Literacy
Leadership Team: Book Study and Workshop
Reading
with Meaning, Strategies that Work,
or
When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do
In
many districts, a Literacy Leadership Team serves as a catalyst for
school-wide literacy change. An LLT may be made up of educators with
various roles within a school: Principal or assistant principal, reading
specialist, literacy coach, general education teacher, special education
teacher, school psychologist, and/or counselor. The primary purpose
of this team is to lead the school in improving all aspects of literacy
education and to assure that literacy standards are implemented effectively.
For the next seven weeks, we’ll simulate the LLT as you conduct
a book study of one of the supplementary course texts.I
selected the professional books because each is an excellent literacy
resource. These are books that you’ll find on colleagues’
desks plastered with Post-it Notes. With some overlap, each is focused
on a particular level of literacy development: Reading with Meaning
for grades K-3; Strategies That Work for grades 3-8; and When Kids Can’t
Read: What Teachers Can Do for middle school through adult. You may
select the book you want to study regardless of the level of student
with whom you work. Based on your book choices, I will form the Literacy
Leadership Teams.
The goal of the book study is two-fold: first, to fully explore an excellent
literacy resource from the perspective of the professional roles represented
on your LLT; and second, to share information from that resource with
your colleagues. Therefore, each LLT will develop a workshop for the
class to highlight critical literacy instructional issues and/or strategies
discussed in your book. Workshop presentations will occur on July 30
or August 6.
Planning
the Book Study:
Prior to class on June 18, obtain the book and skim it. Bring the book
to the first class session. During the book study session on June 18,
decide with your group how much you will read for the next class. My suggestion:
Read at least the introductory material and the first chapter. On June
25, determine how to divide the book and make a detailed reading plan
(form will be handed out in class) to organize the sections you will read
and discuss on July 2, 9, 16, and 23. Turn in the Book Study Reading Plan
by the end of class on June 25. For each discussion, you will plan a specific
focus based on the content of the chapters you have read for that week.
Use
the following “umbrella questions” to guide your planning
and discussion:
• What core research-based practices are presented in this book,
and how do they support a comprehensive literacy program?
• In what ways are the instructional strategies based on solid research
evidence as presented by Richard Allington?
• How do the ideas in this book enhance your understanding of course
objectives 1, 3, and 4?
• How could you make use of the ideas in this book in your professional
role?
Book Study Discussions: (June 25, July 2,
July 9, July 16, and 23)
You will meet in your book study groups four times to discuss your book.
Each week, your group will determine a specific focus for the following
week’s reading and discussion. For example, on June 25, you will
take a few minutes at the end of your discussion to look over the next
week’s reading and to decide what your focus will be for the discussion
on July 2.
Planning the Workshop: (July 16 and 23)
The purpose of the workshop is to share critical literacy information
and/or teaching strategies that are emphasized in your book. If we were
all colleagues in your school, what would your LLT want to share with
us that you’ve learned from your book study? We will discuss options
for workshop topics in class on July 9. You will turn in your workshop
topic on July 16.
Specific planning for your workshop should occur during the group discussions
on July 23. Each group will prepare and present a 30-minute workshop to
the class to share specific literacy issues or teaching strategies from
your book.
Follow these guidelines as you plan your presentation:
• Make sure that all team members fully contribute to and participate
in the presentation;
• Organize your workshop into the following components (download
a copy of the planning form as a Word document):
Rationale:
Explain how the workshop content addresses needs of struggling readers
and writers
Modeling/Demonstration: Select a specific teaching strategy
or literacy issue emphasized in your book to model for the class.
Guided
Practice: Provide a way for participants to “try out”
or experience something from your book so that they understand how they
might use the information in their professional roles.
Debrief: Explain how you can reinforce the content of
the workshop in your various school roles (e.g., reading specialist, general
education or special education teacher, school psychologist, counselor).
In addition, plan a way for participants to consider applications of the
workshop content in their own professional settings.
• Actively involve all class members in the workshop;
• Create a one-page (two-sided) handout to support your presentation.
Include your rationale, an outline of the content and teaching strategies
you used, and all relevant bibliographic and reference information.
• Plan and rehearse your workshop so that it fits well into the
time allowed.
You will turn in a detailed plan at the end of class on July 23, explaining
how you will address the workshop components above. (download a
copy of the planning form as a Word document).
Evaluation: Your workshop will be evaluated according to the rubric in
the syllabus.
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