September is here which means a new school year is well underway, and a wonderful new R10 ELAR Newsletter is ready for your viewing pleasure!!!

As a reminder, we publish our newsletters on the first Monday of each month from September - May of each school year. Any other necessary communication during the month will come through our ELAR Listserv, so be sure that you have signed up using the button at the bottom of the newsletter.

We've been working hard to curate a list of great PD Offerings for our LEAs this Fall. Select from our master list of face-to-face and virtual sessions. We hope to see you at a session soon!

As a reminder, most of our sessions are available at the campus/district level upon request. To request a session, simply fill out the Session Request Form found at the bottom of the newsletter. This form may also be used to request ELAR Coaching.

Click on the image below to view a copy of our Region 10 Fall PD Offering Flyer!

Description: With the launch of the STAAR redesign, approximately one-third of students in the state of Texas received zero points for their RLA extended constructed responses, exposing a need for a deeper understanding of the text-based writing requirements. Join us as we navigate the complexities of ECR scoring. Participants in this session will understand the STAAR hybrid scoring model, gain insights from the STAAR ECR rubric, engage with analysis and feedback of student samples, as well as explore instructional implications for different grade levels.

This session will be offered for two different grade level bands, (Gr 3-7 and 8-EOCII)

Register for this session below

Gr 8-EOC II Date: September 23, 2024 Time 9-4

Gr 8-EOC II Date: October 29, 2024 Time: 9-4

Gr 3-7 Date: October 28, 2024 Time: 9-4

Gr 3-7 Date: November 15, 2024 Time: 9-4

Presenters: Jennifer Gunn & Chandra Shaw

Description: In today’s demanding educational environment, teachers often face overwhelming stress, anxiety, and burnout. This session is designed to empower educators with practical strategies to understand the 7 types of rest and reclaim their well-being to enhance their overall effectiveness in the classroom. Teachers will leave equipped with a holistic approach to self-care that not only reduces burnout but also fosters a more sustainable and fulfilling teaching career. Join us to prioritize your well-being and become a well-rested, resilient educator.

This session is for ALL educators. Invite a non ELAR friend to join!

Register for this session below:

Date: October 1, 2024 Time: 4-5 PM

Date: October 22, 2024 Time: 3:30-4:30 PM

Date: November 12, 2024 Time: 4-5 PM

Date: December 10, 2024 Time: 3:30-4:30 PM

Presenter: Chandra Shaw

Description: Get ready for an engaging session where you'll dive into the world of small-group reading instruction! You'll explore skills-based, differentiated, and needs-based approaches, and discover how to use data to create flexible groups and select the perfect texts for instruction. Align small-group instruction with research-based reading strategies and gain insight into what students not at the teacher's table will be doing. Plus, get hands-on with activities that bring the science of teaching reading and research-based instructional best practices to life! For your participation, you'll earn # CPE hour(s). It's a fantastic opportunity to enhance your teaching toolkit and make a real difference in your student's reading journeys!

Register for this session below:

Date: November 11, 2024 Time: 9-12 PM

Presenter: Dr. Pearl Garden

Can't get a sub? Don't have time to attend a full day of PD? Well, PD in 15 might just be for you. Each month, we'll showcase a small chunk of a much longer session that teachers might find useful. It's a great way to refresh your teaching with ideas you may have forgotten to use from a previously attended session.

This month's session reviews vocabulary instruction and the importance of creating a word-conscious environment in your classroom and school. The full 1 or 3 hr version is available by request at the campus and district level. Simply fill out the Session Request Form found at the bottom of our newsletter.

Watch our first PD in 15 below.

The Coalition of Reading and English Supervisors of Texas (CREST) Virtual Fall Forum is coming up on September 24th with amazing speakers to support the work of literacy leaders across the state.

See the conference flyer below for more details and speaker information.

• Grade 3
• Grade 3 Spanish
• Grade 4
• Grade 4 Spanish
• Grade 5
• Grade 5 Spanish
• Grade 6
• Grade 7
• Grade 8
• English I
• English II

Former Region 10 Consultant, Lakisha Ball needs your input. If you are a K-12 campus principal or assistant principal, please consider providing your perspectives and insight to her study.

Campus leaders, your input is valuable, so let your voices be heard! Scan the QR code below or click the link to participate in a research study about open educational resources (OER).

12-item questionnaire link: https://belhaven.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_56hVv0qNb5F5IMe

This month's first podcast spotlight goes to Angela Watson's popular Truth for Teachers podcast. I came across this series several months ago when I stumbled upon the title for one of the episodes, Teaching through hormonal changes: postpartum, perimenopause, and beyond, and thought, "Wow! I should probably listen to that one." Angela's infusion of practical classroom ideas with mindfulness in order to help teachers enjoy their work has been quite refreshing.

In a recent episode she has a conversation with Elena Aguilar, an instructional coach whose latest book is called Arise: The Art of Transformation Coaching. Listen to the latest episode of The Truth for Teachers Podcast, Creating conditions for transformation, here.

Our second podcast spotlight goes to Shanahan on Literacy. You know Tim always tells it like it is. See what he has to say this week on this episode, The Science of Reading Versus the Art of Teaching Reading.

With all of the emphasis these days on a "science of reading," is there any place for the idea of an "art of teaching?" This presentation explains the role that these two sources of success play and how they may work together.

Listen to this podcast episode here.

Fluency expert Timothy V. Rasinski teams up with Melissa Cheesman Smith, a veteran fifth grade teacher, to help teachers effectively weave fluency work into their daily reading instruction. The book is packed with engaging text and tools, an assessment scale, and high quality ready-to-use lessons including text phrasing and tonality, echo reading, word ladders, and more! Given the importance of fluency and its pivotal relationship to comprehension and word recognition the potential is high for improving students overall reading achievement, and their performance in other content areas.

Unlock top performance in English classrooms with *The English Coach's Instructional Playbook*. Engage students with innovative activities like Literary News Conferences and the Tournament of Scholars, transforming plot-driven sentences into interpretive analysis. Merge athletics, science, and psychology for dynamic, clear instruction in reading and writing.

The Region 10 ELAR team provides literacy support through professional development services, instructional coaching, and technical assistance.

Twitter: @R10ELA

Gr K-5 Literacy Consultant

Email: pearl.garden@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1318
Twitter: @LiteracyPearls

3-8 Literacy Consultant

Email: chandra.shaw@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1564
Twitter: @CShawR10

6-12 Literacy Consultant

Email: jennifer.gunn@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1080
Twitter: @GunnTexas

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