the year, we’ll talk more about codifying our high school portfolio system and discuss ways to integrate it with the portfolio system being developed by the Colchester School District Literacy Committee. We’ll also draft plan of action for NECAP preparation, to be implemented come September, in grades 9-11. I anticipate devoting next year to maintaining and sustaining the work we’re now doing in writing, while thoroughly studying reading instruction. All in all, it’s been a great, albeit busy, school year—I can’t imagine it any other way!

Age and grade level activities to help children explore reading and writing all summer long

International Reading Association resources are available to help parents.

From Literacy Matters--many resources to help parents of middle school readers and writers.

Professional Development Opportunities

Vermont Reads Institute Summer Conference on Literacy Content Strands
Reading Workshop for Gr. 2-6 - Gayle Moskowitz and Nancy Woods
This strand is for teachers currently implementing a Reading Workshop Model and for those who would like to begin using it in their classroom. Participants will delve into Reading Workshop by seeing models, viewing clips of classrooms and practicing the instructional techniques involved. Reflection and discussion in the group will enhance learning and understanding to provide teachers with the tools they need to establish Reading Workshop in their classroom. Literacy in the Social Studies and Science Classroom - Kathleen Brinegar
This strand will explore the issue of literacy in middle and high school social studies and science classrooms by addressing questions such as: What are the unique literacy needs of these disciplines? What strategies can I use to help my students read, understand, and respond to dense content area texts? How can I balance a hand-on and text based approach to teaching my content? How can I support the teaching of writing in my content area? Participants should bring copies of texts (textbooks, articles, short stories, novels, websites, etc.) as well as lesson and/or unit plans to the Institute as they will be working with their own materials throughout this strand.
Teaching Critical Evaluation on the Internet: Blending Explicit Strategy Instruction with Collaborative Inquiry - Julie Coiro
Internet technologies raise new issues about our relationship to information and new strategies are required to prepare our students for learning with the Internet. In this strand, participants will be introduced to the new literacies of online reading comprehension and findings from several studies that suggest adolescents rarely think critically while reading online. Then, we will explore hands-on critical reading activities you can use to engage and support middle and high school students as they critically evaluate the relevancy, accuracy, reliability, and objectivity of information found on the Internet. Ideas for how to assess critical evaluation skills and embed strategy discussions into two instructional models will also be shared. Network with colleagues while you reflect and discuss the utility of these strategy lessons in your classroom and walk away with online resources you can try out immediately. This strand is appropriate for classroom teachers (grades 5-12), reading specialists, literacy coaches, library media specialists, computer teachers, and administrators who view themselves as curriculum leaders.
The Writing Workshop: Building an Environment for Real Writing to Happen - Ellen A. Thompson
This course is designed to take an in-depth look at writing instruction for grades 2-8. Participants will read and reflect upon the required text while examining their own practices and the practices of other influential teachers of literacy. Participants will explore many ways to integrate the teaching of writing strategies into their existing or proposed instructional programs. This course will examine the set-up for a writers’ workshop as well as what is needed to teach and support student writers to become better writers as evidenced by classroom based and/or state assessments. Much discussion will be spent on how to teach writing within an atmosphere that has as its outcome students who not only can write, but students who choose to write more! Participants will be asked to walk the walk as well as talk the talk! Writing will be part of each day together.
Vocabulary: Can We Teach It? - Pat Nally
Vocabulary is one of the major components of early reading instruction, and its importance continues through middle school and high school, as well. But how should it be taught? What is the role of explicit instruction vs. incidental learning? This strand will take a close look at the role of vocabulary development in a comprehensive elementary literacy program. A review of the research about vocabulary development will be presented, with a particular focus on the works of Isabel Beck, Camille Blachowicz, and Janet Allen. We will discuss guidelines for selecting vocabulary and the basic steps for building vocabulary. Word learning strategies will be reviewed and the use of student friendly definitions will be discussed. Finally, we will explore ways to help struggling readers with vocabulary development. Participants are asked to bring one or two children’s books that would be appropriate for read-alouds at their grade level. Please choose a book with rich vocabulary.

Upcoming literacy professional development opportunities:

New England Reading Conference
Springfield MA, September 25 & 26. Information at New England Reading Association

Stern Center for Language and Learning
Many courses and workshops available in 07-08. Find information at The Stern Center for Language and Learning

Many courses and workshops. Summer offerings are now listed.
June 23-26 Writers Workshop K-2 with Leah Mermelstein. Place TBD (Burlington area)
June 23-26 Beginning Writers Workshop 3-5 with Erica Denman. Williston Central School
July 21-24 Launching the Reading Workshop and Reading/Writing Connection K-2 with Leah Mermelstein
Formative Assessment Project - Keeping Learning on Track. Place TBD.
Find information at Champlain Valley Educator Development Center