Literacy Design Collaborative

Overview for Administrators

WELCOME DISTRICT

AND SCHOOL LEADERS

At your table share a quick back to school student story that made you smile.

What is the Literacy Design Collaborative?

• Background on LDC and how it fits with the Colorado Legacy Foundation Integration Project

• The privilege, the responsibility and the opportunity of the pilot

• History of cohort one, two and two point five and teacher trainers

The Vision and the Opportunity

Design a tool that would…

• Support teachers implementing the CCSS

• Address adolescent literacy in our country

• Be bounded by few “rules of the road”

• Balance the creative tension

• Encourage the participation of practitioners

• Have possibilities for scale

Essential Questions

• How does LDC assist students in developing content knowledge through reading and in demonstrating understanding of the content through writing?

• How does LDC fit within the district’s framework for learning and how will the process support standards-based teaching and learning?

• How will LDC support teacher effectiveness?

• What is my role and the role of the teacher trainers in leading and sustaining LDC?

• What are the next steps?

Collaboration for Results

Sharing Expertise

Creating Standards-Based Lessons

Jigsaw on the What and Why of LDC: • “Teaching to the Common Core by Design,

NOT Accident”

• Colorado Integration Project Brochure

Instructions

• Select a team leader from your group of four, who will assign individual group members to become “expert” on:

• pp. 1-3, “Teaching to….” (stop before Literacy Collaborative)

• pp. 3-5, “ Teaching to…” (beginning with Literacy Collaborative and ending before Math Collaborative)

• pp. 6-8, “Teaching to…” (beginning with Math Collaborative and completing the article)

• Colorado Integration Project Brochure

After Reading

• Teach each other about what you read

• As a group, create a visual representation of the concepts gleaned from the reading and your response to: “Why LDC and why now?”

• Post your visual on the wall and be prepared to share

Share and Explain Visuals

Why LDC and Why Now?

Vision for the Future

Students will have the literacy skills that create a solid foundation for succeeding in college and

the workplace.

• The reading and writing skills embedded in LDC are key elements of Post-Secondary and Workforce Readiness skills.

A TEACHER’S PERSPECTIVE

Instructional Shifts

• Rigor and relevance

• Shared responsibility

• Content-rich nonfiction and informational text

• Complex text and academic vocabulary

• 3 modes of academic writing

The LDC System Supports the Shifts Found in Common Core

• Literacy skills are critical in the lives of students; therefore, they must be intentionally and frequently taught in all grades K-12

• The LDC system is intended to assist secondary teachers in ALL disciplines deliver quality literacy instruction in all classrooms

• LDC considers teachers as partners and co-designers in transforming LDC templates into quality teaching tasks and modules

CCSS Challenges

• Unlike mathematics, secondary literacy is not a discipline. It is “homeless” in that it belongs to everyone and no one

• Literacy is used in secondary classrooms, but often it is not taught in a systematic way

Vocabulary

The Module Process

An instructional system that is:

• Hard-wired to the Common Core State Standards

• Minimalist as an approach – it’s a lean model with powerful software

• Interested in local choice and teacher decision making

Modules

• The LDC Module supports teachers in developing instruction to use over 2-4 weeks

• It helps teachers design instruction – their choice – focused on guiding students to complete a single literacy task linked to content

LDC Module System

The Literary Design Collaborative Approach

Common Core Standards

Aligned, Distributed Instruction

Formative & Summative

Assessments

Tasks

Colorado Integration Project

• http://youtu.be/XYgiCOK9hFU

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ndEniW9aF78

LDC and Teacher Effectiveness

Standard 1: • Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical

expertise in the content they teach

• The elementary teacher is an expert in literacy and mathematics and is knowledgeable in all other content that he or she teaches

• The secondary teacher has knowledge of literacy and mathematics and is an expert in his or her content endorsement area(s)

Literacy and the Proficient Teacher

• The Teacher – Provides literacy instruction that enhances:

• critical thinking and reasoning• information literacy• collaboration• self-direction• innovation

– Focuses lessons on the reading of complex texts

Accomplished and Exemplary

• Accomplished Teacher: Students communicate orally and in writing at levels that meet or exceed expectations for their age, grade, and ability level

• Exemplary Teacher: Students apply literacy skills – Across academic content areas– To understand complex materials

LDC and Teacher Effectiveness

• How does the Literacy Design Collaborative connect with educator effectiveness in Colorado?

