Session 1: The Listening and Learning Experience: The
Power of a Story
Sequence of Sessions
This one-day training supports users of the Listening and Learning strand of the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program. The intent of this training is to
provide ongoing support to those using the program, to foster deeper understanding of the program, and to continue to build expertise in the program and in
using the materials. The training will:
1. Continue to frame the L&L program in the context of the larger Common Core shifts, 2. Will draw upon the growing expertise of the audience, allowing time
for information sharing and teacher-to-teacher connections (these activities are designed to also be a model for instructional leaders- as a way of structuring the
sharing among learning communities/teacher teams) 3. Will provide opportunity for ‘digging deep’ into specific aspects of the Listening and Learning program to
support high-quality implementation and differentiation.
Overarching Objectives of this November 2013 Network Team Institute
1. Participants will be able to articulate the three necessary components of a high quality Listening and Learning read aloud (text, teacher, student)
and how their interaction creates a high-quality ‘experience’ of learning within an L&L Lesson.
2. Participants will be able to describe 5 dimensions of complexity in text and analyze the ways that in-text scaffolds (GLS’s) and discussion
questions guide children’s interaction with text.
3. Participants will identify the specific ways that the Supplemental Guide scaffolds children’s interaction with text to support their engagement,
attention, and learning.
4. Participants will reflect upon their own experiences and knowledge about Listening and Learning implementation in order to collaboratively engage
in information-sharing and problem-solving with peers.
High-Level Purpose of this Session
Session Description: This session will orient participants to a framework for considering the Listening and Learning experience. This model, which will be drawn
upon for the remaining training sessions, emphasizes interactions between the teacher and text, student and text, and student and teacher as necessary for a
high-quality experience. Participants will take time to consider each of these types of interactions in order to establish a deeper understanding of this framework
of Listening and Learning implementation quality.
Related Learning Experiences
This training assumes general prior knowledge about CKLA and the Listening and Learning strand and is not appropriate for someone who is not yet
implementing the program. For schools, teachers, or administrators who have not had training on CKLA, Modules 1, 2 of the PD Turnkey Kit will be important to
review prior to this training (see . http://www.engageny.org/resource/professional-development-turnkey-kit-ela-p-2-overview for modules of training, ondemand webinars, etc.).
Key Points
●
The three dimensions of a high quality read aloud are teacher, text, students and these interact in various ways to create powerful
teaching and learning experiences.
Session Outcomes
What do we want participants to be able to do as a result of this
session?
How will we know that they are able to do this?
In this session teachers will:
1. Be able to define three types of interactions which are important to a
high quality read aloud.
In-session activities
Session Overview
Section
The power of a story
Time
25
Overview
Facilitators will present the story of
change from the Newark Renew
Schools.
Prepared Resources
Session 1: The Listening and Learning
Experience: The Power of a Story PPT, Slides 141
Handouts:
1. Modified Success Protocol.
Session 1….: Slides 42-59
The model of a high
quality read aloud:
Teacher, Student, Text
35
Facilitators will orient participants to Handouts:
1. Think Pair Share Protocol
the model of a high quality read aloud
2. Know Wonder Learn
and define teacher: text, student:text,
teacher:student components of the
Video:
model.
1. Play Student-TeacherInteractions.mp4
Participants will need an Anthology from which
to work
Facilitator Preparation
Session Roadmap
Section 1: The Listening and Learning Experience
The Power of a Story
Time:
[ 25 minutes] In this section, participants will hear the experience of change from eight
renew schools from Newark, NJ and then share their experience with CKLA thus far.
Participants will connect this experience of story-telling to the model of a high quality
Listening and Learning read aloud.
Materials used (listed on the relevant slides)
Time
Slide #/ Pic of Slide
Script/ Activity directions
7 min
Slide 4
Key Points:
1. Point to the importance of learning coming not just from us over this year- but from each
other.
2. “There is nothing like the power of the field’s own experience.”
3. Our primary hope for the day is that you come away feeling empowered to use the
materials of the curriculum in ways that make sense to you and your classroom.
4. We have organized the activities of the day to provide tools and protocols for digging into
the program and making conscious intentional instructional choices.
