Tips from the Two of Us #11!

As educators of Literature and the Humanities, we understand the importance of our students having access to plenty of books. All of our students deserve a classroom library that contains a great deal of choice in genres (fiction and nonfiction) and a collection that is promotes diversity (authors, various cultures, character ethnicities, etc.). Let's share ideas on how we can boost our classroom libraries (see QR code and link below)!

You can scan the QR code or access the document from this link to provide your own ideas on how to build classroom libraries: https://goo.gl/V5CrV6

Thank you for sharing!

Signing out,
@JennaBrosette and @EvanPayneGCISD

Exemplar Charts: Moving Your Writers in the Right Direction (Tips from the Two of Us #10)

As Jenna and Evan were PLC-ing with Grapevine Elementary Humanities teachers last week and celebrating the great writing students have been doing, the focus shifted to using exemplar charts as a tool to move our writers forward. Exemplar charts lift up qualities of strong writing and when displayed in the classroom, allow students (and the teacher) an opportunity and visual to spiral back to review important writing skills. The work with the Grapevine Elementary teachers inspired this week's Tips from the Two of Us. As a first-grade teacher, Jenna was introduced to exemplar charts by her instructional coach a few years ago. When she began using them as a tool for her writers, she had no idea the impact they would have. After looping to second-grade with the same class and continuing her ongoing work with exemplar charts, she was amazed at the outcome.

The first step is to choose a student writing sample that exemplifies moves of a strong writer in the genre you will begin teaching. It can be one of your very own writers (with their approval), a teammate's writer, a student sample from your Units of Study kit, a STAAR sample, or any other item that feels right for what your students need.

Once you have chosen a sample, facilitate a discussion with your class while they hold a copy of the work or you display it on your projector for all to see. If you have a fancy poster maker, envision the sample enlarged as if you are creating an anchor chart. Read it aloud, bit by bit, with expression in your voice. Your excitement is contagious. Start by asking, "What moves make this student a strong writer?" Let the conversation fill the classroom.

As students carry on, praising the writer, listen in and spotlight student responses. Meanwhile, imagine if this writing sample belongs to one of your very own....the sense of pride they will feel as they hear the celebrations of their very own work! Spotlight student responses on sticky notes (bright colors and different shapes are our personal favorites) and post them on the sample, with arrows, where they align.

Grapevine Elementary School Kindergarten Writing Sample

Units of Study by Lucy Calkins
Gresha's 2nd-grade narrative page 1

Units of Study by Lucy Calkins
Gresha's 2nd-grade narrative page 2

Units of Study by Lucy Calkins
Gresha's 2nd-grade narrative page 3

Units of Study by Lucy Calkins
Gresha's 2nd-grade narrative page 4

4th-grade spring 2016 STAAR writing sample (score 4)

After your students have highlighted the strengths you had hoped for, or you've chimed in to focus them in on a few, it is now a new tool in their writer's toolkit. Display it in your room, copy it for their writing notebook or folder, and even let them snap a picture and add it to their Google Drive if you want.

You have just deliberately, without your students realizing, let them set the expectation for the kind of writers they will become. Now, they need YOU to believe that they can do it! It will not only take an encouraging teacher who has faith in his or her writers but will require you to know the craft moves your writers are already confident with and those that will take some more explicit instruction and inquiry to master. The post its can then become future mini lessons, mid-workshop teaching points, the focus of a small group, but most importantly a visual tool and reminder to move your writers in the right direction.

Are you wondering if the student writing sample you chose feels like an unattainable expectation for some of your writers? Consider how you could use a different sample to meet the needs of different learners and support all students in meeting their writing goals. Are you interested in seeing higher quality writing cross-curricular? Consider how you could work with your team to create exemplar charts in all content areas. Our team is always here to support you in your Writing adventures and we are looking forward to seeing the success exemplar charts play in your Humanities classrooms (and possibly even beyond) this year.

Tips from the Two of Us #9

Confer with the STUDENT ... not the writing or text!

We wanted to share some ideas on how to have a conference with a student during reading and writing workshop in your classroom. Enter the conference ready to listen, then think about an area of growth, teach the skill to your student, and then encourage them to try it out! We are also a fan of Jennifer Serravallo and like this short video clip of her showing what a conference might look like (see video below).

