January 10, 2012
Within small groups we reviewed six possible book room sets using a book room criteria form. Based on the criteria form and our group consensus model we narrowed that down to three book room collections. The field testing feedback forms were introduced for phonics, comprehension, and book room sets. Field testing will take place in late January-early April and the field testing assignments were distributed. All teachers involved with the field testing will attend trainings. Every member of the committee, including Literacy Support Teachers, are involved in the field testing along with other teachers representative of all regions within the district.
December 13, 2011
During the third meeting of the adoption committee, each member had the opportunity to preview all materials available in the areas of phonics, comprehension resources, and book room collections. After the previewing, small groups checked for alignment in the phonics and comprehension resources only with the Common Core State Standards. The alignment scores were considered and the committee began deciding as an entire group what materials would be best to field test. The overall adoption process was reviewed and committee members prioritized areas they would be interested in field testing (phonics, comprehension resources, or book room collections).
November 17, 2011
We planned our work with the following calendar:
- Winter—reviewing materials and reviewing selections for field testing
- Winter to Spring—includes field testing and gathering feedback
- March—public preview for adoption and recommendation to IMC
- Spring—finalizing the adoption and preparing for vote
- Spring—vote by IMC, final review, and vote by school board for approval
We explored the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) "Foundational Skills K-5" which includes print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics and word recognition, and fluency. The group talked about how this would impact our work as we look at materials.
Also, we looked at what is currently listed as "modeled" at each grade level on the Reading Scope and Sequence and correlated those skills and strategies with what is listed on CCSS (Common Core State Standards). Then we looked at what is currently missing from the ISD Scope and Sequence that is listed on the CCSS.
The last part of our day we talked about the actual materials we will be reviewing. What we are looking for in materials are: leveled bookroom collections, teacher guides and comprehension resources and phonics/phonemic awareness (K-2) word analysis. What we are not looking for are: basal readers (even if they include leveled readers), lots of worksheets and workbooks, whole class novels, and specific spelling programs. (The writing adoption committee will be looking at specific spelling programs.)
We practiced scoring materials based on an initial screening process. Step one of the screening involves evaluating whether materials align with the common core standards. Step two of the screening involves a more in-depth evaluation.
October 18, 2011
The goals of the Elementary Reading Adoption Committee include thoughtful selection of instructional materials to support the balanced literacy vision and student learning as outlined by the scope and sequence, common core standards, ISD mission statement, research, and teacher and community input.
The role of members is to review and recommend materials that align with the reading scope and sequence and effectively communicate with our buildings.
During our meeting, groups of five "jig-sawed" the first 10 common core standards focused on reading comprehension skills. Also, we looked at parent responses from the spring 2011 Zoomerang survey. We discovered and discussed trends and the possible implications for our work ahead.
Another portion of our day was dedicated to reading the research work by Hattie. Based on an excerpt, we determined that a reading program needs to consist of explicit instruction within the five pillars: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension. There is also a focus on metacognition in all practices.