Tier II Years One and Two

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PLAN

Teacher Name Building Date
Nicole Armstrong BMS 09/08/16

Names of Other Teachers Involved:

n/a

General Focus of the Plan:

Two years ago I started to focus more on assessing if relevant non-fiction reading and writing will
increase students reading MAP score. I started a PBL unit in January 2015 that not only required
students to do relevant non-fiction reading, but also non-fiction writing. In previous years, this
unit felt disconnected and lacking a purpose. Articles I chose were random and students felt non-
fiction was boring and writing about non-fiction, worse. Therefore, I have spent a great deal of
time trying to discover how I can bring non-fiction to life. Non-fiction lends itself to real world
application, the challenge was, how can I do just that. That is when I discovered a new housing
phenomenon, parking space homes (SCADpads). In cities such as Atlanta, they are turning
parking garages into living spaces. Each living space is the size of a regulation parking spot (135
square feet). When my students watched a small news clip on these homes, during our in the
news portion of class, they were intrigued. That is when I decided SCADpads where the answer
to my problem. Watching a small clip on these homes, featured on CNN Student News, started an
impromptu conversation about how exactly, according to one student could we fit all of our
things in there? It was this conversation that helped me create a driving question, What is
Essential?

I used that question in two ways. The first of these being, what is essential in a piece of non-fiction
writing. Students examined that question when researching the SCADpads and other small living
spaces. After reading these now relevant pieces of non-fiction, students found the most important
parts of the article, the essential pieces, and created summaries and found main ideas. What makes
this different than previous years, is now we have a goal, the pieces of non-fiction students
summarized and read assisted them towards bringing the research to life. My students created
three, to scale, SCADpads. One SCADpad per block of students that I have. Now, all the non-
fiction reading and summarizing helped them better create a SCADpad. Topics included, but were
not limited to, the SCADpads in Atlanta, human survival, how to build or create certain elements
for their homes, design, and firsthand accounts of those who live in small spaces.

All in all, I believed this would support a growing movement, that students with higher reading
scores and skills are those who read more non-fiction, instead of a balanced reading approach.
New York City schools have begun to experiment with a non-fiction approach. According to the
New York Times, for three years, a pilot program tracked the reading ability of approximately
1,000 students at 20 New York City schools, following them from kindergarten through second
grade. Half of the schools adopted a curriculum designed by the education theorist E. D. Hirsch
Jr.s Core Knowledge Foundation. The other 10 used a variety of methods, but most fell under the
definition of balanced literacy The study found that second graders who were taught to read
using the Core Knowledge program scored significantly higher on reading comprehension tests
than did those in the comparison schools (Phillips). Furthermore, it is believed that the US is
moving towards more advanced workplace texts, which fall into the category of non-fiction. Yet,
we are not preparing our students for this. There is a growing awareness of what our education
system is failing to provide high school graduates. Some 20 percent of students who go to four
year colleges and 40 percent who go to community college have to take remedial courses. This
lack of college readiness, in turn, contributes to the high dropout rate among college freshman
a staggering 30 percent, by some estimates The clearest differentiator in reading between
students who are college ready and students who are not is the ability to comprehend complex
texts. the ACT researchers concluded. (Matthiessen).

Therefore, my stress during quarter three and four was to better prepare my students for the MAP
test and future courses in high school by increasing their exposure to relevant non-fiction reading.

In 2015-2016, I have planned multiple cross-curricular units with science that will be using
relevant non-fiction. The first of these will involve legends and myths and their power over
society. Students will examine myths and legends in my room and discover their history and
reason for their being told century after century. In science, they will use the scientific method to
disprove a common myth. Throughout this unit students will be reading firsthand accounts of the
legends and using scientific articles to help disprove their myth.

In spring of 2016, we are developing a water shortage unit. It will be a thematic unit spanning over
all core classes.

After reflecting on last school year I was able to see score growth my classes throughout the 2015-
2016 school year.

Fall, mean class RIT Spring, mean class RIT

2014-2015 214 219.5
2015-2016 220.3 225.5
2016-2017 221.1

In the 2016-2017 school I have restructured my units and bell-ringers to have a constant flow of
nonfiction reading and writing throughout the entire year. Each week we do one nonfiction journal
entry, using CNN student news and Tween Tribune articles. Also, I have included more nonfiction
into all units.

Furthermore, I have two cross-curricular units planned that require a heavy load of nonfiction
reading and writing. The first of these will begin on September 14th. This unit is called QC Ghost
Adventures. This unit will require students to research the history and ghostly occurrences of
famous Quad City landmarks and locations. Almost all of these landmarks have been around since
the 1800s. Students will compose a report, containing cited research on the history of the location,
pictures of the location, and reported haunted happenings. They will then visit their site and record
observations. When they return they will compose summaries of the history, events that have
occurred and their own observations. That summary will turn into a podcast that we intend to
publish locally and nationally. Students will also be doing non-fiction research in math, science,
and social studies.

