Literacy Station Inspiration to Present in June

Once again, we will be sharing strategies and collaborative activities at a K-12 Literacy Conference! Come join us! 
(Hurry! The registration deadline for school groups is April 8th!)

We will be presenting a blended (partially online) writing unit that incorporates student-generated writing lessons, process writing instrution, formative assessment, and collaborative learning at the 2016 Center for Workforce and Community Education Literacy Conference for K-12 Teachers. The program is sponsored by the Germanna Education Consortium in conjunction with the Spotsylvania County School's regional Leadership Learning Exchange Conference. 

The literacy conference will take place on Thursday, June 23 2016 at Chancellor Middle School in Spotsylvania, Virginia with featured and keynote speakers, local educators, and VDOE staff members presenting on current best practices, innovations in 21st century teaching, and new changes or announcements related to the Virginia SOLs.

For registration and session information, see the Conference Flyer or contact Kim Rodenberg at (540) 834-1925.

We hope to see you there!

Biographical Essay Research Project

Our teachers this quarter will be focused on teaching skills and strategies for nonfiction and informational literacy. One of our big projects is the Biographical Essay Research Project. I did quite a lot of digging to find pre-existing formats that fit what we were looking for, but I couldn't find resources that fit the specific model I had in mind.

The project is for middle schoolers, but it can be tweaked and adapted for other age groups. The objectives of the project are to practice researching with print adn digital resources, summarize and paraphrase information, appropriately use prewriting strategies, and organize and sythesize information into a cohesive multi-paragraph essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Biographical Essay Research Handout
Biographical Essay Outline
Biographical Essay Assignment
Biographical Essay Outline with Sentence Starters
Biographical Essay Grading Rubric
List of Historical Figures

Sample Essay - Time for Kids

The more advanced students will be allowed to use the Biographical Essay Outline to compose their rough draft. They can answer the questions and elaborate as necessary. The Biographical Essay Outline with Sentence Starters provides more scaffolding for students who may be less proficient writers. They can complete the questions from the research they gathered and completed on their graphic organizer handout, and this can serve as their first rough draft.

We are now submitting papers using Google Drive, which is hugely beneficial for writing instruction. Teachers can view the student's essays as they are writing, make comments and suggestions, and access works-in-progress from any supported device.

PALS Workstation Tutorial for Teachers

I really like how the Virginia PALS (Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening) website illustrates what the expectation for literacy workstations should look like while teachers are conferencing with individual students or groups of students.

In this tutorial, the authors emphasize that independent workstations are on the students' ability level.
They also stress that the time and attention given to establishing routines and organizing materials will save time and attention reserved for active learning.