August 2024
Welcome back to school! It's that exciting time of year when you're setting up your classroom and getting ready to welcome a new group of children. Remember to take time to care for yourself; when you do, you'll be better able to care for your students. I wish you a successful and fulfilling school year!
Here are some ELA back-to-school activities:
Five Nouns (or Verbs, Adjectives): Have students write five nouns, verbs, or adjectives that describe themselves to share with the class.
Mystery Bags: Place an object in a bag and provide students with clues to describe it. In pairs or groups, students read the clues and make inferences about the object.
Classmate Interviews: Students create interview questions to ask a classmate. After conducting the interviews, they introduce their partner to the class and share the details they've learned.
Story Circle: Arrange students in a circle and begin a story with "once upon a time...". Each student then adds a sentence to continue the story. This activity can be done orally or written on an anchor chart.
Classroom Library Hunt: Provide students with a list of 3-4 genres and have them find examples in the classroom library.
Label Supplies: If your classroom uses multiple folders or notebooks, give students labels and have them organize and label each with appropriate headings.
Write a Class Pledge: Together, create a class pledge showing agreed-upon norms. Once written, have each student sign the pledge to show their commitment.
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The ELA Frameworks website has many resources to help you get started this school year. Particularly useful for the beginning of the year are:
Objective Analysis: This resource will provide detailed insights on student actions, teacher actions, recommendations, key terms, and related objectives for each standard you teach. The objective analysis is helpful when writing your lesson plans to meet the standard.
Engagement Strategies: Explore these strategies to enhance student engagement in literacy activities. There are strategies designed for early childhood and upper elementary. Watch the following videos to learn more about some great instructional strategies:
Literacy Progression: Alongside the Objective Analysis, these progressions will guide your instruction according to grade-level requirements and show how standards are vertically aligned over time.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Christie.Barris@sde.ok.gov
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In last month’s newsletter, the new Exemplar ELA Lesson Plans on the ELA Frameworks website were introduced. The plans include many resources and activities designed to increase students' comprehension in your classroom. Do you ever struggle to combine more than one standard into a lesson? A standout feature of the exemplar plans is their integration of reading, language and writing standards.
Every lesson includes:
- Information about the text and length of lesson
- State academic standards and learning objectives
- Integration of reading and writing standards
- Universal Design for Learning to ensure all students have access to learning experiences
- Necessary background knowledge
- Vocabulary
- A step-by-step instructional plan for before, during, and after reading
- Assessment steps
- Extension activities
Check out how theseplans could help you with comprehension and writing instruction in your classroom.
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What IS reading comprehension?
The simple view of reading explains that skilled reading requires both word recognition and language comprehension skills.
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Word Recognition: The ability to read words accurately and automatically.
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Language Comprehension: The ability to understand spoken language, which depends on the student's background knowledge and vocabulary.
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 Scarborough's Reading Rope illustrates the complexity of reading for learners. Watch these two short videos for more information on the various skills needed to comprehend text.
Video: The Science of Reading Basics, Part 3: Scarborough's Reading Rope
Video: SoR: Scarborough's Rope
Next month, the elements of word recognition and some best practices will be explored.
As you set up your classroom and plan for the new school year, here are some tips for creating a literacy-rich environment that your students will love!
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Model reading for your students: Share favorite books, use think-aloud strategies, and express the joy of reading.
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Establish a culture of reading: Make reading a priority by reading aloud, discussing books, and establishing a place and time for reading.
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Provide a variety of reading materials: Include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, magazines, audiobooks, and more.
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Provide reading and writing areas: Provide areas in the classroom where students can practice reading and writing.
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Include content area text: During science, social studies, and math lessons, include books or text to support the learning.
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Reading beyond the classroom: Host literacy events, reading challenges, and author studies to encourage students to read outside of school.
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Contests: Build student engagement by planning or joining contests that encourage reading and writing.
Read this article for more ideas on creating a literacy-rich environment.
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Great Training Opportunities Near You
OSDE is excited to announce free professional development workshops for the 2024-25 school year. These workshops will be held in different regions of the state and are designed to support educators with effective instructional strategies aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards.
Registration Links are below each session overview.
Elementary ELA and Social Studies Sessions: In this session we will discover effective ways to incorporate social studies standards into teaching elementary students comprehension strategies. You will learn how to build background knowledge using social studies resources, analyze exemplar lesson plans, and apply best practices in creating your own lessons.
Early Childhood Fall Regional Sessions:
Play to Learn in the Classroom: Discover the Play to Learn Act and explore research-based and evidence-based practices. This session will help teachers effectively implement play in their classrooms while teaching content standards.
Elementary STEM and Computer Science:
STEM in an Elementary Classroom: Join us to explore engaging and interactive resources for integrating STEM into the classroom using center-based activities. This session will provide guidance on setting up and facilitating hands-on learning experiences that encourage creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills for elementary learners.
Exploring Meaningful Computer Science for Every Elementary Classroom This session explores elementary computer science education. Participants will explore the Oklahoma Academic Standards for Computer Science (OAS-CS) and how those standards can be leveraged to support other subject areas.
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 The Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English will host their fall conference on Friday, October 4, at Glenpool Intermediate School.
The theme is Native Voices, and the keynote speaker will be author Traci Sorell, winner of the2024 Oklahoma Book Award in Young Adult for her novel in verse Mascot.
Literary Arts Workshops
Fiction Writing: October 10-13, 2024
Registration for the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute is open. The OFAI website has information on sessions fees and scholarships for teachers. Space is limited.
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The Inspire OK conference was a success! Educators from across the state gathered for a day of enriching learning experiences. The Oklahoma State Department of Education presented on a variety of topics, providing valuable insights and resources.
Below, you will find links to the ELA sessions presented at the conference:
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Let's Share! What's Working Well with Your Students?
Each month, the newsletter will spotlight ELA teaching tips or strategies shared by one of the state's educators. Teachers bring a wealth of innovative ideas, and we all learn better when we collaborate and share.
We want to hear about your successes!
- What went well in your ELA lessons this month?
- How have you set up your classroom to encourage reading and literacy?
- What reading routines have you established for your students?
- How have you set the stage for writing in your classroom this school year?
To contribute an idea, fill out this form or use the QR code above.
Let's inspire each other and make our classrooms engaging places for learning to read and write. Thank you for being part of the ELA community!
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