Instructional Facilitators for Literacy

Eric Bush- Jackson

x7012

Patricia Burke-Evergreen

x5763

Pat Collins-North

x4907

Loretta Comfort-Center

x4064

Cindy Foster-Eisenhower

x7518

Tasha Lewis-Center

x4071

Tessa O’Connor-Everett

x4437

Deb Ritchhart-Heatherwood x6483

Monte Schultz-Cascade

x6039

Barbara Tibbits-Gateway

x6712

•

Volume 1—Issue 3

March 2009

IMPORTANT DATES

3-2 thru 3-5 MS District Reading

Assessment Window

3-3 Argumentative Paper PLC

3-3 Scoring Writing, 7th Grade

3-5 Scoring Writing, 8th Grade

3-4 thru 3-13 Read 180 SRI Test-

ing Window

3-10 Gallagher Class

3-16 thru 3-19 HS WASL

3-24 Gallagher Class

4-7 READ180 PLC

Spotlight on Literacy

Heatherwood’s 7th Grade Block

Teachers and Librarian Lead The Way

Looking for a new more effective

approach for students to reflect and

share their independent reading, the

7

th

grade block teachers were inspired

by Nancie Atwell’s use of book reviews

outlined in

Lessons That Change Writers.

Atwell

sums up why book reviews might be a good way

to get kids thinking and writing about what they

have read. “I teach book reviews first, because I

want my students to begin to write in a formal,

crafted way about the literature they’re reading.

This is good preparation for the critical essays

they’ll be required to write in high school and for

the book reviews I hope they will read in the

New

York Times Book Review

for all the Sundays of

the rest of their lives.”

The teacher-librarian and the 7

th

grade team at

Heatherwood Middle School embraced Nancie

Atwell’s words and set out to make these re-

views happen school wide. They began by creat-

ing a committee that had a representative from

all three grade levels. Their objective was to go

beyond the book report and create a community

of readers who enjoyed sharing their books. Kim

Lien, a 7

th

grade block teacher, created eight

days of lessons that focused on the following

concepts:

•How

is a book review different than a book

report?

•What

are features of good book reviews?

•How

do you write an effective book review?

•What

do you look for in a good book?

•Why

do you love a particular book and why

would you recommend it to others?

•Why

is it important to present your book ef-

fectively?

•How

do you present your book effectively?

•How

can we find good books to read?

Another exciting aspect of implementing book

reviews is that it offers the perfect avenue for

connecting reading and writing. When writing a

book review the writing process is extensively

used by the students.

One teacher was quoted as saying, “The stu-

dents saw themselves as real writers with a real

purpose. They saw the effect that their writing

had on others. They told me they felt empow-

ered and successful.”

Another teacher said, ”The students learn from

other readers and writers and they start to emu-

late their peers because they write and read in a

classroom where they have plenty of time to do

both, where they get to choose what they read,

and where they receive plenty of feedback on

their book reviews.”

A student also remarked on the reading-

writing connection by stating, “I liked the process

of sharing book reviews because you can see

how people read and write and improve on writ-

ing.”

(

Book Reviews

continued on page 2)

Volume 1—Issue 3

March 2009

Beyond The

Book Report

Instructional Literacy Facilitators

Eric Bush- Jackson HS

x7195

Patricia Burke-Evergreen MS x5763

Pat Collins-North MS

x4907

Cindy Foster-Eisenhower MS x7518

Tasha Lewis-Center

x4071

Tessa O’Connor-Everett HS

x4437

Deb Ritchhart-HWD MS

x6483

Monte Scholz-Cascade HS

x6107

Barbara Tibbits-Gateway MS x6712

Curriculum Specialists

Loretta Comfort-Center

x4064

Jeanne Willard-Center

X4053

From left to right: Kim Lien, Sarah Pewitt, Mary Johnson, Teresa

Allnoch (Librarian), and Cathy Schuyler

---

Collection of Evidence

COE started last year (well, two years ago but

really last year in earnest). In this time, it went

from being overseen by Peter Hendrickson to

JoAnne Fabian, with Loretta participating by

lending her wisdom and IFL’s. Math does a COE

as well but we are not a part of this process

Here are other 7

th

grade student reflections regarding

the book review process. . .

“It helped that we shared our book reviews

with the class because I actually found a really

great book, read it, and now it’s one of my

favorite books!”