GROUP
Slide 5
Key Points:
1. We want to begin by sharing a story of change.
2. This story paints a vision for what is possible within the program when the materials are
blended with teachers’ expertise in their craft, creativity, and belief in the program.
3. The words of this story come from an interview with Lisa Pizzuto, who
served as the lead CKLA support to these eight schools.
Slide 6
“This story is about eight renew schools that we have within our district. They include Camden
Elementary, Chancellor Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, Newton Elementary, Quitman
Elementary Sussex Elementary and 13th Avenue. “
Slide 7
“ These were the schools that were actually selected for turnaround last year. New administrators
were brought in and these administrators were able to pick their staff. So essentially these eight
sites started from scratch. “
Slide 8
“ Layered on that change was the adoption of CKLA. Our state district superintendent, Cami
Anderson, selected CKLA based upon the fact that it was Common-core aligned, even before there
was a push for the Common Core state standards .”
Slide 9
“She saw it as addressing the three shifts of the Common Core states standards, including the
emphasis on complex text, nonfiction and high level academic vocabulary.”
Slide 10
“Core Knowledge Listening and Learning speaks to that every day within the lessons.”
Slide 11
“We began the year with a lot of uncertainty. Some of the staff weren’t hired in August, when the
training was conducted.”
Slide 12
“Teachers began the year with only some having had attendance at the training. Many had not
attended the training and some teachers were not in the appropriate grade level for their
training.”
Slide 13
“There were also a lot of delays. There were delays in the shipments.”
Slide 14
“There were delays because of the hurricane.”
Slide 15
“So it started on a rocky road because of those types of things. There was all this frustration going
into the year- different excuses and different reasons.”
Slide 16
“I came on board and my only job was to service Core Knowledge classrooms across the eight
sights. I would visit every school every week just to ensure they were following the pacing chart. “
Slide 17
“We had a pacing chart created but because of the hurricane and because of the delays we had to
revamp.”
Slide 18
“I basically learned the program on my own. I found whatever I could online.”
Slide 19
“I would reach out to Core Knowledge when I had a question about program specifics that I
couldn’t figure out on my own.”
Slide 20
“And there were concerns. The stamina of the children was a big concern.”
Slide 21
“And there were concerns that the lessons would have the children sit for an extended period of
time for a read aloud when they’re so young.”
Slide 22
“And there were concerns about meeting the needs of all students. There are a number of
students in our classrooms functioning at a low level. And so we had to build up the stamina
within classrooms and within students.”
Slide 23
“We put in place practices that the teachers would use to modify and adapt lessons as needed.
For example, they might chunk the text after reading it to support comprehension. They might
take a little bit of a break, or have the children get up and do a couple jumping jacks or sprints or a
chant, as they were working to build their attention and stamina.”
Slide 24
“And we would say to them, “the standards are spiraling so even though you’re addressing them
in this particular story or this particular domain, don’t feel that every child has to master these
standards right now. “
Slide 25
“Within Core Knowledge they are going to be exposed to the same standards, a lot of the same
standards, over and over again. Just stick to the pacing. We were strict about pacing. It’s just
something you have to do.”
Slide 26
“The ways I supported the teachers varied. However, I believe most of my work was done around
grade level meetings.”
Slide 27
“Grade-level meetings are a time set every week where the teachers meet as a grade-level team.
So all kindergarten teachers would meet; first grade would meet at another time, etc.
We would meet together and we would go through the domains. We would examine the
materials for their strengths and for the challenges that teachers might face in the domain.”
Slide 28
“And teachers would say to me, ‘ There are things I think I need to do here, but what I want to do
is written in the program.’ Well of course. The grade-level meetings provided planning time for
these teachers to work to hash out the program so it would work for them. Even in the grade level
meetings where I wasn’t in attendance - because I couldn’t be in all the places at once- the
teachers would work through the domains and really get to know the material.”
Slide 29
“And what can out was the teachers went above and beyond. Teachers themselves got interested
in the work and material and that made the difference.”
Slide 30
“They might not be true to every single question that Core Knowledge has in there for them.
They might find that they have some additional questions that they want to ask the students
about the story. “
Slide 31
“And on the extension activities, they may follow the way Core Knowledge has it laid out or they
may expand upon it or totally change it to make it more relevant to their students. “
Slide 32
“But they would submerge the students in the content.