Read over Evaluating Colorado’s Teachers and the LDC Framework, Standard 1: Teachers demonstrate knowledge of the content they teach. With a colleague, discuss this standard and how LDC can support you with teacher evaluation. • What are your comments and questions?

Systems Thinking and LDC

• Considering your district vision, mission and strategic goals, how will LDC and teacher effectiveness fit into the overall learning and accountability framework?

• What tools, processes and resources are needed to make the complex shifts to standards-based teaching and learning based on the Common Core and Colorado Academic Standards?

Module Creator

The vision behind the software to support the collaborative and going to scale with the published modules:

• A quick walk through of the program

• Taking a look at your teachers’ modules

Template Tasks

• Template tasks are the beginning point for the LDC strategy. An LDC template task is a fill-in-the blank assignment or assessment:

– With the CCSS for literacy “built in”

– That will “drive” the development of the LDC Module

Teacher Decision-Making

Teachers use additional “plug and play” flexibility within the template to adjust:

Task level: Select level 1, 2, or 3 task

Reading requirements: Vary text complexity, genre, length, familiarity, etc.

Writing demands: Vary product, length, etc.

Pacing requirements: Vary workload and time allowed to complete

The Teaching Task

• The teaching task is the critical foundation for the module, and the quality of the work that your teachers

will inspire from students will be the result of a well crafted teaching task.

Template Tasks

All LDC template tasks require students to:

• Read, analyze, and comprehend texts as specified by the Common Core

• Write products as specified by the Common Core focusing on argumentation, informational/ explanatory, and narrative

• Apply Common Core literacy standards to academic content (ELA, Social Studies, Science, and others)

Think about the Kind of Writing

Argumentation Informational or Explanatory Narrative

Definition N/A ELA, social studies, science N/A

Description N/A ELA, social studies, science ELA, social studies

Procedural-Sequential N/A social studies, science ELA, social studies

Synthesis N/A ELA, social studies, science N/A

Analysis ELA, social studies, science ELA, social studies, science N/A

Comparison ELA, social studies, science ELA, social studies, science N/A

Evaluation ELA, social studies, science N/A N/A

Problem/Solution social studies, science N/A N/A

Cause/Effect social studies, science science, social studies N/A

The Basic Format

After researching _____(informational texts) on ___________(content), write __________(essay or substitute) that argues your position on __________ (content). Support your position with evidence from your research. L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Complete Template Task Collection is the back section in your binder.

The Basic Format with Essential Question

[Insert Question] After reading __________(literature or informational texts), write_________ (essay or substitute) that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the text(s). L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Informational Teaching Task Example: Science

After researching the following articles on various

organisms, write a report that defines “organisms” and explains what Domain and Kingdom you would classify each organism. Support your discussion with evidence from your research.

Template Task 11 – After Researching

Informational Teaching Task Example: Social Studies

• After researching secondary sources on ancient India or China, write a report that explains the geography, culture/customs, and government of these civilizations. What conclusions or implications can you draw? Cite at least three sources, pointing out key elements from each source.

Template Task 18 – Informational or Explanatory/Synthesis

Argumentation Teaching Task Example: Science

• After researching technical and academic articles on the use of pesticides in agriculture, write a speech that argues your position on its use in managing crop production. Support your position with evidence from your research. L2 Be sure to acknowledge competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

Argumentation Teaching Task Example: Social Studies

L1: Was the Treaty of Versailles a fair one for Germany? After reading various primary and secondary sources on the Treaty of Versailles write an essay that addresses the question and support your position with evidence from the text(s).

