Transcript Slide 1

Danforth School Inclusive
Humanities Initiative
09/28/07
Kathleen Hinchman
Kelly Chandler-Olcott
Syracuse University
Danforth Humanities Team
Research-based definition of
literacy
Literacy is the communicative
competence (e.g., reading, writing,
listening, speaking, viewing, representing
ideas across media, etc.) associated with
success in various communities both in
and out of school.
Students will:
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Choose to read and write in and out of
school
Construct and comprehend a wide range of
multimodal texts
Use literacy for various purposes including
information and understanding, literary
response and expression, critical analysis
and evaluation, and social interaction
Develop academic literacy skills to achieve
on tests and in contexts beyond school
Be confident and motivated enough to
graduate from high school
What might be getting in the way?
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Unpredictable school routines
Unresponsive activities-based teaching
Narrowly focused purchased programs or
overemphasis on test preparation
School reading at instructional or frustration
levels, with too little scaffolding for student
independence; limited scope in out of school
reading
Students lack strategies for reading and
writing extended text with fluency and
sophistication
Needed school climate
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School wide literacy
team with full staff
support
Calendar of events
Elimination of
disruptions
Teaching of
expected behaviors
in class and
hallways
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Collaborative
professional
development for
teachers
Collaborative
professional
development for
administrators
Community literacy
projects
Purpose of Our Project
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Collaborative formative experiment
Team of SU staff & school-based volunteers
Team-taught “inclusive” humanities class, including
guided reading, workshops, & genre study
Assessment-based differentiated reading & writing
instruction, with gradual release of responsibility
Qualitative data collection to identify & respond to
development needs, & track changing perspectives
Goals include increasing NYS ELA & social studies
performance, as well as more qualitative indicators of
competence (e.g., oral rdg, spell, wrtng, retelling)
Organizing Danforth/SU
Collaboration
Non-negotiables:
 Inclusion of ELL & special needs students
 Collaboration of 2 humanities teachers
 Acceleration through strategy instruction & reading
of increasingly complex text
 Focus on social studies themes, tied to students’
interests & community resources
 Interruption of whole class instruction
 School-wide language for & emphasis on literacy
Costs
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Instructional staff for daily 110-minute block
Teacher & administrative planning time
Leveled authentic humanities texts
Kathy, Kelly, and other staff for building &
classroom planning, study groups,
observations, student diagnosis, research
start up
Targeted intervention for differentiated
acceleration
Intensive
Strategic
Benchmark
Classroom
Classroom
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teachers
Reading
teachers
ESL teachers
Special
education
teachers
teachers
Reading
teachers
Partnership
tutors
Community
tutors
Classroom
teachers, with
consultation and
support
Daily 110 minutes humanities
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Heterogeneous &
homogeneous groups,
including ELL & all
special needs
Integration of ELA &
social studies content
Reading, special ed,
ELL, ELA & history
teachers together
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Daily extended reading
& strategy instruction
Multiple levels & genre
Daily writing &
strategies multiple
modes
Limited whole class
Limited but critical test
prep
Structure for humanities block
Theme/Strategy-Focused
Workshop
Whole-class mini-lesson
(10)
Guided & independent
reading (40-50)
Word work (15-20)
Genre-Focused
Workshop
Whole-class mini-lesson
(10)
Guided & independent
writing (40-50)
Word work (15-20)
Reflection/sharing (5-10)
Reflection/sharing (5-10)
Yearlong Humanities Essential Question: What
multiple perspectives inform American history, and
why does it matter to me?
Quarter 1
Opening unit/diagnostic data
gathering (2 weeks)
Workshop 1: Theme and
Strategy (4 weeks)
Inquiry Unit 1 (3 weeks)
Quarter 2
Workshop 2: Genre (4 weeks)
Inquiry Unit 2 (3 weeks)
Exhibition/Performance (1
week)
Testing (1 week)
Quarter 3
Workshop 3: Theme and
Strategy (4 weeks)
Inquiry Unit 3 (3 weeks)
Exhibition/Performance (1 wk)
Quarter 4
Workshop 4: Genre (4 weeks)
Inquiry Unit (3 weeks)
Exhibition/Performance/Reflecti
on (2 weeks)
Ongoing diagnostic data-gathering
& analysis
Formal
Previous NYS ELA
Acuity
School psychologist
Informal
Oral reading samples
Writing samples tied to
EQ
Bear et al spelling
inventory
Teachers will. . .
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Participate in study groups to learn more
about research-based approaches to literacy
instruction pertinent to their particular context
Examine student data to plan for acceleration
Experiment with and evaluate new
instructional approaches with support from
peer coaching
Send representatives to school-wide literacy
teams and advisory board
Early Points of Negotiation
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Roles, within & between schools
Scheduling, within & between schools
Managing productive group work
Required contact for students with special
needs
Time on assessment
Identifying needs of all students
Which initiative to take first? Which student
needs?
Humanities homework
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20 minutes instructional level reading or
writing daily, with reward systems
Requirement of four nights per week, with
one night to read aloud to someone else
Contract grade for amount of reading, not
quality of text or interpretation
Literacy across the curriculum
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Multi-leveled texts available to students and
used in instruction
Students read and write daily in each class
Teachers model reading and writing subjectspecific texts
Peer problem-solving talk occurs daily
Literacy across the curriculum
menu
Predict from headings
Graphic organizers
Think alouds re
importance
Partner reading
Word walls
Tickets out the door
Chunking text
Writing genre mini
lessons
Vocabulary usage mini
lessons
Determine meaning
from context
School-wide literacy teams will. . .
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Develop a building plan for building a more
literate culture that attends to adolescent
development and motivation
Develop a building plan for study groups and
peer coaching
Develop an evolving list of classroom “lookfors”
Monitor student progress, with a particular
focus on acceleration
Families will. . .
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Develop strategies to support their children’s
literacy development and school
achievement
Help develop initiatives that develop family
involvement in literacy in school
Be involved centrally in building-level
decision making
Participate in the advisory board
Community leaders will. . .
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Ensure that students are healthy, safe, and
prepared to learn
Provide volunteers and tutors to support
school-based literacy initiatives
Serve as authentic audiences for student
work
Create a community presence in the schools
Support families’ participation in the schools