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All professional learning sessions are customized to meet the needs of each school, district, or county office of education group. Peruse the following topics to
determine focus areas. Then work with Kathy to mix and match them to plan the right blend of professional learning. One of these publications by Kathy
Glass might further the work of the professional development sessions:

Complex Text Decoded: How to Design Lessons and Use Strategies That Target Authentic Texts (©2015)

Mapping Comprehensive Units to the ELA Common Core Standards, 6-12 (©2013)
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Mapping Comprehensive Units to the ELA Common Core Standards, K-5 (©2012)
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Lesson Design for Differentiated Instruction, Grades 4-9 (©2009)
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Curriculum Mapping: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Curriculum Year Overviews (©2007)

Curriculum Design for Writing Instruction: Creating Standards-Based Lesson Plans and Rubrics (©2005)
Professional Learning Topics
The list of topics below can be combined; keep reading to peruse the detailed description of what each entails. Any professional learning opportunity
includes a combination of presentation, collaboration, and work time so participants begin to apply what they learn. In addition, Kathy can conduct lesson
demonstrations and peer observations, plus provide coaching.
LITERACY ACROSS CONTENT AREAS
Reading
Writing (including grammar and conventions)
Speaking and Listening
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Unit and lesson design around text
Complex text selection
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Unit and lesson design around writing
Writing genres: structure and characteristics
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Lesson design
Audience accountability
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Fiction vs. Nonfiction/ Informational text
Text-dependent questions
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Summative writing assessments: prompts, rubrics, checklists
Formative writing assessments
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Key components for lesson design around
complex text
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Engaging instructional strategies and teaching methods
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Differentiated instruction
Engaging instructional
strategies and teaching
methods for 21st Century
skills: critical thinking,
communication, collaboration
Engaging instructional strategies and teaching
methods
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Differentiated instruction
Formative assessments
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Student writing sample resources
Interactive grammar and conventions lessons
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Assessments
Questioning Strategies
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Vocabulary instruction
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Grammar and conventions curriculum map
Data: scoring sessions/use data to inform instruction and
lesson planning
Prereading guidelines
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Unit Design/Curriculum Mapping
ELA Common Core Standards
Other

