Literacy in All Content Areas

Student Peer Coaching, Grades 6-8 - No. 116

 

**This course is for students in grades 6 through 8. Students learn the nuts and bolts of student-centered peer coaching, to include goal-setting, troubleshooting, giving and receiving feedback. Most important, students learn how to use feedback that works, and disregard what does not as it it works into their own writing goals. This research-based program builds the capacity of student writers, and has proven to improve student writing performance on standardized assessments in adolescent writers. The peer coaching model is based on the Ruckdeschel (2010) method for student peer coaching, and includes ancillary materials for application and implementation.

Student Peer Coaching Grades 9-12 - No. 117

 

**This course is for students in grades 6 through 8. Students learn the nuts and bolts of student-centered peer coaching, to include goal-setting, troubleshooting, giving and receiving feedback. Most important, students learn how to use feedback that works, and disregard what does not as it works into their own writing goals. This research-based program builds the capacity of student writers, and has proven to improve student writing performance on standardized assessments in adolescent writers. The peer coaching model is based on the Ruckdeschel (2010) method for student peer coaching, and includes ancillary materials for application and implementation.

Reading and Writing Strategies For All Content Areas: Grades 3-12 - No. 104

  Intentional, consistent and rigorous teaching of reading and writing strategy across all content areas has shown through research to increase student achievement. Using the 90/90/90 principled approach, participants will acquire a compendium of strategies and tools, both online and in print, to aid all learners across all content areas. Course Outcomes:

• Acquire and use new strategies for rigor in reading and writing across all subject areas.
• Learn, understand and practice with methods, tools and strategies in print and digital formats to aid learners across all content areas.

Growing Readers and Writers in all Content Areas: Grades 6-12 - No. 105

  Participants will explore the essential ingredients that grow and scaffold good reading and writing effort. These ingredients will serve as models of strategy that works into curriculum design and implementation as they review lesson exemplars to plan with, analyze and reflect on. Research-based and field-tested strategy will reinforce the impact across all subject areas. Course objectives:

• Use strategies and methods to teach developing readers and writers across multiple content areas.
• Discover and use the essential underpinnings of developmental reading and writing in order to plan and scaffold instruction effectively.

Research-Based Literacy Strategy For All Content Areas: Grades K-12 - No. 123

  Participants will be introduced to sound and scientific research as it promotes literacy across all content areas to help students build foundational skills across reading, writing, speaking and listening. They’ll learn the scaffolds behind them that aid students in the important transition process across all content areas. Intentional, consistent, and rigorous teaching of reading and writing strategy that improves student achievement will engage the 90/90/90 principled approach. Participants completing this course will take away implementation tools that include graphic organizers, semantic maps, thinking aids, checklists, rubrics and more. Course Objectives:

• Understand how to move scientific theory into classroom literacy strategy across specific content areas.
• Learn how to scaffold student progress along a rigorous strategy continuum.
• Plan for scaffolding, implement lessons and reflect on them to modify as needed.
• Understand how to import research-based literacy strategy into lessons for rigorous application and implementation.

Building Reading Comprehension in Intermediate Grades - No. 132

  In this e-course, participants will examine effective strategy for reading comprehension of ELLs in intermediate grades, and these approaches scaffold across content for optimal effectiveness. Approaches will include text structure, reciprocal teaching, use of graphic organizers, literature webbing, and building background knowledge through the use of questioning. All strategies under study will include tools for implementation. Course Outcomes:

• Design and practice with strategies that teach effective reading comprehension in intermediate grades.
• Scaffold across multiple content area, grades and reading/writing genre.
• Understand the explicit instruction and teacher modeling methods behind effective reading comprehension curriculum.
• Teach reading comprehension through strategy as it scaffolds student success across multiple reading and writing genres in core content areas.

Literacy Strategies for Struggling Learners: Grades 3-12 - No. 138

  Consistent use of reading and writing strategy across all content areas continues to turn around the language skills of English language learners, particularly those who struggle. Participants will finish this e-course with a compendium of strategies and tools to aid ELLs and struggling learners with, using researched and field-tested implementation ideas. Course Objectives:

• Use same strategy ideas across all content areas to leverage ELL student success with.
• Glean and apply multiple strategies that aid in the successful literacy effort of struggling learners and ELLs.
• Apply collaboration among multiple disciplines and plan to accommodate the needs of struggling learners.

