Welcome to Black History Month!
As a reminder, normally, we publish our newsletters on the first Monday of each month from September - May. 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.
It was a full house for our very own Jennifer Gunn and Christopher Gray's TCTELA presentation, Real Writing in an AI World. Check out the presentation slides here: http://bit.ly/AIworldwriting. We're a little biased, but it was by far one of the best and most well-received break-out sessions of the conference!
Get involved, join TCTELA!
Early Grade Reader Response Strategies Lessons and Activities
This is an early elementary session that is offered as a part of the Instructional Practices (reading academy connections) sessions at Region 10. Participants will get the opportunity to see what responses to reading can look like in K-2.
Date: February 21, 2024
Time: 4-5
Location: Zoom
Presenter: Dr. Pearl Garden
Email: pearl.garden@redgion10.org
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Twitter: @literacypearls
Webinar: The Art of a Question
There is an ART, an act of creation and imagination, to crafting questions. Participants in this session will increase their questioning craft by developing skills for more intentional teacher-scripted questions and exploring strategies to promote student-generated questions and reflections. The use of STAAR and EOC stems will be incorporated into session content to illustrate how questioning specifically frames student expectations in both reading and writing.
Date: February 8, 2024
Time: 4-5
Location: Zoom
Presenter: Chandra Shaw
Email: chandra.shaw@region10.org
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Twitter: @CShawR10
The 411 on EOC ECRs
The Extended Constructed Response (ECR) on the English 1 and English 2 End of Course (EOC) exams set expectations that incorporate text analysis and evidence-based writing that is foundational to students' college readiness. In this session, participants will review strategies to promote text-based thinking before getting "the 411" on how EOC writing expectations align with various college-readiness standards. In order to inform instructional practices around writing, participants will take a deep dive into rubrics and samples of student writing craft. In this interactive workshop, participants will engage in reading and writing experiences that will foster authentic writing growth for increased success on EOCs and beyond.
Date: February 13, 2024
Time: 9-4
Location: Region 10 ESC
Presenter: Jennifer Gunn
Email: jennifer.gunn@region10.org
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Twitter: @GunnTexas
RLA STAAR Bootcamp: Strategies for Success Gr 3-10
While it is important to expose students to test formatted items so that they are prepared for the state assessments, this does NOT have to be a boring and stressful process. In fact, studying for the STAAR 2.0 RLA test can be quite fun and engaging for both students and teachers! In this session, participants will learn strategies to improve students’ conditioning and stamina for STAAR Reading, Constructed Response, and Revising and Editing, and how to organize those activities into a rewarding 2 or 3 week bootcamp which will offer a welcomed break from the old “drill-n-kill” methods used by some which only add to teachers’ and students’ anxiety and frustration levels.
Dates: March 1, 2024
Time: 9-4
Location: Region 10 ESC
Presenters: Chandra Shaw, Jennifer Gunn, & Pearl Garden
Email: chandra.shaw@region10.org jennifer.gunn@region10.org
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Twitter: @CShawR10 @GunnTexas
Mapping Out Instruction with TRS
Dates: March 27, 2024
Time: 8:30-3:30
Location: Region 10 ESC
Presenters: Christopher Gray
Email: christopher.gray@region10.org
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Twitter: @CGrayR10
According to the TEA Assessment presentation, "anchor approval, also known as rangefinding, is the process of defining the range of performance of student responses that fall within each score point on a rubric." The following Constructed Response Workbook was included in their presentation to help illustrate the process of scoring SCR and ECR items.
Fix Injustice, Not Kids and Other Principles for Transformative Equity Leadership
Fix Injustice, Not Kids and Other Principles for Transformative Equity Leadership offers a deep dive into the leadership values, commitments, and practices that help educational leaders create and sustain equitable schools and districts. Drawing from their extensive equity and inclusion work with schools, Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell introduce key components of the equity literacy framework. They then challenge principals, equity professionals, and other K–12 leaders to embrace six guiding principles for meaningful equity leadership:
What the Science of Reading Says about: Literacy Strategies for Secondary (What the Science Says)
Bring the science of reading directly into the classroom! Developed for Grades 6-12, this resource offers teachers meaningful strategies to build students’ reading and writing skills. This book provides easy-to-use methods and lessons to help older learners practice word recognition, reading comprehension and content knowledge, and writing. With these research-based strategies, middle and high school teachers can make reading and writing simple, engaging, and effective! This book meets College and Career Readiness and other state standards.
About Us
The Region 10 ELAR team provides literacy support through professional development services, instructional coaching, and technical assistance.
Twitter: @R10ELA
Dr. Pearl Garden
Email: pearl.garden@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1318
Twitter: @LiteracyPearls
Chandra Shaw
3-8 Literacy Consultant
Email: chandra.shaw@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1564
Twitter: @CShawR10
Jennifer Gunn
6-12 Literacy Consultant
Email: jennifer.gunn@region10.org
Phone: 972-348-1080
Twitter: @GunnTexas