They made it powerful so they could make sure the children really understood it.”
Slide 33
“So I think that’ is what made it. Once we saw it.”
Slide 34
“I had one kindergarten teacher- I think she has been teaching for 25 years or so. She said that this
was one of the years where she had the most children leaving her classroom knowing all their
letters and sounds.”
Slide 35
“And many teachers said that the content knowledge the children are leaving with in Kindergarten
is far greater than they’ve ever been exposed in grades one and two.”
Slide 36
“In fact, the grade 2 teachers were using a program called SAFARI MONTAGE to search on the
domain topics and build background knowledge.
The children were being exposed to things in second grade that were labeled on this program as
being meant for eighth grade students.”
Slide 37
“And they are taking it in. They are being exposed.”
Slide 38
“This year, it’s being implemented in 38 schools in the district.”
Slide 39
“And it’s hard to know, but I can tell... We’ll see a really big change in the renew schools, having it,
two years in a row. What I am hearing this year, in first grade, for example, is that the children
have come very well-prepared from kindergarten. And that’s a great start.”
10 min
Slide 41
Key Points:
1. The story may seem familiar. What struck me in the story was the uncertainty and
questions that existed and needed to be worked through. Paired with the images of this
amazing student work.
2. Even when we feel uncertain, even as change can be difficult, the images show the
importance of sticking to it.
3. The story itself was not always one of teachers feeling certain or loving every part of the
program.
4. It is a story about teachers dedicated to sticking to it and making it work for their
classrooms.
5. It is critical for you to connect with each other to build a network around CKLA. This is
critical for problem solving and helping you think creatively within the program.
6. We want to begin today with you sharing your artifact and story.
7. Review the protocol with participants. Emphasize participants should find someone new to
share their story.
8. Modify the protocol if some of the people are new to CKLA or do not have a story/artifact.
They can pair with someone who does have an artifact. That person will share the story.
Those who are new will develop one point of connection or question for the person that
reflects the value of the shared experience.
HANDOUT: 2_ModifiedSuccess Protocol.
Section 2: The Model of a High Quality Read Aloud
Teacher, Student, Text
Time:
[ 35 minutes] In this section, participants will become oriented to the model of a high quality Materials used (listed on the
read aloud
relevant slides)
5 minutes
Slide 42
Key Points:
1. The experience you are having by sharing your stories with each other on CKLA reflects
the same experience you want your students to have as they engage with the stories in
CKLA.
2. You want them to take in the information- presented through text and images.
3. You want them to actively connect to this information.
4. And you want to help them dig into the parts of the story that are new or unfamiliar in
order to expand their thinking.
Slide 43
Key Points:
1. How do we ‘get inside’ the experience of a powerful story to know what are the important
pieces?
2. This model shows three components of a high quality read aloud: teacher, student, text.
3. A High quality read aloud involves the text/images, you as the teacher, and the students.
But the important dimensions are not these endpoints, but their interactions.
7 minutes
Slide 44
Key Points:
1. The first piece to consider in a high quality read aloud is your interaction with the text
(teacher:text).
2. .
Slide 45
Key Points.
1. You as a teacher need to know the text well before you can engage students in its
nuances.
2. At the basic level- you need to know the words pronunciation, flow of the text. At a
deeper level, you want to consider what is said, and what isn’t said, and how the text is
strong and where it is complex.
3. You as an instructional leader need to support planning activities that allow teachers to
get to know the text. You want to consider the evidence of this planning.
4. Let’s start by just taking a bit of time to look at a text you have used in the classroom, with
the lens of finding what you like about the text and what is difficult.
5. Note this is the ‘baseline’- you will return to this text and have teachers work with it more
deeply once you discuss the dimensions of complexity in Session 2.
1. Review the activity protocol.
HANDOUT: 3_ThinkPairShareProtocol
2 min
Slide 46
Key Points:
1. First let’s talk about the passages you chose.
2. What we just did with the text was ask you to use your expertise and instinct- what is hard
and what is enjoyable or strong in the text.