Peer Coaching for Young Writers, Grades 3-6 - No. 101

  Based on the Ruckdeschel (2010) peer coaching model, teachers learn to teach developing writers a modified and age appropriate method for giving and receiving peer feedback through goal-setting, problem-solving, and editing work as it feeds independent writing capacity - and it's never too early to begin! Research-based practices that directly impact young writers will be reviewed and practiced with as they apply to specific developmental milestones. **This course includes a copy of the book Conversations for Young Writers, by Susan Ruckdeschel. Course objectives:

• Plan and practice with the Ruckdeschel three-step protocol for student peer coaching.
• Develop working knowledge of the Ruckdeschel peer review model and protocol.
• Plan and use the tools and resources for successful implementation of the process for young and developing writers.

Writing Strategies For All Content Areas: Grades K-12 - No. 134

  Focused exclusively on sound and proven writing strategy, participants will be introduced to research as it promotes writing strategy across all content areas.They’ll learn the scaffolds behind them that aid students in the important transition process across all other content areas.Intentional, consistent and rigorous teaching of reading and writing strategy as it continues to improve student achievement will engage the 90/90/90 principled approach. Course Objectives:

• Analyze genre as it applies to specific content areas and teaching objectives.
• Acquire and use new resources to teach genre-specific fiction and non-fiction writing.
• Apply new strategies and resources to the teaching of writing across multiple subject areas.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Learners, Grades 6-8 - No. 133a

  Building reading muscle requires training, perseverance, and constant progress monitoring. Participants will review intervention strategies that include timely response to intervention focused on strength and strategy. Strategic and differentiated interventions reviewed and practiced with will include cognitive questioning, vocabulary development, peer and teacher feedback, use of graphic organizers and reflective self-monitoring. Course objectives:

• Become familiar with, and further develop, intervention strategies focused on response to intervention.
• Use strategy to differentiate with for struggling learners.
• Plan for, and implement with, vocabulary and questioning strategies combined with consistent use of teacher and peer feedback to build reading muscle.

Building Reading Muscle: Grades 9-12 Struggling Learners - No. 189

  Building reading muscle requires training, perseverance, and constant progress monitoring. Participants will review intervention strategies that include timely response to intervention focused on strength and strategy. Strategic and differentiated interventions reviewed and practiced with will include cognitive questioning, vocabulary development, peer and teacher feedback, use of graphic organizers and reflective self-monitoring. Course Outcomes:

• Become familiar with, and further develop, grade appropriate intervention strategies focused on response to intervention.
• Acquire and use grade appropriate strategy to differentiate with for struggling learners.
• Use vocabulary and questioning strategies for consistent use of teacher and peer feedback as it builds reading muscle.

Close Reading Strategies: What are they, and how do we teach them? Grades 3-8 - No. 177

  While many students will develop their own methods to read complicated text, answer high-level questions and respond with written products, many students will struggle with reading complex text and the close reading strategies that support it. We now know there are numerous approaches to teach close reading with, all of them working in numerous ways to parcel through multiple layers of text complexity. From chunking to note taking with purpose, to using visuals and other multi-sensory approaches, participants will gain a repertoire of strategies with which to teach close reading successfully to all students. Course Outcomes:

• Analyze and understand what it means to read closely with strategy.
• Gain insight into the close reading requirements of the National Common Core Standards, and apply them to curriculum.
• Gain and practice with new strategies for teaching close reading to students.

The Six Analytical Writing Traits for K-5 - No. 246a

 

Through the power of the six analytical writing traits - ideas and content, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions - participants will learn how to identify the traits in student writing that work into polished written products. In addition, they'll glean knowledge to support the traits in the classroom, and how to make needed instructional adjustments to respond to any gaps in the writing traits. Through the student peer coaching method, participants will learn how to build student capacity to write using the traits independently.

Course Objectives:

• Understand what the Six Analytical Writing traits are and how to identify them in student writing.
• Learn and practice with effective teaching and facilitating of the Six Analytical Traits.
• Embed the six traits in lessons and performance tasks.
• Use the Six Traits Writing Rubric to score for student writing proficiency.

