East Hartford High School

Volume 1, November 25 2015

LITERACY AT EHHS
Literacy Update
At the start of the 2015-2016 school year, East Hartford High
School was determined to make literacy a priority. As a result,
literacy has become one of our five focus areas alongside
engagement, attendance, behavior and parent communication.
In order to commit to this focus area, our administration and staff
have dedicated a great deal of time and a number of resources to
ensure success with this endeavor. Ultimately our literacy plan
can be summarized through our rationale: To provide teachers
with continuous and multiple support systems in order to
successfully implement a literacy program at EHHS.
Our literacy plan began with our first round of literacy
workshops offered on Sept. 24th and Oct. 22nd. Our second round
of literacy workshops will be offered Jan. 28th & Feb. 11th.
Literacy at EHHS continues to build momentum is through
informal peer coaching sessions. Teachers have been given the
opportunity to showcase literacy strategies through peer
observations and conversations. Whether students are Talking
to the Text Speed Dating or Rating New Vocabulary, they
are practicing new ways to interact with a text in a meaningful
way. It is clear that teachers see the value in literacy, and see the
need to make it a focal point in their instruction.

Spotlight Strategies
Talk to the Text
Speed Dating
Survival Words
Picture Predictions
Think Aloud Bookmarks
This is About/This is Really About

Double Entry Journal

A Look into the Future

Over the next several months
an online resource will be
developed to facilitate the
implementation of literacy
across the content areas. These
strategies will be accompanied
by images, step-by-step
guides, and teacher
testimonials. Ultimately this
resource will provide teachers
will specific and effective
strategies that will improve
student literacy at EHHS.

Spotlight Lessons
Anatomy & Physiology and Survival Words: Lee
Ann Kerr led her students through an engaging prereading strategy of identifying Survival Words.
Prior to reading a non-fiction text, students
previewed a series of words and were asked to
grade these words based on their prior
knowledge. This strategy encouraged students to
assess what they already know in order to tackle a
content and vocabulary rich text.
English I and Speed Dating: Kara Jandreau
flawlessly guided her students through a Speed
Dating experience. In preparation for this activity
students had previously selected and responded to a
quotation from That Was Then, This is Now. In a
series of mini conversations students asked each
other the following two questions about their
quotations: What is it about? What is it really
about? Through this Speed Dating experience
students were encouraged to truly analyze a text in
order to find the deeper meaning.
Allied Health and Double Entry Journals: Cynthia
Dee enthusiastically guided her students to make
meaning of a text through the use of Double Entry
Journals and peer conversations. Prior to todays
class, students read an assigned chunk of an article,
documented main ideas and entered into a
conversation with the text. In class students had the
opportunity to meet with a peer to discuss their
Double Entry Journals and challenge each others
ideas. These peer conversations were focused and
extremely insightful.
ESL, Iconic Images & Think Aloud Bookmarks: Lisa
Merrill had a specific goal in mind: help her students
successfully speak in the past tense. In class that day,
students were talking about the culture of past
decades. Prior to reading an informational article Lisa
encouraged her students to make predictions about the
decade by looking at a series of iconic images of the
time. After making these predictions, students used
Think Aloud bookmarks and sentence starters to
promote meaningful conversations about the text.

THANK YOU
I cant thank Kara, Lee Ann, Lisa, and Cynthia
enough for inviting me into their classrooms.
Their effort to experiment with new strategies is
truly commendable and is directly impacting our
students success with literacy.

Literacy Contact: I am still looking for volunteers who would be willing to allow me into your classrooms on a day when you are
experimenting with a literacy strategy. These observations will greatly contribute to our online database which will be up and running by the
beginning of February.
Please contact Ashley Vargas at Vargas.al@easthartford.org or stop by Room 214. I truly appreciate any and all volunteers!