Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum Cottage Grove High School Kay Graham -- Principal Kim Scrima -- English Teacher Heather Bridgens -- English Teacher.

Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum

Cottage Grove High School

Kay Graham -- PrincipalKim Scrima -- English Teacher

Heather Bridgens -- English TeacherTim Dudley -- EnglishTeacher

I.  Introduction and Overview

Heather Bridgens

 II.  Road Map: The How and Why

Kay Graham

Why the Staff Embraced Writing Across the Curriculum

OAKSDATA

Math Science Reading

2006-2007 50% 68%

2007-2008 55% 60% 73%

2008-2009 60% 60% 78%

2009-2010 70% 70% 80%

Writing Scores Had "Flatlined"

• Writing scores had not improved in 4 years beyond an average of 51%, based on  OAKS "trend data"

 • Despite strong results in reading, writing had not

"taken care of itself" as promised by the reading experts

 • Sense of "urgency" created by the need to have the

class of 2013 achieve writing proficiency • Staff understood that writing is a skill that needs to

be taught and practiced often  

Most Recent Data    

2010-2011 Meeting Standards Data: Reading:  90% Writing:  68% Math:      70%  

2011-2012 Meeting Standards Data: Reading: 85% Writing: 68% Math:     70%

Process: Moving the Building Forward with a Focus on Writing...Embracing

Deliberate Practice   • Identified achievable building goals based on input

from teacher leaders and buy-in from the staff • Restructured staff meetings to focus on professional

development in writing and writing assessment • Self-evaluated our progress in meeting the building

goals three times during the year in 2011/contiued evaluating progress in classroom observations in 2012

Process: Moving the Building Forward with a Focus on Writing (cont.)

 • Assigned TOSA staff as Writing Coaches in 2011

  • Helped staff feel confident as writers themselves

with the ability to teach writing in their content areas  • Advice:  Experiment!  Be willing to try new things

even if there is no "best practice" to back up what you and your team think is a good idea.

Our Building Goals for Writing

1.Increase the number of writing opportunities for students

2.Increase opportunities for students to share their writing aloud

3.Use school-wide methods like TEA and "hit the bridge"

4.Examine writing data in order to design interventions

Meanwhile....Local Reading AssessmentSchool Mission:  Creating a culture of achievement where the focus is on learning and where all students experience academic success in a positive and welcoming environment Building Goal for Reading:  All students on track for a regular diploma will earn the diploma.  Testing will not be a barrier for graduation with a regular diploma.  

What We Did and Our Results for Local Assessment

1. Spring 2011 teachers helped write local reading assessment for Lane ESD

2.  General Ed teacher and Principal trained at ESD in scoring local assessment and access of secure assessments 3. Team (Principal, SPED, ESL, General Ed, Assistant Principal) met to determine plan of action for 15 students who had not met benchmark.    

What We Did and Our Results for Local Assessment Continued:4. Plan of Action:    a. Continue testing through OAKS    b. Set up small group tutoring with scoring expert    c. Worked with other ESDs to locate secure reading         assessment for ELL/ESOL    d. Met with students on Saturdays, holidays, and during         school days to complete and revise assessments

Results:  All local assessments were externally assessed.  100% of students met standard through local assessment if they did not meet through the OAKS test.

III.  Preparation, Intervention And

Integration

Kim Scrima

•  Preparation in Language Arts Departmento common goals, outcomes, techniques of focuso common assessmentso common vocabulary

 •  Intervention

o reading and writing workshopso staff wide scoring of writing work samples

 • Integration in All Departments

o sustained practice of skills taught in language artso common vocabulary

Preparation: Four Year Plan

Preparation:  College/Career Ready

• Honor-Level Option in loop to prepare for AP • Advanced Placement Class junior year