 

Vocabulary and the New York State Modules, Grades 3-8 - No. 250a

  Acclimating adolescents into effective vocabulary understanding and use is one challenge of the Common Core. Using NYS curriculum modules of choice, participants will analyze the vocabulary components of the modules. In order to review aligned instructional and experiential practices, participants will discuss and practice with the vocabulary instructional components housed within the modules. Sound, research-based vocabulary practices will serve as catalysts to effective implementation of vocabulary module components to improve teaching and learning. Course Objectives:

• Develop understanding and working knowledge of the vocabulary instructional challenges within the Common Core, and their application to the NYS modules.
• Plan and implement with vocabulary instructional components applied to module instructional units.
• Develop working knowledge of, and practice with, sound, research-based vocabulary practices to effectively implement modules while supporting relevant vocabulary components.
• Analyze the assessment features of the curriculum modules that support vocabulary in order to effectively support expectations of the Common Core.

Florida Literacy Standards For All Content Areas, Grades K-12 - 123a

  Participants will be introduced to sound and scientific research as it promotes literacy across all content areas to help students build foundational skills across reading, writing, speaking and listening. They’ll learn the scaffolds behind them that aid students in the important transition process across all content areas. Intentional, consistent, and rigorous teaching of reading and writing strategy that improves student achievement will engage the 90/90/90 principled approach. Participants completing this course will take away implementation tools that include graphic organizers, semantic maps, thinking aids, checklists, rubrics and more. Course Objectives:

• Plan instruction that meets the CCSS initiatives of college and career readiness.
• Apply CCSS initiatives to individual content areas.
• Apply effective teaching strategy that furthers CCSS discipline-specific initiatives.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Writers, Grades 6-12 - No. 261

  Building writing muscle requires lots of practice, passion, and on-going assessment. Participants will review intervention strategies to aid struggling writers in developing their skills while becoming inspired to write, and to write more. A Common Core/FSS-aligned writing focus will include essay writing, research writing, narrative, information/explanatory, argument, and narrative genres. Activities will incorporate the ELA instructional shifts. Lesson and unit development will begin with a focus on building from students’ writing strength with evidence-based strategies for success. Differentiation will include peer coaching, chunking with organizers, mapping, use of teacher feedback, and more. Course Outcomes:

• Become familiar with, and further develop, intervention strategies focused on effective writing interventions for struggling writers.
• Acquire and use strategy to differentiate with for struggling writers.
• Differentiate and scaffold for struggling writers, along with the use of effective teacher and peer feedback that builds writing muscle.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Writers, Grades 9-12 - No. 263

  Building writing muscle requires lots of practice, passion, on-going assessment. Participants will review intervention strategies to aid struggling writers in developing their skills while becoming inspired to write, and to write more. A Common Core/FSS-aligned writing focus will include essay writing, research writing, narrative, information/explanatory, argument, and narrative genres. Activities will incorporate the ELA instructional shifts,. Lesson and unit development will begin with a focus on building from students’ writing strength with evidence-based strategies for success. Differentiation will include peer coaching, chunking with organizers, mapping, use of teacher feedback, and more. Course Objectives:

• Become familiar with, and further develop, intervention strategies focused on effective writing interventions for struggling writers.
• Acquire and use strategy to differentiate with for struggling writers.
• Differentiate and scaffold for struggling writers, along with the use of effective teacher and peer feedback that builds writing muscle.

Building Reading Muscle of Struggling Writers, Grades K-5 - No. 264

  Building writing muscle requires lots of practice, passion, on-going assessment. Participants will review intervention strategies to aid struggling writers in developing their skills while becoming inspired to write, and to write more. A Common Core/FSS-aligned writing focus will include fiction and non-fiction writing (narrative, information/explanatory, persuasive/making claims), writing conventions, and activities that incorporate implementation of the ELA instructional shifts,. Lesson and unit development will begin with a focus evidence-based strategies that include differentiating, student peer coaching, chunking with organizers, mapping, visual strategies, oral recitation, the use of teacher feedback, and more. Course Objectives:

• Become familiar with, and further develop, grade appropriate intervention strategies focused on effective writing interventions for struggling writers.
• Acquire and use grade appropriate strategy to differentiate with for struggling writers.
• Differentiate and scaffold for struggling writers, along with the use of effective teacher and peer feedback that builds writing muscle.