L2: Be sure to acknowledge competing views.

Template Task 2 – “Essential Question”

Activity

• Find a leader from another school or district

• As district or school leader, share your insights and observations on how teachers in your district or school have implemented LDC and the results

• Explain how your teachers are organized into collaborative teams (they teach the same kids or the same grade level/subject area content); and brainstorm how you can foster and support collaboration within your school and with neighboring districts

The Classroom Context

• Video: Literacy Matters

http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/about/videos/

Table Talk

• After viewing the video, do a quick write on three observations that you have about the literacy design process

• Share your comments and observations as a table group and be prepared to share out

• Checking in: What questions and concerns do you have?

Beginning with the End in Mind

• LDC has developed rubrics for scoring the student writing products

• These rubrics can be helpful in determining the specific

skills that you want to focus on during the module

Background on Rubrics

• Are your teachers using a rubric to score writing?

• What are the advantages of common rubrics for the district?

Why Common Rubrics?

Shared rubrics support teacher collaboration across grades and subjects, including:

• Shared scoring to develop common expectations and language

• Joint analysis of student work

• Collaborative planning around instructional strategies and improvements

Template Task Rubrics

• Argumentation rubric

• Informational and explanatory rubric

• Narrative rubric

Skills to Instruction-What Instruction?

Selecting the skills that your students will need to accomplish the task is the next step in the process, which is followed by developing an instructional plan to teach the skills.

These instructional plans are called mini-tasks.

What Instruction?

What Instruction?

Core Elements of a Mini-task

• Prompt that addresses students and asks them to practice and demonstrate an “in-process” skill

• Product that students will produce that can be evaluated for success on the skill that has been taught

• Scoring guide with a stated criteria for what students will be expected to show as evidence of learning

• Pacing and timeframe that is needed to teach the skill

Mini-Task on Controlling Idea

• Prompt: Write a draft claim in 1-3 sentences (this claim may be modified or expanded)

• Product: Draft claim is completed in 1-3 sentences

• Scoring guide: Yes: completed and credible based on task; No: incomplete or not credible or not connected to the task

What Results?

Student work produced in response to the teaching task is the greatest evidence of student learning.

Leadership for LDC

At your tables, discuss these essential questions and be prepared to share:

As a district or school leader what strategies could you implement to expand the use of LDC with the goal of increasing rigor, student engagement and literacy?

What is the role of PLCs in supporting LDC and increasing results in writing?

LDC Teacher Expectations

Each cohort teacher is expected to:

• Complete the development of a module, including tailoring of the mini-tasks

• Implement one module each semester

• Collect and bring copies of 3 examples of student work from their modules and scoring collaboratively with other teachers

Future Plans for Training and Support

(Fill in future training dates here)

Additional support will be provided on site by teacher trainers, cohort one and two colleagues and LDC Consultants.

Professional Learning Support

Are you interested in learning more about…. • Close Reading• Vocabulary Development• Creating Essential Questions• Scaffolding Skills for Writing• Differentiation for EL and Special Needs• Text Complexity• Formative Assessments

Participate in…• On-line modules• Socratic Seminars• PLC sessions in your district

Essential Questions

• How does LDC assist students in developing content knowledge through reading and in demonstrating understanding of the content through writing?

• How does LDC fit within the district’s framework for learning and how will the process support standards-based teaching and learning?

• How will LDC support teacher effectiveness?

• What is my role and the role of the teacher trainers in leading and sustaining LDC?

• What are the next steps?

Checking in

• Questions and feedback on the presentation

• Have a one minute discussion with someone at your table about your greatest hopes and also your trepidations regarding LDC

Future District and School Support

• Given the unique circumstances in your district or school, what types of support would you request to support you and your teachers, and to embed LDC into your framework for learning?

• Consider your own leadership role, and that of the LDC consultants, teacher trainers, cohort one and two teachers.