NOTES

October 2010
From the
Literacy Coach
Jen Munnerlyn
American Community School of Abu Dhabi

Meetings,
Meetings,
Meetings... see page
2 for an October
“Meetings
Schedule”
CELEBRATIONS!
NEW BOOKS!
PAGE 3

ERD SCHEDULE
FOR THE YEAR:
KG2-5 AND EARLY
CHILDHOOD
AND THEY’RE OFF! PAGE 4

Whew! We’ve BOLTED out of the gate.

What a month! I am sensitive to how much you • Discussions around OUR kids rather than MY
have been away from your kids and with kids are popping up and will have a long-range
assessments like DRA and MAP, how little you impact on student learning.
might feel like you’ve been able to teach. As I can, I Now turn the page...
am going to try and consider this, moving forward
with PD and other meetings in October.
Our curriculum teams are making real headway
in discussing literacy curriculum while planning for
implementations and next steps. ALL of the
meetings are meant to make us collectively better
at what we do. Here are some celebrations:
• We are seeing the benefit of our hard work on
the spiraled curriculums!
• We have and are beginning to use maps and
road plans for what to teach (UOS), what our kids
need (DRA, MAP, WTW) and how to teach (Look
Fors).
• We are learning collaboratively from each
other. There is a sense of common cause.

[1]
 OCTOBER Grades 1-5 DRA/MAP/WTW Analysis Meeting:
Tuesday, October 12: 3:30-4:30 in the ES MPR

CURRICULUM We will meet to discuss the Fall DRA results.

Please bring the following:

TEAM • Your Assessment Notebook with the ACS DRA Guidelines

and your TinkerPlot from Aug. 2010 (last year’s data).

MEETINGS:
• Your Teacher Notebook with the Fall DRAs inside.
• 1-2 WS Reps: Please bring your completed Words Their Way
Sunday: Oct. 10th spelling inventories (Feature Guide and Class Composite). (If
others on the team have the data please bring it too.)
8:30-10:30
3-5 Reading Team Meeting
•Digging Deeper Into the KG2-5 ERD
DRA
Thursday, October 14: 1:15-2:45 in the ES MPR
•TCRWP RUOS Video/
Teaching Knowing we have so much on our plates right now, we will be
•Strategy Discussion taking time to review and reflect about: On Demand Writing,
11:00-1:00 Words Their Way Spelling Inventory, new Booksource Books,
3-5 Writing Team Meeting DRA/Map data. Representatives from the curriculum teams will
•On Demand Writing
lead these discussions.
Analysis continued
•Sorting WW Mentor Texts Then, we will take time to review our past Regie Routman
sessions and preview where we will be going with Regie this year.
Monday: Oct. 11th
Please bring the following:
8:30-10:30
Red Regie Routman text; questions, ideas, confusions about
K-2 Writing Team Meeting
•On Demand Writing everything we’ve worked on so far this year.
Analysis continued
•Sorting WW Mentor Texts EARLY CHILDHOOD PD- KG1, and INTERESTED KG2 and G1 teachers
Thursday, October 14: 2:45-3:45 in the ES MPR
Wednesday: Oct. 13th What are the components of literacy for young learners? How
do we address these throughout the day in KG1, KG2, and G1.
8:30-10:30
K-5 Word Study Meeting *Please see the ERD plan attached for the whole-year picture
•No Excuse recap/review of these sessions.
•WTW Spelling
Inventory- Analysis
steps
•Planning for our work
this year

11:00-1:00
K-2 Reading Team
Meeting
•Digging Deeper Into
the DRA Hang On!
•RUOS 1 Revamp
•If time... RUOS videos
from TCRWP

[2]

K-2 and 3-5
STAFF
Writing
Celebrations!
Tuesday,
October 19th
3:30-4:30 ES
MPR
Last year we
started holding Staff Writing
Celebrations in grades 3-5 following
every unit. As part of our
implementation it was very valuable to
spend time talking as a grade level
team about how the unit was going
and then to move into vertical teams to
discuss the different work within the
spiral. This year we will be celebrating
in both the upper and the lower
elementary. (For grades K-2 this
meeting is part of our collaborative
goal work in writing this year.)
I will provide some thinking sheets
for you to use.
For our meeting on Oct. 19th, each
teacher needs to bring the following:
• 1-2 samples of student writing
from Unit 1 (LC) and any Pam Allyn
writing work if you have it. (You can
either bring final product work or work
in progress.)
• A chart you used in the unit and
found particularly helpful.
In addition, I will provide time for
you to talk about the RUOS you’ve
worked on so far with your vertical
teams. If there is something in
particular you want to show from
reading, please bring it. :-)
and Writing are due to Jen on Oct. 14th.
NEW BOOKS!
The professional books shown
were ordered for the
“Professional Literacy Library”.
MEETINGS:
They can be checked out using
the sign-out sheet to the left of
the tall cupboard near the big
book racks in my office.
I will profile and use these
books in Curriculum Team
meetings throughout the year.
“Framed within the context of
writing workshop, the book
examines the reasons for
reading student work and
provides various methods for
helping students improve as
writers. Formative assessment
presents teachers with
multiple opportunities to read
student work, with a clear
focus, thereby supporting
students in all stages of the
writing process.” (Grades 2-8)
“What’s Essential in Teaching
Young Writers?...detailed units
of study on poetry, nonfiction,
and fiction writing that provide
demonstration of the writing
workshop process...ideas for
classroom organization and
where to purchase materials,
suggestions for publishing
student work...”
(Grades KG2-2)
... the inherent motivational
value in comics, explains the
many different graphic genres,
and shares thoughtful and
compelling ways to teach
comprehension, vocabulary,
and even fluency with
graphica.
(Grades 3-5)
Please remember: Quarter 2 Report Card Correlations for Reading
[3]
KG2-5 DATE KG2-5 KG1- (OPEN TO KG2/G1

ERD REGIE ROUTMAN TOPICS IN EARLY

CHILDHOOD

2010 October 14 Regie Routman Review:

• What is the Optimal
Learning Model?
What are the components
of literacy for young
learners? How do we
• Examining Our Beliefs
About Reading to address these throughout
Understand
• Knowing Yourself as a
the day in KG1, KG2, and
Reader G1?
• Helping Students Choose
a Just-Right Book
• Checking Students’
Understandings Through
Informal Reading
Conferences
• Using an Informal
Reading Conference to
Change a Child’s Reading
Life
• Thinking Aloud with a
Nonfiction Text

November 11 Shared Read-Aloud with a Creating a language rich

Nonfiction Text environment/lessons/day
in KG1, KG2, G1.

December 16 Grouping for Guided Using conversation,

Reading in the first hand experiences
Intermediate Grades and “play” to promote
language and literacy in
KG1, KG2, and G1.

February 24 Accelerate Readers Reading, reading

Through Guided Reading reading! Motivation,
reading aloud and
selecting books in KG1,
KG2, and G1.

March 24 Developing Independence Raising Readers:

Through Oral Retelling Involving Families in
and Summarizing Children’s Literacy
Learning in KG1, KG2,
G1.

April 21 Facilitating Student Teaching and Assessing

Directed Literature Writing with our
Conversations youngest learners in
KG1, KG2, and G1.

May 5 After 2-years of work... The Importance of PLAY

Re-examining Our Beliefs in literacy development.
and Celebrating Our
Learning

SUNY CREDIT WILL BE OFFERED FOR PARTICIPATION IN ALL LITERACY MEETINGS

WITH THIS YEAR. (KG1-5) IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN EARNING 3 CREDITS, PLEASE
LET JEN KNOW.