1. Aiken County Public School District January 13, 2017 Jaime S. Creasy
LEADERS IN LITERACY CONFERENCE
Rubicon Resources
Power point template opening slide
Aiken County Public School District
January 13, 2017
Jaime S. Creasy

2. Essential Question
As an early childhood teacher, how can I plan and prepare effective early literacy experiences for the 4K classroom?
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3. Training Outcomes
At the end of this session, participants will have a clear understanding of the information available in Rubicon Atlas for 4K classrooms, use the information to create an effective lesson activity appropriate for young literacy learners, and prepare and participate in group planning work to apply the new knowledge.
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4. Rubicon Reference
Check-in on the prior knowledge of the Rubicon system
Check-in on the daily use and experience working with the components of the Rubicon system
Check-in on the status of lesson planning using the Rubicon system
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5. Rubicon Review aiken county public school district
The Pre-Kindergarten ELA Unit is a comprehensive English Language Arts curriculum designed to prepare young children for later reading success by building foundational language and literacy skills. The curriculum provides explicit, systematic support for developing young children’s language, literacy, and content knowledge within the context of developmentally appropriate early childhood practices. A focus area is in developing young students’ oral language skills, including their vocabulary and narrative skills. Oral language skills are the foundation for listening comprehension during the preschool years and reading comprehension in the later grades. Oral language skills are modeled and practiced as teachers read aloud to students and engage them in rich, content related discussions. Students build content knowledge and vocabulary by listening to developmentally appropriate texts that build in complexity across the pre-kindergarten year. Students are also given the opportunity to practice using the language they are hearing by participating in meaningful content-related activities and discussions and developmentally appropriate play activities. Alongside content and language instruction, students also receive explicit, systematic instruction in the emergent literacy skills that are precursors to reading and writing (e.g., phonological and phonemic awareness, print knowledge, comprehension and vocabulary, print concepts, emergent writing and alphabet knowledge). Emergent literacy skill instruction occurs alongside—and integrated with—content instruction in each domain. Emergent literacy skills are gradually and systematically introduced during large group lessons, small group instruction, one-on-one teaching and practice with particular attention paid to the developmental sequence in which young children typically acquire these skills.
Rubicon Atlas will be reviewed online.
aiken county public school district

6. Rubicon Review
A focus area is in developing young students’ oral language skills, including their vocabulary and narrative skills. Oral language skills are the foundation for listening comprehension during the preschool years and reading comprehension in the later grades. Oral language skills are modeled and practiced as teachers read aloud to students and engage them in rich, content related discussions. Students build content knowledge and vocabulary by listening to developmentally appropriate texts that build in complexity across the pre- kindergarten year. Students are also given the opportunity to practice using the language they are hearing by participating in meaningful content-related activities and discussions and developmentally appropriate play activities. Alongside content and language instruction, students also receive explicit, systematic instruction in the emergent literacy skills that are precursors to reading and writing (e.g., phonological and phonemic awareness, print knowledge, comprehension and vocabulary, print concepts, emergent writing and alphabet knowledge). Emergent literacy skill instruction occurs alongside—and integrated with—content instruction in each domain. Emergent literacy skills are gradually and systematically introduced during large group lessons, small group instruction, one-on- one teaching and practice with particular attention paid to the developmental sequence in which young children typically acquire these skills.
aiken county public school district

7. Rubicon Review
Alongside content and language instruction, students also receive explicit, systematic instruction in the emergent literacy skills that are precursors to reading and writing (e.g., phonological and phonemic awareness, print knowledge, comprehension and vocabulary, print concepts, emergent writing and alphabet knowledge). Emergent literacy skill instruction occurs alongside—and integrated with— content instruction in each domain. Emergent literacy skills are gradually and systematically introduced during large group lessons, small group instruction, one-on-one teaching and practice with particular attention paid to the developmental sequence in which young children typically acquire these skills.
Focus discussion to ELA, specifically Q3 and Q4
aiken county public school district

