We hope you're off to a wonderful start to the school year! We're excited to share another month's newsletter with you. As a reminder, 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.

Click on the link below to see the complete list of our face to face and Zoom session offerings for Fall 23.

These sessions give teachers who have participated in and/or are participating in the reading academies the opportunities to put the content learned in the phonological awareness (6) and pre-reading (7) modules into action. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on activities related to the content they have learned or are learning related to the science of teaching reading and research-based reading instructional best practices.

Oct. 20, Nov. 10

SEATS STILL AVAILABLE!!!

Description: The new writing demands of the state assessments will require students to compose constructed responses to text based questions. Students’ ability to clearly answer the questions asked and select the best text evidence to support their responses will depend on the number and quality of opportunities they have to practice these vital skills. In this session, participants will gain an understanding of the new STAAR assessment requirements for constructed response questions, learn strategies to create text-based questions based on the TEKS, and help facilitate students’ abilities to compose written responses which provide appropriate text evidence.

Date: (October 16 Session ID: 2656644 )

CPE: 6 hrs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here and its effects on our future cannot be ignored. As teachers of writing, we have a responsibility to understand the implications of large language models behind programs such as ChatGPT. And, we have a responsibility to our secondary students to discuss both probable benefits and drawbacks of utilizing AI. In this one-hour Zoom session, participants will not only build a general awareness of writing-related AI, but also they will explore strategies for designing and evaluating writing assignments that honors human thought and voice over AI-generated composition.

Dates: Oct. 24th AM or PM, Nov. 9th

Early Registration Ends December 15.

On Oct. 28, 2023, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, NTCTELA will explore the challenges of the new STAAR essay model for extended constructed responses and take some time to learn from our very own new board member, Gretchen Bernabei (Trail of Breadcrumbs, Corwin).

This Saturday morning workshop will include Gretchen's keynote, some important legislative updates for Texas literacy teachers, and some breakout sessions designed for those in leadership and the classroom. If you are a member of NTCTELA (joined at the conference in June 2023), you will receive a special opportunity for a live, one-on-one, personal Q&A session with Gretchen at the close of the webinar from 12:00-1:00 p.m. All who attend or register will be able to access the recording of the training and webinar after it ends with a unique code through our website.

House Bill 1416 updated accelerated instruction requirements from House Bill 4545 by:

• Removing the requirement for Accelerated Learning Committees while requiring Accelerated Education Plan after student fails to achieve approaches or higher on two consecutive assessments in the same subject area
• Limiting tutoring to 2 subjects and no longer including optional assessment administrations
• Increasing student to tutor ratio from 3:1 to 4:1 ratio for tutoring group size
• Reducing minimum hour requirement from 30 to 15 for some students*
• Providing student to teacher ratio waivers for use of approved online curriculum (approvals available spring 2024)

• HB 1416 Flowchart
  

• HB 1416 FAQ

• Region 10 High Impact Tutoring Services

• Contact: Cody Record cody.record@region10.org

2023

• 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

For more information from TEA click here.

Check out this new section of our monthly newsletter. Here, we will highlight a podcast that we find interesting and hope that you might too. This month's podcast is from the Edview360 Podcast Series. Listen to the latest episode, A conversation with John Hattie: Beyond What Works to What Works Best.

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

Email: chandra.shaw@region10.org
Website: https://www.region10.org/programs/english-language-arts-and-reading-program/overview/
Location: 400 East Spring Valley Road, Richardson, TX, USA
Phone: (972)348-1564
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

• September 2023