3. How many focused on a difficult passage because of the vocabulary? How about the
nature of language as archaic versus modern? How many flagged aspects of the text that
required background knowledge to understand its inferences or nuances?
4. It is likely that many of you focused on these things, even if that wasn’t explicitly in your
rationale.
5. In session 2 we will return to this text and take a closer lens so you can see how the
framework of text complexity helps you dig into the text in very intentional ways and
provides you the rationale for making instructional adjustments to the lessons and how
you use the text.
6. Let’s also take a different lens on what you just did.
7. We also wanted to comment on the protocol we had you use for sharing. As much as we
can use our sharing time to also model strategies you may use with students, we will try.
8. The protocol we shared helped structure a sharing experience in a number of ways.
9. Take comments/observations from the audience. Build what they say focusing on the ideas
of structure, turn taking and accountability within a think pair share. Connect it to the
discussions that occur within L&L lessons.
Slide 48
Key Points:
1. The second dimension in our model of a high quality read aloud emphasizes the ways
students interact with the text.
2. Children need to make meaning from the experience of the read aloud. We, as adults, do
this automatically. Research shows we build ‘mental models’ of texts we hear- we refine,
update, link, fill in holes, pay attention to words we don’t know and try to figure them out.
3. We are teaching children to do this active listening through the guided listening supports
that are built into the read alouds, and through the discussion questions and ‘before the
read aloud’ talk. The big goal of all of this is to support children’s being actively engaged in
the text.
Slide 49
Key Points:
1. Let’s read this text from the students’ experiences. This is the experience we are hoping
for. The child is actively processing.
ANIMATION:
When read “pretty much alike” fly in
When read digestive system, fly in.
When read “food you eat into energy, fly in
When read skeletal system, fly in.
When read circulatory system fly in
When read breathe air, digest food, even heal itself, fly in.
Slide 50
Key Points:
1. Re-look at one passage from the Domain 2 story you read. This time, don’t think about
what you would say, what you would ask, what you would emphasize as a teacher.
2. Rather, consider, ‘what do I hope children are thinking or saying (out loud or to
themselves) as I read…’
HANDOUT:
Know_Wonder_Learn.doc
Slide 51
Key Points:
1. There are many things we do that very specifically guide/change the students experience
with the text. A small shift in what you say or how you respond can change the thinking
pattern and/or help children zoom in on thoughts they were having.
2. This is really the point of the in-text discussions/GLSs, as well as many of the questions
that are text-based and require returning to the text. It is not about doing exactly what is
written. It’s about using questions to powerful enhance children’s experience with the
text.
3. It is impossible to write such questions as Editors and know that is the exact right question
for every classroom.
4. The questions as written provide guidance for you as you consider how to deepen
children’s experience.
Slide 52
Key Points:
1. Beyond the questions you ask, the moment-by-moment experience of the read aloud is
important.
2. By this, I mean the way you respond to students to foster a positive cycle of engagement
and learning.
3. Let’s look at this in a few ways.
Slide 53
Key Points:
1. Let’s return to the passage where we saw the students thinking.
2. Consider how the teacher responds here to build upon what she notices.
3. That is one part of the student teacher interaction.
Slide 54
Key Points:
1. Let’s look a little closer.
2. Watch this video and consider, not only how she supports the thinking of students, but
how there is evidence of classroom management and enthusiasm.
3. Debrief: This teacher-student interaction piece is, in many ways, the art of teaching. It is
also the place where individualization happens. The teacher to text piece is where you get
comfortable with the content and emphasis what you see as important.
4. Only by having knowledge of the text can you take what children bring to you and build it
and shape it.
5. The magic of the experience happens in very thin slices/momentary adjustments you
make - whether changing the pacing or adding in something fun to bring back their
attention. The experience will also rely routines you know work for you. We will look
closer at some strategies around such adjustments and consider how the supplemental
guide helps you take a lens around this.
VIDEO: Play Student-Teacher Interactions.mp4. Note- if you want this embedded in the powerpoint
you need to add the link so it works with your file structure.
Use the following icons in the script to indicate different learning modes.
Video
Reflect on a prompt
Turnkey Materials Provided
1.
Additional Suggested Resources
2.
Active learning
Turn and talk