8. Overarching Concepts in 4K ELA
1. Children learn to effectively communicate.
2. Children engage in foundational reading skills.
3. Children develop skills in phonological and phonemic awareness.
4. Children engage in foundational writing skills.
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9. Essential Questions for 4K ELA
What are the skills needed to effectively communicate, read and write?
I can speak.
I can read.
I can write
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10. Rubicon Resources: Pacing Guides
Quarter 3 ELA Overview
Quarter 4 ELA Overview
Knowing the learning expectations, we accomplish this through the daily Literacy Block.
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11. Required Components for ELA Lesson Planning
8:15-8:30
15 min
Morning Meeting and Message
8:30-8:45
10-15 min
Shared Reading with *Interactive Read Aloud
Teacher demonstrates proficient reading, models strategies, and extends understanding using the book/big book, chart, SmartBoard, or various types of texts.
8:45-9:15
30 min
Guided Reading (small groups)
Teacher acts as a guide to engage students in practicing reading strategies, asking and answering questions, and to develop independence.
9:15-9:25
10 min
Independent Reading/Exploring Texts
Students choose the text to build stamina in exploring texts for pleasure, information, and application of strategies.
9:25-9:55
Literacy Stations (including Word Study)
5 Stations=25 min
(1 Waterford rotation-1 group of 4)
9:55-10:05
Shared Writing (connected to Reader’s Workshop)
Teacher models writing strategies on chart paper while students interact, listen, and participate.
10:05-10:15
Independent Writing/Journaling
Guided Writing Conferences
Students engage in independent writing practice while teachers conference to reinforce strategies.
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12. Shared Reading aiken county public school district
What is Shared Reading? Shared Reading is a time for sharing a story and reading together (as well as a time of teaching beginning reading concepts in a safe, fun environment)! Shared reading in our pre-kindergarten classrooms may include echo reading (students echoing the words after the teacher), choral reading (students reading at the same time as the teacher), or fill in the gap reading (teacher reading the majority of the text and then pausing for students to fill in and say rhyming words or other predictable words in the story). All of these ways of reading are ways to encourage early reading enjoyment and success with a high level of teacher support. During shared reading, students focus on both the pictures and the text to make predictions and to generate meaning. Most shared readings begin with a 'picture walk' in which the teacher guides students through a preview of the story, asking questions to elicit words and phrases that are used in the text. The book is then read to students and predictions are checked against the text of the story. The book is revisited among several days. Further comprehension of the story takes place through questioning and discussion of each story (the author's choice of words and the illustrator's pictures), through acting out the story, making puppets and retelling boards, reviewing elements of the story (setting, characters, problem, solution), and putting pictures of events of the story in order. Once students are familiar with the story, we also look more closely at the text. We mask certain letters and go on word hunts for small high frequency words such as I, the, to, etc. We also play with the sound of the text. Students might be asked to listen carefully to the story and be asked to round up all the rhyming words they hear or words that begin with a certain sound. We also frequently brainstorm other words that rhyme or begin with the same sound. They may be asked to determine the number of claps (syllables) in a word or the number of parts (sounds) in a word. Sometimes, students will need to listen carefully to a word that is stretched out and put it together to figure out the word from the story.
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13. Shared Reading Students are learning to:
track print from left to right and word by word
predict and infer
enjoy and participate in reading with a high level of support
build a sense of story
expand their vocabulary
find letters and sounds in context
attend to concepts of print (spacing, capitalization, punctuation)
sequence the events of a story
focus on story elements (author, illustrator, characters, setting, beginning, middle, end). 
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14. Guided Reading
Guided reading has many of the same components as shared reading.  However,  it is conducted with a smaller number of students and focuses more on the individual reading needs of each child.  During guided reading, teachers work with students at their instructional level to guide them in using the context, visual, and structure cues within stories to generate meaning.  By using instructional level texts that gradually increase in difficulty, students apply strategies in context and feel successful! The end goal, as with any literacy component used in pre-kindergarten, is for students to become confident in pre-reading skills and who LOVE to read!
Guided reading in pre-kindergarten can be conducted one on one or in small groups using books with predictable text, decodable text, books containing a large number of sight words, specially leveled books in a series, or trade books.
By participating within smaller groups, students get more individualized attention and are often able to focus more clearly on tasks. Students are divided into small groups based on data demonstrating specific target areas for instruction.
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15. Shared Writing and Guided Writing
1) Model for students
The teacher, using anchor charts:
thinks aloud about possible ideas, draws a picture and orally discusses why certain elements are in the drawing (prewriting)
decides what to write that corresponds to the picture
does adult/book writing (with student assistance)
2) Student Writing (This may also be a time for fine motor skill practice early in the school year.) Students:
get their writing notebooks
date their next clean page
think about what they want to draw
draw their picture
kid write (with and with out assistance)
3) Continue with conferences and Author’s Share
*These are not writing prompts, but are connected to Reader’s Workshop.
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16. In Writer’s Workshop, we focus on:
letter formation
left to write progression
how print and pictures contain the message
how to differentiate between letters and words
spacing between words
the sounds and letters in words
punctuation
assisting children develop greater independence in writing
expressing ideas through pictures, oral language, and print
valuing ideas that are important to students
sharing orally
aiken county public school district

17. Work Group Discussion and Share
You are the experts!
Through professional collaboration, complete the following task:
Review your group’s topic
Discuss together, share ideas on planning for this area of instruction
Complete the anchor chart with the following:
Topic Title
KUD for Quarter 3 (Review Rubicon)
Ideas, Activities, Highlights
If time allows, design a quick lesson activity for your topic based on Q3 pacing guide
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18. Work Group Discussion and Share
Work Group Literacy Topics 1-Shared Reading 2-Guided Reading 3-Independent Reading/Exploring Texts 4-Literacy Stations 5-Shared Writing (Discuss connection with Reader’s Workshop) 6-Guided Writing/Independent Writing Answer this question as a group: How do you make instruction explicit to follow the learning expectations of the pacing guide, while maintaining individualized instruction and developmentally appropriate practice?
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19. Revisiting the Training Outcomes
At the end of this session, participants will:
have a clear understanding of the information available in Rubicon Atlas for 4K classrooms,
use the information to create an effective lesson activity appropriate for young literacy learners
prepare and participate in group planning work to apply the new knowledge
aiken county public school district

20. Questions?
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21. Closing: Contact Information
Jaime S. Creasy, Ed.S School Readiness and Pre-Kindergarten Programs
aiken county public school district