“I liked writing the book reviews. After reading

a few, I found many books to read. It was hard at

first, but after a while, it became easy. And when

I shared mine, people wanted to read my book.”

“I liked book reviews because they made me

feel alive!”

“I actually liked writing the book review

because it expands our thinking about the book.

Not just to read it, but to enjoy it.”

“What I liked was to have the opportunity to be

able to look on-line and see all the good books

recommended by students in our school.”

To see some examples of student book reviews go to

the Heatherwood Library web page

; click on Destiny Book

Search, and then type in a book title. Click on the title of

the book and then you will see the link to the student

reviews. A good title to try is Breaking Dawn

by

Stephanie Meyer.

“Reading in the Zone” and book reviews are an integral

part of effective independent reading in the classroom. If

you missed our article about “Reading in the Zone”, check

out the December

Spotlight On Literacy

issue on the

district website at: http://www.everett.k12.wa.us/literacy/

Secondary%20Reading

Collection of Evidence

Results for the COE binders are scheduled to be

available April 24

th

. Due to this, we cancelled our

February COE PLC date and moved it to May to

address augmentation issues. The meeting dates

for COE PLCs for the rest of the year are: March 9,

May 4 (unless the binders are still at OSPI), and

June 1. These meetings will be at Cascade High

School’s library from 3-5p. Please mark your

calendars and we will see you then.

Argumentative Paper PLC

The collaboration among those who are

teaching Argumentative Paper has been

phenomenal this year. At the next PLC on March 3,

we will look at student papers that used literature as

a basis for their argument. After analyzing the

various approaches employed, we will score a

couple of these papers with our new rubric. This

will give us all an opportunity to practice and do a

bit of “calibration.” Teacher-librarian Barbara

Stolzenburg also will share some effective research

strategies. The next PLC is March 3 from 3:00-5:00

at Cascade High School Library.

Page 2

Spotlight on Literacy

(

Book Reviews

continued from pg. 1)

Professional Learning Community Updates

#1 Task Definition—What do I need to do?

•

Define the problem

•

Identify the information needed

#2 Information Seeking Strategies—What can I

use to find what I need?

•

Brainstorm all possible resources

•

Select the best resources

#3 Location and Access - Where can I use to find

what I need?

•

Locate sources

•

Find information within the sources

#4 Use of Information—What information can

I use?

•

Engage with the resources—read, hear ,view and

touch

#5 Synthesis—How can I put my information

together?

•

Organize information from multiple sources present

results

#6 Evaluation—How will I know if I did well?

•

Judge the results (effectiveness)

Big Six Research Skills

Use these to help you plan mini lessons or as your guideline

for student research writing.

---

Page 3

Spotlight on Literacy

Recently, I found myself having a conversation with

some good friends about books we have read. My

friends talked about great books such as

The Secret Life

of Bees

by Sue Monk Kidd and

Prodigal Summer

by Bar-

bara Kingsolver. Then they asked me what I had read

recently. Somewhat hesitantly, I replied

Empire of Wealth:

The Epic History of American Economic Power.

As you

can imagine, this was met with a silent pause and then

the question, “Do you

like

non-fiction?”

We only need to read books like

Salt: A World History

by Mark Kurlansky,

Seabiscuit: An American Legend

by

Laura Hillenbrand, or any one of Doris Kearns Goodwin

books to see how engaging historical non-fiction can be.

Reading and writing history can engage students to study

history in-depth and improve their critical thinking skills. It

is vital that we teach students how to read and write

about history.

Importance of Vocabulary

In order to increase student success in history, we

must ensure students are learning content specific vo-

cabulary. One important step in teaching this vocabulary

is to pre-teach key words before each unit. Students

should not only be finding and memorizing definitions, but

restating definitions in their own words and creating their

own pictures depicting key vocabulary words before read-

ing historical content. Students should also be using

these key vocabulary words when writing about historical

events, both in short answer and extended response

situations.

Asking Good Questions

When students are reading history, we must encour-

age them to ask questions, identify cause and effect, and

recognize historical themes. Asking good questions

about what we read is a learned skill, not intuition. Effec-

tive questions go beyond asking students to simply recall.

They create curiosity about what might happen next, they

create discussion, and they engage us in debate. En-

courage students to use sticky notes when reading to flag

items about which they have questions, and encourage

them to discuss and debate with each other.

