Page 1 of 3 1 of Secondary Balanced Literacy Approach

The basis for a balanced literacy framework originates with Common Core State Standards, North Carolina Essential Standards, objectives, and performance tasks. The dynamics of a secondary classroom necessitate flexibility regarding the occurrence and amount of time each component receives on a daily basis. The model is appropriate in all content areas to build literacy skills of students.

The high leverage strategies and resources listed below provide entry points and professional development opportunities for schools, teacher teams or individual teachers.

Performance Tasks

Rationale

Content-specific performance tasks allow students to demonstrate mastery of real world content. Tasks require students to synthesize texts and to develop products for authentic audiences.

High Leverage Strategies

• Real-world framing and context • Write/produce for authentic audiences • Formative and summative task options

Resources

• *CMS Curriculum Guides • The High Performance Toolbox:

Succeeding with Performance Tasks, Projects, and Assessments (Rogers, Graham)

• Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium • School-based PLC groups

Supported Reading (Close Reading, Text-Dependent Questions, Read Aloud)

Rationale

Teachers model and support strategic thinking about texts to increase student access and ability to read a wide variety of complex texts over time.

(CCSS Reading Standard 10)

*Resources already in use in CMS

High Leverage Strategies

• Analysis of text structure/organization • Question the author • Socratic seminar • Inquiry circles • Text annotation • Summarizing strategies • Interactive read aloud • Skill building mini-lessons • Text triangulation/paired selections

Resources

• Reading for Understanding: How Reading Apprenticeship Improves Disciplinary Learning in Secondary and College Classrooms (WestEd)

• *When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do (Beers)

• *Deeper Reading (Gallagher) • *So What Do They Really Know? (Tovani) • *Notice and Note: Strategies for Close

Reading (Beers and Probst) ELA specific • With Rigor for All (Jago) ELA specific • *Text Complexity rubric (ULLN) • *Text-Dependent Questions rubric (ULLN)

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Independent Reading Rationale

Teachers provide time and/or access to content-specific texts to increase reading capacity, build background knowledge and provide extended reading practice.

In the content areas, this might mean teachers provide reading lists, research opportunities and tasks that supplement classroom objectives and content.

High Leverage Strategies

• Conferencing • Article of the Week • Inquiry circles • Journaling • Book talks • Book projects • Good reads/book clubs • Teacher and student selected texts • Independent research projects

(Graduation Project, Global connections, Service learning)

Resources

• *Readicide (Gallagher) • Building Background Knowledge for

Academic Achievement (Marzano) • Short sheets • “State of the School” needs assessment

Word Study Rationale

Teachers intentionally provide instruction to increase understanding and use of the language of the discipline. Student use of discipline-specific vocabulary:

• Improves overall reading and writing skills

• Increases access to complex text • Raises achievement

*Resources already in use in CMS

High Leverage Strategies

• Tiered vocabulary • Graphic organizers for vocabulary • Word choice/diction impact on text • Connotation/denotation • Relevant context clues • Word structure/use

Resources

• *Creating Robust Vocabulary (Beck, McKeown, Kucan)

• Vocabulary Their Way (Templeton, Bear, Invernizzi, Johnston)

• Mechanically Inclined (Anderson) ELA specific

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Writing Rationale

Teachers provide students with opportunities to write

• to communicate understandings, thoughts and ideas

• to clarify thinking

Writing-to-learn, academic writing, timed writing, and choice writing are examples of tasks students should experience on a regular basis in all content areas in order to raise achievement.

High Leverage Strategies

• Type 1, 2, 3 writing • Notetaking • Summarizing • Process writing • Acadmic writing • Writing to learn strategies • Choice writing • Portfolios • Research writing • Writing feedback to students • Non-linguistic representations • Mentor texts

Resources

• *Teaching Adolescent Writers (Gallagher) • *Write Like This: Teaching Real-World

Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts (Gallagher)

• *Teaching Argument Writing: Supporting Claims with Relevant Evidence and Clear Reasoning (Hillocks)

*Resources already in use in CMS