Literacy Coach’s Kick-off:
Goals for the Year
Sharon Walpole
Michael C. McKenna
Goals for the Day
Present our overall plans to improve
differentiation
 Guide you to examine your data from last
year to see where differentiation is most
needed
 Provide you a chance to see
differentiation in action in each grade level

Key Features of this year’s PD
1. Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 will be merged
2. We will all be doing one comprehensive
book study
3. We will be focusing attention on
coaches supporting teachers to plan and
implement differentiated instruction
Here is our additive plan
Why focus on Tier 2?
Our data indicate that we are very
successful with the children who start out
at least at benchmark achievement.
Our data indicate that we are doing
increasingly better with children who start
out at intensive -- and we also know that
implementation of intervention is varied.
Our data indicate that our success rate for
children who begin at strategic is
relatively stable.
Benchmark to Benchmark
85.6
87.2
85.1
C ohort 1 Year 2 C ohort 1 Year 3 C ohort 2 Year 1
Effectiveness of Core
Instruction
In both Cohort 1 and Cohort 2, we are
nearing our goal of 90% of beginning-ofyear benchmark students maintaining that
status at the end of the year
Our basic program of whole-group and
small-group instruction is working for
them.
Intensive to Strategic or Benchmark
43
44.5
39.2
C ohort 1 Year 2 C ohort 1 Year 3 C ohort 2 Year 1
Effectiveness of Interventions
For children who begin the year with intensive
needs, Cohort 1 schools have made small
improvements towards our goal of 50% moving
out of that category. Cohort 2 schools will be
able to focus more attention this year.
Our basic program of whole-group, small-group,
and intensive intervention instruction is
beginning to work for them.
Strategic to Benchmark
45.4
45.4
43.7
C ohort 1 Year 2 C ohort 1 Year 3 C ohort 2 Year 1
Effectiveness of Differentiated
Instruction
For our students starting the year at the
strategic level of achievement, we have
had fairly stable results across years in
Cohort 1 and in the first year of Cohort 2.
We had hoped for 75% success for them.
Our basic program of whole-group and
small-group instruction is not yet working
for enough of them.
Things for you to consider

These data are aggregated across the
grade levels.
In your school, you will find grade-level
scores that are very different from the state
trends; use them to focus your attention.
 Remember that these data only include
children who were present at both fall and
spring; your own data will also include
children there at any one time point.

This text will help to
keep all of us focused
on planning
differentiated
instruction.
Here are our strategies:
Coaches deepen the concept of
differentiation by presenting the module
that your Regional Coordinator shared.
 Coaches spend more extended time
planning and observing differentiated
lessons with teachers.

Remember the Big Ideas
Gather your resources
Instructional materials
Assessment toolkit
Consider your children’s needs
Phonemic awareness and phonics
Phonics and fluency
Fluency and vocabulary
Vocabulary and comprehension
Plan and implement three weeks of instruction
We have made templates for you
These will be posted on the Architects’ site
so that you can print them or adapt them.
They are meant to target your thinking.
Refer to your
template as we
explain them.
Generally,
The first page reviews the needs of each
group, identifies the group members, lists
assessment data that will help in
planning, and reminds you of the
instructional strategies and materials you
will need
 The second page reminds you to select
the actual letters, words, patterns, and
texts teachers will use each day for three
weeks with that group

Remember our groups
Phonemic Awareness
and Phonics/Word
Recognition
Phonics/Word
Recognition and
Fluency
Fluency and
Comprehension
Need letter names, sounds,
full segmentation
Vocabulary and
Comprehension
At or above grade level in
fluency measures
Can segment and blend, but
need to work on decoding and
automatic word recognition
Few decoding problems, but
weak automaticity
PA/Phonics/WR:
Assessment Data
PA Level
ABC
Level
Syllable
Onset-Rime
Phoneme
Sing ABCs
Say ABCs
Track ABCs
Unknown Unknown
Letters Sounds
HF
Words
These data may be gathered from multiple sources. They are likely
to be necessary for planning for this group.
Instructional Strategies for PA
Initial Sound
Sorting
Pictures
Segmenting/
Blending
Pictures or
word lists
Say it and
Move it
Elkonin Boxes,
markers, word
lists
Teachers can choose any one of these strategies.
There are sections in the book to describe exactly
how to use them.
Instructional Strategies for
Phonics/Word Recognition
Letter
Names and
Sounds
Sounding
and
Blending
Letter
patterns
High
Frequency
Words
Letter
Word
Word
Word
cards or lists
lists,
cards,
plastic
word
Elkonin
letters
cards
boxes
Teachers can choose any two of these
strategies. There are sections in the book to
describe exactly how to use them.
Phonemic Awareness/Phonics
and Word Recognition Planning
This chart reminds coaches and teachers to
select the actual items for instruction in
advance. All phonemic awareness
strategies require lists of words or
pictures. Word recognition strategies
require letters or words.
Manipulatives can make the lessons more
interactive.
Phonics/WR/Fluency:
Assessment Data
Unknown Unknown Unknown
HF
Letters
Sounds Patterns Words
Text
Reading
Phonicscontrolled
Belo
w Level
GradeLevel?
Instructional Strategies for
Phonics/Word Recognition
Letter
Names
and
Sounds
Sounding
and
Blending
Letter
patterns
High
Frequency
Words
Decoding
by
Analogy
Letter
Word
Word
Word
Clue
cards or lists
lists,
cards,
words,
plastic
word
Elkonin
new
letters
cards
boxes
words
These strategies are the same as before, with the
addition of decoding by analogy.
Instructional Strategies for
Fluency
Echo,
Timed
Choral
Fluency
FORI
Choral,
Repeated Partner DevelopPartner,
ment
Reading Reading
Whisper
Lesson
Texts,
Basal
Texts
Texts
Texts
stopStory
watch,
chart
The same text can be used more that one day,
but we should consider ways to maximize the
number of texts that children read.
Phonics/Word Recognition/Fluency
Planning
Again, select the words and texts in
advance. This sort of comprehensive
planning will allow teachers to really focus
their instructional attention on repetitive
strategies and to monitor student
progress.
Fluency/Comprehension
Assessment Data
Unknown
Patterns
High
Frequency
Words
Reading
Rate
Text level
Below
grade level
On grade
level
These children may need a dash of word
recognition work; it can be accomplished very
quickly.
Phonics/Word
Recognition/Fluency Strategies

These are the same as those described
for the previous group; the instructional
strategies overlap.
Instructional Strategies for
Comprehension
Question
Clusters
QARs
Texts
Questions
Texts
QAR
Chart
Questions
Story
Mapping
Stories
Map
Text
Structure
Informational
Texts
Graphic
Organizers
Direct
Explanation
Texts
Strategy
descriptions
Summar
-ization
Texts
Summary
procedure
For our final group, add
vocabulary to comprehension!
Tier
Two
Words
Texts
Words
Script
ELL
Storybook
Concept
of
Definition
Texts,
Texts,
segmented Words,
Word
Words,
definitions, Maps
examples
Semantic Concept
Feature
Sorting
Analysis
Texts,
Texts
Related
Word
Words,
Cards
Feature
Chart
Don’t panic!
We will roll out each of these groupings
gradually over the year; you don’t have to
do all of them now.
 We will improve our planning templates
as we hear from you and from your
regional coaches.
 We are excited to work with you to
improve differentiation!
