Content Area Literacy GSSD Coaches Cindy Smith & Andrea Hnatiuk

* We start and end on time * We are a community of professionals, we participate fully, encourage participation from others, and allow ourselves to be learners * We create a safe place to be heard, we can take risks * We respect everyone’s point of view * We use technology appropriately in the spirit of professional learning

* What is Literacy?

What will I be able to do when I am done here today? I can identify and implement effective instructional strategies that can be used in content areas What is important for me to learn and understand so that I can hit the target? I must learn and understand student need support in content area literacy What will I do to show that I understand? I can implement effective cross curricular literacy instructional strategies that meet and assist student learning outcomes. Moss, C., & Brookhart, M. (2012). Learning targets: Helping students aim for understanding in today’s lesson. Alexandria: ASCD.

* Why do students have difficulty reading academic texts?

* “The need to guide adolescents to advanced stages of literacy is not necessarily the result of any teaching or learning failure in the preschool or primary years; rather, it is a necessary next step in normal reading development.” * -McCombs et al., 2005, pp. 2-3 as cited in Buehl, D. (2011)

* Basic Literacy * Intermediate Literacy * Discipline Literacy

* Big Question!

Literacy Expressive Receptive Speak Write Repre- sent ReadViewListen

Buehl, 2011

Pros? Cons? What students will benefit? When to use it? Ease of use?

* “I have a rain barrel that is 2 metres high, and has a diameter of 1.2 metres. How much water will it hold?”

* All too often, it is assumed that symbolic representation is the only way to communicate mathematically. The more flexible students are in using a variety of representations to explain and work with the mathematics being learned, the deeper students’ understanding becomes.

* It is estimated that a high school student’s working vocabulary weighs in around 40,000 words -Stahl and Nagy, 2006 * Vocabulary is an important factor in academic success. -Short & Fitzsimmmons, 2007

* Means teaching the origins of words, the meaning of prefixes and suffixes * Ex: Poly = “many”. Polygon, polynomial, polydactyly, polyester, etc. * Saves time, because learners aren’t just memorizing words, they are understanding how words work * Helps students make connections to prior knowledge and across curriculum and subjects

Effective Classroom Strategies 20

Effective Classroom Strategies 21 * Effect Size is a unit of measure used with meta- analysis that expresses the increase or decrease in student achievement * Cohen simplified the range of effect sizes * Small: 0.20 to 0.49 * Medium: 0.50 to 0.79 * Large: 0.80 and above

Effective Classroom Strategies 22

Effective Classroom Strategies 23  Requires that students distill information into a concise, synthesized form and focus on important points.  Research emphasizes the importance of breaking down the process of summarizing into a structure that can be easily understood by students.  Verbatim note taking is the least effective note-taking technique  Students should be encouraged to revisit and revise their notes after initial recording them.  They should use different formats and make notes as complete as possible.

Effective Classroom Strategies 24 * Both require students to distill information into a concise, synthesized form. * Effective learners are able to sift through a great deal of information, identify what is important and then synthesize and restate the information.

* Understanding Vocabulary, Scholastic Understanding Vocabulary * Literature Review Literature Review * GSSD Content Area Literacy GSSD Content Area Literacy

* – Important points 2 – Learning activities you will try 1 – Question you have GSSD Content Area Literacy