@JennaBrosette and @EvanPayneGCISD 

Tips from the Two of Us #8

Two of the most valuable tools in our K-5 Humanities curriculum are the TEKS Organizers.  They serve as a planning tool to help guide your instruction for the weeks of that unit.  They also become a place to check-off TEKS incorporated into your lessons.  At the end of the unit, it is often helpful to teachers to see what they have accomplished, what still needs to be taught, or what might need to be reviewed. Use these documents to annotate what it is you are doing (activities, lessons, etc.) and tuck them away.  The information you jot down on these will be nice little treasures for when you stumble upon them next year.

Access the QR code to share some planning tips you have as well! We look forward to getting some great ideas from everyone!

Signing out,
Jenna & Evan

Tips from the Two of Us!

GCISD Humanities coaches Jenna Brosette and Evan Payne have made it a project goal for themselves during the 2017-2018 school year to send reading, writing, and social studies tips to support K-5 teachers. The tips they send are from their new learning, professional resources studied, misconceptions they discover, and more. The tips are also being posted here on our Humanities blog to package all of them in a place for the year.  Come back for more tips throughout the year.

Follow us on Twitter:
@JennaBrosette / @EvanPayneGCISD / @GCISDHumanities

Secondary Learning Walks - Painting a picture of secondary English classrooms

During the month of February, the Humanities team, along with a few secondary administrators and instructional coaches, had the opportunity to make visits to a sampling of 6-12th grade ELA classrooms across the district.  Every campus was visited, and teachers from every grade volunteered to show us how they were implementing our SpringBoard curriculum in classrooms.  This curriculum, adopted nearly 5 years ago, has had a big role in transforming the way ELA classrooms operate.  Every grade's curriculum is comprised of 5 units that are designed according to theme.  Reading and writing skills are taught within each unit using texts and writing assignments that stretch students to think deeply, collaborate, and consider a variety of sources in their learning.

SpringBoard is a curriculum that is published by The College Board and is very rigorous in nature. One of the things that was most exciting to see was the way in which teachers were using the resources creatively with learners at all levels of skill. Teachers have definitely refined their practices with the curriculum to stretch far beyond the "workbook" that contains the basic materials.  Very creative word walls adorned rooms, students worked in groups to compose arguments, and a plethora of digital and print resources were used to help students in their learning.

As a curriculum director, perhaps the most affirming part of my learning walk experience was to see the way teachers have begun "owning" the process and the content of our adopted resources.  They see value in the vertical alignment of the skills/materials, and they have contributed to the "GCISDification" of our SpringBoard implementation.  Students' skills are becoming stronger with every teacher who builds on the foundation of prior learning.

In addition to seeing many positive things during our campus walks, our team also found ideas that we need to share across campuses (so that ALL kids have the benefit of them!) and a few areas that we need to hone and more consistently implement.  Overall, however, the visits were a great success, and they affirmed many of the great things we had suspected were going on in classrooms.

Soring Valor - The trip of a lifetime for students and WWII veterans

This post shows what can happen when a person has a good idea and acts on it, and when another person has a good idea and acts on it, and peoples' lives are changed for the better as a result.

A couple of years ago, Gary Sinise began coordinating and funding Soaring Valor trips to send some of the last living World War II veterans to the Nat'l WWII museum in New Orleans. He did this because he had developed a passion and an appreciation for our active service members and veterans. Prior to this week, his foundation had partnered with American Airlines, the museum, and the Air Power Foundation to sponsor 5 of these trips. Here's a link to show how these trips have gone. https://youtu.be/l3P15s4zWNQ

About 9 months ago, I got a call from Tricia Palmersheim who teaches 5th grade in GCISD. Her husband, Jim, is the Director of Veterans Affairs for American Airlines and has worked closely with Gary on Soaring Valor. Tricia and Jim invited me to facilitate the first student-veteran paired trip to the museum. Wow. An incredible opportunity and an enormous undertaking.

We, of course, said yes and began planning all of the events that just wrapped up yesterday. Through a districtwide contest (including nearly 1000 juniors), 40 students were selected from Grapevine High, Colleyville Heritage High, and Collegiate Academy in GCISD. On Tuesday night we had a community send-off in which the students met the veterans they'd be paired with on the trip. Veterans ranged in age from 88-101 and were accompanied by a guardian to assist with their care.