Writing Deepens Understanding

We should be asking students to be young histori-

ans making sense of multiple causes and effects and

recognizing historical themes that define human interac-

tion throughout time. Through writing, students are given

the opportunity to analyze historical events at a depth that

helps them further understand cause and effect and his-

torical themes. When students write about history, they

should not stop at simply reporting facts. They should be

making comparisons between historical events, looking

for connections, empathizing, interpreting and drawing

conclusions. Their writing should encourage other stu-

dents to ask questions and debate.

Reading and writing fiction can take us to amazing,

imaginary worlds and give insight into great characters

and, therefore, ourselves. But I love non-fiction…the

discussion, the debate, and the analysis of real world

events. Reading and writing history can change the world

for us and our students.

For further information regarding integrating reading

and writing into your instruction, Allison recommends……

•

How Students Learn: History in the Classroom

by

Donovan and Bransford, NRC (2005)

•

Teaching Reading in the Social Studies

by Jane K.

Doty (2003)

•

www. readingquest.org

Reading and Writing History

By Allison Larsen, Everett School District’s Humanities Curriculum Specialist

---

Collection of Evidence

COE started last year (well, two years ago but

really last year in earnest). In this time, it went

from being overseen by Peter Hendrickson to

JoAnne Fabian, with Loretta participating by

lending her wisdom and IFL’s. Math does a COE

as well but we are not a part of this process

Page 4

Spotlight on Literacy

High School Literacy Review

One of the needs that surfaced during the High School Literacy Leaders meetings over the past two years is the issue of number and

quality of novels and nonfiction text available in our four high schools. Department heads, team leaders and IFLs expressed concern

that books are dwindling, and, as a result, students spend excessive time reading in class, thus eliminating chunks of essential teaching

time. Surfacing, too, was the desire for a fresh look at the novels we have been using. Do we want to consider adding a few more con-

temporary texts?

With this end in mind, we began our High School Literacy Review in earnest this school year. Representatives from each grade level at

each high school have come together several times to investigate best practices in literature and reading, analyze the texts we presently

have on our shelves, and research both contemporary and traditional titles. The Lit Review team members are in the process of read-

ing and writing reviews of each of the texts brought forward by grade-level teams for consideration. The books that we are considering

are listed below:

Grade 9- Multicultural Literature:

Of Mice and Men , Romeo and Juliet , Life of Pi , On the Edge of Survival, Voices of the Holocaust,The

Secret Life of Bees

, Monster, Ender ’ s Game , Who am I?

Grade 10 -World Literature:

Things Fall Apart , Kaffir Boy , Long Way Gone, Night, Monkey, Red Azalea, Last Empress , House of Spir-

its

, Siddhartha

Grade 11 - American Literature:

Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Crucible, Into the Wild ,The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-

time Indian

, Nickel and Dimed, Snow Falling on Cedars, Color Purple, Black Boy, Huck Finn, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Building reps have been holding grade-level meetings to keep English teachers informed and to request feedback. Hopefully, each

high school teacher has been able to attend a meeting and to provide input. When the team meets again in the middle of March, the

task will be to come to consensus on three or four core texts at each grade level that will be read by students at all the buildings. By

instituting some common texts across district, we will be able to provide our students common experiences with literature. Using some

of the same books, we will also have the opportunity to collaborate on lesson planning.

Best practices tell us that students should be reading a variety of genres and numerous books during the school year. Teachers will be

expected to use three of the four core texts each year in addition to anthologies and other novels used at the building level. Our hope is

to work together as grade-level teams to pool existing lessons and create new ones, if appropriate, for each of the adopted texts. We

will have a Moodle site so that English teachers can communicate electronically across district; this will be a great tool to facilitate shar-

ing.

The Lit Review Team has devoted many hours to this endeavor so that our students will be reading quality literature that challenges

their thinking. Equally important is our desire to select rich literature that teachers will enjoy instructing. The Lit Review Team is ener-

gized at the prospect of new materials and curriculum; we hope all teachers will be equally excited. If you have any questions or com-

ments, please get in touch with your building representative ( s ee below ) , IFL or Loretta Comfort.

Team Members: Michelle Crews, Ruth Hunter, Sue Johnson, Bev Nyberg, Carole Woods, Margie Burr, Chani Craig, Victoria Johnson,

Kathy McCormack, Kristin Price, Jen Weber, Nick Anderson, Judy Baker, Keith Gerhard, Steve Johnson, Jared Kink, Torri McEntire,

Robin McCleave, Bruce Overstreet, Deb Kalina, Neelz Gharavi, Ed Bowers.