Literacy Coaching Corner

In this newsletter, you will find:

• "Carmela Full of Wishes" read aloud for Hispanic Heritage Month
• Author Spotlight: Matt de la Peña
• Indigenous Peoples Day Text Set and Teaching Ideas
• Teacher Spotlight: Brenda Epkey from Waldron Elementary

We will be featuring a new read aloud each month read by our very own coach, Kelli Cook! Feel free to share this with your students. Our read aloud this month celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month again with Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Pena and Christian Robinson.

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times bestselling, Newbery Medal winning author of seven young adult novels (including Mexican WhiteBoy, We Were Here and Superman: Dawnbreaker) and five picture books (including Last Stop on Market Street and Love). Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. In 2019, Matt was given an honorary doctorate from UOP. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his family. He teaches creative writing and visits schools and colleges throughout the country. (Taken from mattdelapena.com)

Indigenous People's Day is Monday, October 10th. Below you will find book resources to help students understand the importance of this day and more about Indigenous People.

Thank you to Early Literacy Coach, Kelli Cook, for curating this Epic text set! Click the image or the link to access the text set.

The vocabulary words below occur in many of the above titles. Teaching vocabulary words that students will see in multiple texts in a text set will help solidify their knowledge of the word and create depth to their knowledge.

Intentional vocabulary instruction will lead to comprehension of the text and concepts!

Vocabulary Word List: Ancestors, Culture, Gratitude, Heroes, Brave, Struggle, Tribe, Nation

DO: look up pronunciations and definitions for words you don't know!

DON'T: use accents or voices during read alouds that may promote stereotypes.

DO: talk about white privilege and the realities of Indigenous historical events.

DON'T: use terms that cultivate an "us" and "them" dynamic.

DO: engage in critical thinking and reflective activities.

DON'T: reduce Native American subject matter to a traditional craft or food.

This month's spotlight is on Brenda Epkey from Waldron Elementary in Fowler, MI. Brenda is a second grade teacher who has been teaching for numerous years within the Fowler School District. She reached out to her literacy coach about investigating making independent reading time more instructionally efficient within her classroom.

She began a six-week coaching plan based on the text, No More Independent Reading Without Support. She and the literacy coach created a six-week lesson plan and outline. Each week the coach has modeled a lesson from the framework and Brenda will begin modeling the lessons towards the end of the cycle.

Initial data was collected regarding the students' attitudes towards reading. Post data will be collected to determine if the cycle helped improve children's attitudes and motivation. Brenda has been very enthusiastic about the process and is looking forward to digging deeper in this topic.

Reach out to your building literacy coach if you are interested in learning more about coaching or a coaching cycle within your building.

The early literacy coaching team is REVAMPING our Clinton County RESA Literacy Website! Find ready read alouds, professional development opportunities, resources, and more about the Literacy Essentials.

Kelli Cook

kcook@ccresa.org

Supporting Bath and Pewamo-Westphalia School Districts

Cecilia Stajos

cstajos@ccresa.org

Supporting Fowler and Ovid-Elsie School Districts

Ashley Windnagle

awindnagle@ccresa.org

Supporting DeWitt and Ovid-Elsie School Districts