The Six Analytical Writing Traits for Grades 6-12 - No. 246b

 

Through the power of the six analytical writing traits - ideas and content, organization, word choice, voice, sentence fluency, and conventions - participants will learn how to identify the traits in student writing that work into polished written products. In addition, they'll glean knowledge to support the traits in the classroom, and how to make needed instructional adjustments to respond to any gaps in the writing traits. Through the student peer coaching method, participants will learn how to build student capacity to write using the traits independently.

Course Objectives:

• Understand what the Six Analytical Writing traits are and how to identify them in student writing.
• Learn and practice with effective teaching and facilitating of the Six Analytical Traits.
• Embed the six traits in lessons and performance tasks.
• Use the Six Traits Writing Rubric to score for student writing proficiency.

Vocabulary and the Common Core Grades 6-12 - No. 250b

  Acclimating adolescents into effective vocabulary understanding and use is one challenge of the Common Core. Using Module 11.1, participants will analyze the vocabulary components of the modules. In order to review aligned instructional and experiential practices, participants will discuss and practice with the vocabulary instructional components housed within the modules. Sound, research-based vocabulary practices will serve as catalysts to effective implementation of vocabulary module components to improve teaching and learning.

• Develop understanding and working knowledge of the vocabulary instructional challenges within the Common Core.
• Practice with vocabulary instructional components as they apply to instructional lessons and units.
• Develop working knowledge of, and practice with, sound, research-based vocabulary practices to effectively implement modules while supporting their vocabulary components.

Best Practices in Literacy, K-12 - No. 259

  After analyzing lessons and units to determine the best embedded practices as they support diverse learners, participants will divide by grade bands to learn the best practices embedded within them. Looking at and analyzing samples will teach them how to identify specific best practices in action, and what makes them best as a strategy and an action, providing the foundations for differentiation and close reading strategies. Participants will identify best practices pertinent to the grade and discipline they teach, and work them into assignments that scaffold into a final project. Course Outcomes:

• Analyze lessons to identify embedded best practices that support diverse learners.
• Glean and apply new best practices to work into unit and lesson plans.
• Apply the cycle of practice and reflection of best practice strategies to further refine them.
• Align best practices with pertinent lesson components.

Literacy Strategies for Science and Technical Subjects: Grades K-5 - No. 151A

  Transferring literacy skills to subjects outside of English Language Arts is easily achieved when instruction is strategy-driven, explicit and consistently applied across subject areas. In this e-course, participants will focus on informational text and non-fiction essay writing across multiple subject areas. By analyzing non-fiction reading and writing in science and technical subjects, participants will understand and be able to resource supportive strategy for the consistent threading across content areas, genres, and learning styles. Tools for implementation and scaffolding will be abundant. Course Objectives:

• Learn research-based strategy for teaching and facilitating content-focused writing sessions in support of non-fiction text.
• Understanding of reading and writing genre as applied to specific science and technical disciplines.
• Facilitate comprehension and understanding through reading strategy and responsive writing.

Teaching Academic Vocabulary, Grades K-12 - No. 301

  A Marzano-aligned 20-hour online companion course, based on the publications Building Academic Vocabulary and Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools (Marzano & Pickering). Teaching academic vocabulary is the best way to build comprehension, reading fluency, and fundamental academic knowledge. Such systemic approaches have been proven to increase student capacity by strengthening their own vocabulary and knowledge base. This comprehensive approach becomes particularly powerful when implemented district-wide. Participants will be introduced to effective and research-based design of comprehensive approaches to academic vocabulary for immediate classroom implementation. Course Outcomes:

1. Understand several models of vocabulary building, along with the research and rationale behind it.
2. Design comprehensive lessons with embedded approaches to teaching academic vocabulary.
3. Implement lessons and reflect on them to modify and differentiate effectively for individual classrooms.
4. Utilize an on-going support system for implementation of district, school, and classroom approaches to effective academic vocabulary instruction.