Provide educators in multiple subject areas with the skills to encourage student-centered literacy by focusing on choice, collaboration, and ownership to improve literacy outcomes.
Focus Area
Every educator can implement student-centered writing, reading, and literacy skills in their classrooms, not just those teaching English Language Arts. Making an intentional shift toward student-centered classrooms in your district requires getting buy-in from all stakeholders, differentiated support for teachers, and an understanding of what learning data can be used to measure success. Our professional learning programs include four distinct phases to support student-centered literacy instruction across your district.
Launching a student-centered literacy initiative starts with bringing your team together in-person to learn new concepts, language, and foundational practices around student-centered reading, writing, and literacy. Launch experiences include the teachers and leaders who will work together toward the common goal of improving student-centered literacy instruction across the district.
Teachers work with a coach who has experience with student-centered literacy practices to plan lessons, practice new strategies, and learn how to measure the impact for students. Instructional coaches use the Try-Measure-Learn method to offer educators personalized support as they work towards specific outcomes in the classroom.
Know what success looks like in the classroom, how to support teachers to achieve student-centered literacy outcomes, and build your ongoing professional learning plan for continuous improvement. Learning Walks are a non-evaluative tool that helps instructional leaders identify and celebrate new student-centered literacy teaching practices.
Gather teachers in collaborative Virtual Workshops so that they can work together towards the changes you want to see in classrooms. Virtual Workshops are facilitated by expert coaches to help educators create goals and an actionable plan to reach those goals for a sustained change in practice.
Building a Foundation for Literacy Success with Oral Language
Effective Phonological Awareness Instruction in the Student-Centered Literacy Classroom
Refining Phonological Awareness Instruction in the Student-Centered Literacy Classroom
Effective Phonics Instruction: Developing Sound-Symbol Correspondence
Developing Fluency with Intentionality (K-8)
Mastering Close Reading: Strategies for Effective Text Analysis
Vocabulary Instruction Across the Curriculum
Planning for Foundational Literacy Instruction Grounded in the Science of Reading (K-5)
Leveraging Discourse for Learning
Elements of Writing Development
Supporting Authentic Writing in Different Genres
The Writing Process: Structuring Writing for Success
Assessing Writing: Types, Authenticity, and Setting Clear Expectations
Building Student Agency and Authenticity through Writing
Supporting Developing Readers with Accessing Grade Level Text (Grades 3-12)
Supporting all Students with Differentiated Foundational Skills Instruction (Grades K-5)
Outcomes are the goals for all of our learning experiences. Each experience is tied to an outcome that makes the change in practice tangible and impactful for students and teachers. For student-centered literacy, we focus on helping educators of different grade bands achieve the below outcomes.
Outcome: I plan high-quality lessons for foundational reading instruction, including phonics, decoding, phonological and phonemic awareness, and high-frequency word recognition.
Outcome: I provide high-quality learning experiences that help students engage in productive discourse and develop their writing, speaking, and listening skills.
Outcome: I monitor student learning on a continuous basis by analyzing both quantitative (i.e. Screeners, student work samples) and qualitative (i.e. Student conferencing) assessment measures that identify students’ strengths and needs.
Outcome: I monitor student learning on a continuous basis and provide differentiated support as appropriate.
Outcome: I develop engaging learning experiences and consistently incorporate student voice, choice, and identities in literacy instruction
Making shifts in practice doesn’t happen overnight. Creating a meaningful change in student-centered literacy is often a one to three year arc, depending on your district’s goals and size. Our comprehensive professional learning programs incorporate in-person, virtual, group, and self-directed learning experiences throughout the full school year to help educators connect the dots between theory and practice. Our team will create a learning plan that is tailored to your district’s strategic plan and includes a mix of learning experiences backed by research and focused on specific outcomes.
Increase student reading and engagement with literature circles.
Support students in practicing reading fluently, assessing their own fluency, and reflecting on their reading with their teacher.
Teach students to discuss complex texts or topics and build their speaking and listening skills with Socratic Seminars.
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