In the late winter and early spring I will be working with Erin Allen on her prairie project. I will
be utilizing environmental articles on drought and drought tolerance. As well, as articles
highlighting environmental conservation. This will be cross curricular and all subject areas will be
utilizing relevant, nonfiction material.

I am hoping that the increase in nonfiction, throughout the entire 2016-2017 school year will yield
a higher class mean RIT score for spring of 2017, that spring of 2016 (see above chart).

Citations

Matthiessen, Connie. "The Nonfiction Revolution." GreatSchools. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.

Phillips, Anna M. "Nonfiction Curriculum Enhanced Reading Skills, Study Finds." The New York
Times. The New York Times, 11 Mar. 2012. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
Specific Goal(s) (Written in a manner that allows for progress to be noted.): All students in my 7H5
language arts classes MAP score will improve by 2 points, due to increased exposure to non-fiction reading
and writing.

Rationale for the Plan:

What student learning concerns will this plan address and what data will be used for analyzing the
goals and progress?
The learning concern is students lack of exposure to non-fiction texts. It is proven that students who can
read and summarize non-fiction are more college ready and workplace ready. I will use students fall
reading MAP scores and their winter/spring scores to see if the increased exposure to non-fiction texts will
better prepare them for the MAP test. The more prepared they are the higher they should score.
How does this plan relate to building and/or district student achievement goals and district career
development goals?
I am using non-fiction in correlation with Project Based Learning to help students achieve higher MAP
scores, but more importantly become college and career ready, which is a component of the Bettendorf
School District vision statement.
How will the strategies and activities in this plan lead toward accomplishment of the goal?
We will be learning about the 5 types of non-fiction text structures. This will help students understand the
piece of writing an organizational level. From there, students will learn strategies to help them process and
understand non-fiction texts. They will also be taught a format in order to take their reading and summarize
it, finding the most important pieces of information. This will help show me that students not only can read
it, but understand the reading. The summarization will help me formally assess their understanding of the
text.

Check the Characteristic(s) of Effective Instruction that provides the focus of this plan:
1. Student-Centered Classrooms 2. Teaching for Understanding
X 3. Assessment for Learning 4. Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum
5. Teaching for Learner Differences

Action Plan with Timeline:

January 5-16 : Students will learn the basics of non-fiction structures and summarization. There will be
formative & summative assessments in organizational structure and summarizing.
January 19-February 13: Students will be researching SCADpads and using their understanding to read
the non-fiction and summarize their reading. They will also be putting this research into practice, using it to
create and build their SCADpads.
Feb13- end of quarter: students will be using their research to complete the SCADpads. At this time
students will also be reading fiction. Each fiction piece has the same question What is Essential. In order
to continue the non-fiction reading, students will research and read on the actual topics in each book
(homelessness, immigration, water shortage and civil war in Sudan).
April-May: We will read the class novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and students will continue their
non-fiction practice, by completing a research paper on one element from the Holocaust that interests them.
May: Reading MAP, assess scores and improvement.

Year Two: Increase non-fiction in all 4 quarters, expect spring reading mean RIT MAP score scores
average to be 3 points higher than year one students.
Year Three- Implement 2 PBLs that require extensive non-fiction reading and writing, in addition to
exposure all 4 quarters. Also, each week expose students to nonfiction articles and news stories that
students will read and reflect on through journaling. Expect MAP mean class RIT score to be 4 points
higher than year one students and at least one point higher than year two.
Resources Needed to Implement the Plan:

Expected Learning from the Plan:

I expect students to receive higher MAP scores and therefore higher reading levels due to the increased
exposure to non-fiction in quarter 3 and 4. Students will learn about non-fiction structures, research skills,
summarizing, and citations.

Teacher Signature(s) and Date Administrator Signature and Date

Copy to be placed in personnel file

Tier II Years One and Two

Annual Update Form PROFESSIONAL LEARNING PLAN
To Be Completed by Teacher
Teacher Name Building Date

What progress have you made toward completion of the plan?

What are you learning? How did your teaching change?

What impact is this learning having on students? What specifically does your data show?

Specifically, what needs to be done to complete the plan?

Are there any revisions needed? What resources are needed to improve student learning? How will
you continue to implement what youve learned?

Evaluator Comments:

Teacher Signature(s) and Date Evaluator Signature and Date

Copy to be placed in personnel file

Signature of the teacher does not indicate that the teacher agrees with the content of the review, only that he/she received a copy.