 • Writing 115:  Research Writing

o required classo college credit option 

 •  Writing 121:  college credit option

Preparation:  Alignment of Instruction

• Common goals, outcomes, strategies, techniques of focus, and vocabulary

 • Summer Reading Program

 • Common Assessment

o local reading testso writing sampleso staff-wide scoring of writing samples

Intervention

• Reading Intervention Program (decoding) • Junior Writing Workshop

 • Junior Reading Workshop

 • Senior Assessment Intervention Class

 • Staff-wide Scoring of Writing Work Samples

Staff-Wide Scoring of Writing Samples

Oregon Department of Education Official Scoring Form

Staff-Wide Scoring of Writing Samples

Google Form created from ODE Official

Scoring Form

Data Collection of Work Samples

Data collected from Google Form 

Sophomore Writing Samples Scores

Results analyzed from Google Form

Intervention:  The Junior Writing Workshop

Targets students who have not passed Oaks  Uses work samples scored by staff and 10th

grade Oaks scores to target instruction   Provides specialized instruction during the school

day (emphasizing workshop importance)  Uses data to focus on biggest areas of concern

The Junior Reading Workshop Targets students who "nearly meets" on Oaks

  Provides student scores and feedback

  Emphasizes five important test taking strategies:

take breaks, print passages, annotate, go slow, read questions first

  Provides alternative test setting

  Discusses the local assessment alternative:  time

and difficulty 

Integration

• Kelly Gallagher:   Mentor Texts and Model Writing• Six Traits Assessment:  staff-wide scoring

o All staff trainedo All staff score work sampleso plan to extend to science and social studies 

• Elegance Techniques:  Focus on Conventions and Sentence Fluency

• Skate Park:  public writing model • TEA Paragraph• Google Docs

IV. Techniques of focus

Tim Dudley

Writing Across the Curriculum

TEA Paragraphs

TEA Paragraphs using Google Docs 

TEA Paragraphs and Standards

Tim Dudley

TEA Paragraph

Topic SentenceEvidenceAnalysis or Explanation

Focus on the paragraph

"I would argue that the paragraph, not the sentence, is the basic unit of writing—the place where coherence begins.... If the moment of quickening is to come, it comes at the level of the paragraph."

Stephen King

TEA = Ideas and Content

Oregon Scoring Guide for Writing

TEA = Ideas and Content

T

E

A

Oregon Scoring Guide for Writing

TEA = Organization

"The ideal expository graf contains a topic sentence followed by others which explain or amplify the first.... Topic-sentence-followed-by-support-and-description insists that the writer organize his/her thoughts."

Stephen King

TEA Paragraphs using Google Docs:

 Comments

TEA paragraph in Google Docs

TEA Paragraphs using Google Docs: 

Revision History

TEA paragraph in Google Docs

TEA Paragraphs & Common Core

"The emphasis in the Common Core is to learn to read and write in ELA and to develop those skills, specific to the content, in all other classes."

Common Core Is Coming

You are here

CCSS Toolkit: Awareness & Transition

Common Core Shifts

CCSS Toolkit: Awareness & Transition

Evidence

Analysis

Writing Across

Curriculum

TEA across the Curriculum

Scientific Inquiry Scoring Guides

TEA across the Curriculum

Scientific Inquiry Scoring Guides

TE

A

Talking TEA

V. Strategies, Routines, Examples

Heather Bridgens

VI.  Where Do We Go From Here?:  Next Steps

Kay Graham

Next Steps

• Continue focus on literacy and writingo Summer Reading:  This year our incoming 9th

grade students and our 10th grade students had required summer reading and writing. We hope to make this a norm for every grade level.

 • Staff development

o Continue writing professional development with staff

o Tie this into "college readiness" goals.

Next Steps (cont.)

 • Revisit writing goals and adjust where necessary

 • Examine and adjust writing workshop

 • Celebrate successes with students and staff

 • Transition into Common Core State Standards and

Smarter Balanced Assessment

Experts And Resources• Halupa, Paul

o Techniques:  Skate Park, E-Techniqueso A Program of Prisms "Classic Composition" (2010)o email:  [email protected]

• King, Stepheno Techniques:  paragraph concept, quotes, philosophyo On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000)

• Dudley, Timo Techniques:  TEA paragrapho writing.cghs.net

•  Gallagher, Kellyo kellygallagher.org/o Teaching Adolescent Writers (2006)