Gary Sinise, Mary Eisenhower (granddaughter of the president), Gary Littrell (Medal of Honor recipient), Steve Amerson (America's Tenor), and Doug Dunbar (journalist from CBS News 11) all participated in the program on Tuesday. All (except Amerson) also traveled on the museum trip. A group of 25 GCISD teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators also traveled with students and veterans. The majority of the cost of the entire experience was covered by the sponsors, and the students had not a single expense.

There really are no words to describe the enormity of the week. Students and veterans interacted respectfully, tenderly, and curiously during their walk through the exhibits. Many of our veterans' names and battles were featured throughout the tours. Students were literally walking arm in arm with living history. Tears were shed between students and vets, and bonds were formed that will last long beyond this trip.

It is a chapter in my career that I'll never forget, and a week for which I'll always be grateful. I'd highly encourage all who read this to visit the New Orleans museum, donate to the Gary Sinise Foundation, and consider the profound question that Gary posed to us at dinner on our first night of the trip. "What would our world be like today if these veterans hadn't chosen to serve, fight, and win the war?"

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from OC Taylor Elementary

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend a day alongside OC Taylor teachers and students. It was a great day filled with new ideas, interacting with students, and a memorable spelling bee! As this is the first year Ms. Young has been principal at OCT, I enjoyed seeing the way her leadership is already having an impact on classrooms. It is clear that teachers are making strides in their reading/writing workshop implementation and digging into the newly redesigned scope and sequences to adjust pacing and teaching practices to meet the new expectations.

My visit to OC Taylor started with the spelling bee. These students did an amazing job and had clearly studied lots about word patterns in order to be able to navigate their way through some words that most of us had never used! Speaking of spelling, I got to see some great examples of how teachers are studying words with their students. In 1st grade, I saw a very highly organized example of the Words Their Way program and the way it is meeting students' individual needs. I also loved seeing the energetic Watch Dog Dad working with readers in all of the 1st grade classrooms. Such a great program! As I moved throughout all grades, I got to see students meaningfully engaged during Tiger Time, beginning literature circles, writing in readers' notebooks, and some very well organized classroom libraries. I enjoyed having a 4th grade student explain to me all she had learned (and the research skills used to learn these things) in her passion project. She knew more about pandas than many zookeepers working in San Diego! :) One of my favorite ideas was the display of text-to-text, text-to-self connections, etc... in a 3rd grade room. What a great way to help students to be more mindful when they are noticing these things and to visually display this in a room (see picture in the OCT gallery). I saw many effective uses of technology, including the use of the Timeline app in 4th grade as students researched and built a timeline about Texas history.

As I wrap up my formal visits to all of GCISD's Humanities K-5 classrooms, I'm struck by the many common themes which I saw across all campuses. I'm so proud of our teachers for embracing the newly designed curriculum, adopting new instructional models, and staying committed to the work of developing empathetic students who are global citizens and effective communicators.

For a glimpse into the great teaching and learning I saw at OCT, please click here.

Humanities Campus Visits - Snapshots from Colleyville Elementary

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending time in the Humanities classrooms at Colleyville Elementary. They have been working hard during the past couple of years to adopt new reading and writing workshop practices, and getting to see these in action (and the impact on students) was a very rewarding experience. Truly, it was a joy to see the way they were taking risks to change teaching practices, empowering students to write about their interests, and fostering a love of reading across the grades.

In classrooms, I saw students working on cornerstone task completion (in a way that was aligned with the curriculum calendar), evidence on anchor charts of class discussions about social studies and ELA concepts, and students listening to read alouds about MLK and other current Humanities areas of interest. In 5th grade, I was blown away by the depth of conversation students were having during read aloud and during their comparisons between biographies and autobiographies. I also loved visiting several of CES's new teachers' classrooms. The first few years of teaching are SO challenging, but I was blown away by the maturity of these young teachers and the quality of work their students were doing. Reading and writing workshop practices are obviously being used this year on their campus. I saw examples of this across every grade with students reading and writing for real purposes, mini-lessons and conferring taking place, classroom libraries well organized, and writers' notebooks up to date with current writing and mini-lesson information.

I know CES has been working and learning lots about this model for the past couple of years. These efforts are bearing fruit and will continue to do so as students move from grade to grade with a similar instructional practices in place. For a peek into the classrooms I visited, please click here.