Backward design
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Structure, sections, and supplemental materials
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Curriculum alignment critique
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Knowledge, essential (enduring
understandings), skills (KUDs)
Anchor vs. grade level standards
Shifts and aligned lessons
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Implementation of existing resources in unit
and lesson design
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Guiding questions
Strategic planning
Implementation of content area
standards
Informational text definition
Writing types
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Writing assessments
Vocabulary
Focus for PLC or team collaboration
Six Traits of writing
Assessments
Unit mapping
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Lesson demonstrations
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Common Core resources
Implementation (see “Literacy” and “Curriculum
Mapping/Unit Design” for specifics)
Curriculum mapping
Remote and on-site coaching
Curriculum mapping
Unit and lesson design
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Engaging instructional strategies
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Effective teaching methods
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Differentiated instruction
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Professional Learning Topic Descriptions
PRESENTER OBJECTIVES (Kathy Glass will…)
LITERACY INSTRUCTION ACROSS CONTENT AREAS
Kathy works with educators to build or revise a strong literacy program around targeted and pertinent
reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language (grammar/convention) standards. This bank of
offerings can be used to revise existing lessons or units or create new ones. She can share and model
various lessons around any of these line items, which incorporate instructional strategies and teaching
methods.
Reading
□ Collaborate to (re)design a comprehensive, differentiated unit of study (including individual lessons
and myriad assessments and activities) around targeted complex text
□ Determine which complex text to use for targeted units of study; ascertain complexity levels; define
and provide examples of informational text and other genres
□ Define text-dependent questions; determine the difference between text-dependent questions and
those that are not dependent on the text
□ Assist participants in crafting or redesigning text-dependent questions associated with reading
material
□ Explain lesson sequence options and necessary components to include when reading complex text
closely
□ Model differentiated instructional strategies for engaging with complex text and academic
vocabulary
□ Explain the role of pre-reading and prior knowledge around a complex text
□ Present a variety of reading assessment options
□ Provide lesson ideas for teaching vocabulary and infusing it into student writing
Writing (including grammar and conventions)
□ Collaborate to develop (or revise existing) writing units of study (including individual lessons)
□ Define the structure and characteristics of various writing types: opinion/argumentation, narrative,
informational/explanatory
□ Guide participants in creating or revising existing assessments around a targeted writing type:
o
o
o
o
rubrics
student writing checklist
self-assessment and student revision tool
formative and summative prompts
□ Present resources for student writing samples and ways to use them within instruction
□ Model differentiated interactive grammar and conventions lessons (e.g., combining sentences,
complex sentences, parallel structure, parts of speech, etc.) tied to complex text that students apply
in their writing
□ Share example of a grammar and conventions curriculum map a school or district can adapt and
implement
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□ Model differentiated interactive lessons around characteristics of a text type (e.g., building a thesis
statement, crafting a well-constructed body paragraph, writing an introduction that provides a
context for writing, etc.)
□ Facilitate scoring sessions around student writing and use data to inform instruction and plan lessons
Speaking and Listening
□ Present an audience accountability measure when listening to peer presentations
□ Model instructional strategies for discussion and collaboration around targeted content standards
and lesson goals
□ Share presentation checklist and rubrics
UNIT DESIGN
These offerings are geared for language arts, science, social studies, or other content area teachers
who (re)design comprehensive units aligned to the ELA CCSS, other state or district standards, as well as
content area standards. These components are included in a unit map and represent topics that can be
addressed separately or in combination based on participants’ needs.
Unit Design Template
□ Define and assist participants in applying the following components specific to unit design that are
included in a backward planning approach:
o Knowledge, essential understandings, skills (KUDs)
o Unit and lesson guiding questions
o Skills vs. learning activities (formative assessments)
o Summative assessments
o Resources and materials
Standards
□ Show how to peruse standards and group pertinent ones for a unit focus
Knowledge
□ Define what knowledge means and share examples
□ Show how to identify and list knowledge items for a targeted unit
Essential (or Enduring) Understandings (EUs)
□ Articulate the value of EUs as a key component in unit design
□ Model how to find and list concepts embedded in standards for targeted unit
□ Assist participants in creating EUs for their targeted units by using examples and templates as a
guide
□ Suggest how to use EUs for a grade cluster
Unit and Lesson Guiding Questions (GQs)
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Articulate the benefits of using GQs to frame units of study
Explain the difference between unit and lesson guiding questions
Identify ways to embed guiding questions into instruction to propel learning
Assist participants in writing unit and lesson guiding questions associated with EUs for a targeted unit
Suggest unit GQs that can be used for a grade cluster
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Culminating Assessments
□ Share various summative assessments aligned to Common Core Standards
□ Assist participants to create or revise existing summative assessments for students to demonstrate
understanding
□ Define the role of checklists and rubrics and share examples (additional writing topics in Literacy
section)
□ Assist participants in creating (or revising) checklists and rubrics for summative assessments aligned to
Standards
Skills
□ Define skills and how they relate to unit design
□ Assist participants in determining skills for a targeted unit
LESSON DESIGN
These offerings represent topics essential for effective and meaningful learning experiences. They can
be addressed following the creation of a unit map, which serves as a guide for lesson design.
□
□
□
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See “Literacy Instruction” section to augment this section on lesson design.
Model lessons for participants
Conduct lesson demonstrations in classrooms
Lead group to critically assess student work and use data to revise or create appropriate lessons
Lesson Design Template
□ Identify and model the components of a quality lesson
□ Provide examples of comprehensive lessons for participants to read and critique
Differentiation
□ Define and identify types of differentiation
□ Show examples of differentiated lessons aligned to standards
□ Share various differentiated assessments (pre-, self-, formative, summative)
Teaching Methods and Instructional Strategies for Formative Assessments
□ Present and model a variety of teaching methods and instructional strategies
□ Share differentiated formative assessments
□ Assist participants in creating standards-based lessons
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS (CCSS)
Choose from among these topics for introduction, reinforcement, or immersion of CCSS based on the
current knowledge level of your staff.
□ Explain the organizational structure of the CCSS and identify the different sections, supplements, and
their purposes (K-5, 6-12, appendices, Revised Publishers Criteria)
□ Articulate the difference between anchor and grade-level standards
□ Identify the shifts of the new standards and examples of aligned lessons
□ Provide the rationale and research behind the emphasis on argumentation and informational text
and the focus on reading complex text
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□ Define informational text and provide examples
□ Describe the differences between the three writing types and recognize sample prompts across
content areas for each type (see “Literacy” section for writing topics)
□ Provide examples of vocabulary tiers (i.e., 1, 2, 3) and instruction around vocabulary; model and
share vocabulary strategies to embed in lessons
□ Explain how the resources in the three appendices (Appendix A, B, C) can provide support in
developing curriculum
OTHER KEY OFFERINGS
Focus on any of these topics or combine them with others on this entire PD list to meet your curriculum
and instructional needs.
□ Critique and revise existing or published curriculum to insure alignment with targeted content area
standards
□ Show how to use existing resources to create an effective and standards-aligned instructional
program
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Develop strategic plan for implementation of content area standards
Determine how to best utilize PLCs or teams to implement content area standards
Develop and align six traits lessons to content area standards
Develop curriculum maps across grades, schools, and districts to reflect year long topics and unit
goals
□ Virtual and on-site coaching in a variety of areas customized to specific needs; e.g., target desired
skills, capitalize on strengths, perfect practices, incorporate varied instructional strategies and
differentiation, collaborate on unit and lesson design, etc.
□ Conduct lesson demonstrations
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