S/CDN's Next Generation ELA Learning Standards Conference
Setting the Stage for Student Success
On March 5th, 2020, the Staff/ Curriculum Development Network (S/CDN) ELA Statewide Group is hosting a forum of educators from various New York State regions at OCM BOCES in Liverpool, NY to strengthen school districts’ capacity in the promotion of successful attainment of the New York State Next Generation English Language Arts Standards. S/CDN leadership and members will oversee the planning and delivery of this unique professional development opportunity. In preparation for the event, S/CDN representatives as well as staff from the С spent two days at Capital Region BOCES collaboratively planning the topics, workshops, and logistics. This one-day conference is designed to provide participants with an interactive opportunity to focus on the integration of the Next Generation ELA Standards into curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Participants will leave sessions with materials and/or ideas that can be brought to their schools. The S/CDN ELA Statewide group is proud to partner with С for a day of capacity building initiatives organized from the Next Generation English Language Arts Standards.
С ELA representatives from the Office of Curriculum and Instruction will launch the day with the session: The Next Generation English Language Arts Learning Standards: From Raising Awareness to Full Implementation. A review of the major standards revisions, a context for understanding and examining those revisions, and a sharing of resources to support the implementation of curriculum and instruction for the revisions will be shared in this session.
Breakout Sessions
An Overview of the Rigorous Curriculum Design Process
The origin and purpose of developing standards prioritization will be explained and demonstrated in this session. Participants will learn how to differentiate priority standards from supporting standards. A criterion for developing priority standards will be used as a springboard for building a rigorous curriculum. Participants will have time to practice and reflect on how to use and create these priority standards.
The Changing Face of Literacy: Guideposts for Moving Forward
Using the work of Dr. Nonie K. Lesaux, Professor of Education at Harvard University and Dr. Emily Phillips, Professor of Education at Vanderbilt University, participants will actively engage in examining the following questions: What are advanced literacies? How do we design effective learning environments for today’s literacy demands? In other words, what structures should make up the instructional core of today’s increasing literacy work?
Creating a Culture of Literacy Through the Lifelong Practices of Readers and Writers
Participants will be actively engaged as learners in the process of becoming lifelong readers and writers. For example, they will read passages and write about their reading experience. This encourages the participant to make individual sense of the reading and writing thought practices. The practices will then be unpacked and defined based on what the practice looks like, sounds like, and feels like in a culture of literacy. Participants will leave with shared strategies and approaches to the practices of lifelong readers and writers.
ELA Scaffolds for ELLs: Bringing the Next Generation Standards within Reach of ALL Students
Scaffolding instruction is essential in providing equity for English language learners (ELL) and multilingual learners (MLL). The focal point of this session is bringing the Next Generation ELA Standards to and finding the zone of proximity for the ELLs and the MLLs. Resources such as graphic organizers, rubrics, determining text structure for the attainment of the language arts progressions, coupled with an unpacking of linguistic demands, will be explained and shared. Educators will leave with a better understanding of how to reach and teach this growing population of diverse language learners.
Formative Assessment: Checking In Before they Check Out!
Formative assessment is a tool used to drive instruction. Student learning is enriched using this type of assessment. Participants will see how and why formative assessment impacts the student-teacher relationship and lesson planning as well as methods for classroom implementation.
Igniting a Spirit of Inquiry in Student-Centered Classrooms
Creating a classroom of inquiry fosters curiosity, deepens engagement, and increases autonomy. Learning flourishes in an environment that encourages a child’s propensity for questioning. This session will provide a brief history of inquiry, its importance, and how to develop it in the classroom. Participants will engage in a standards-based interactive workshop using inquiry models in student-centered classrooms. Emphasis will be placed on collaborative strategies, interactive protocols, Lifelong Practices of Readers and Writers, and an understanding of the phases of inquiry.
Is Your Curriculum Out of Whack? Align It!
The С Alignment Guide can be used by curriculum writers and classroom teachers to evaluate the degree of standards alignment of existing or proposed ELA units. During this interactive session, participants will be invited to make connections to the Next Generation ELA Learning Standards and the indicators for high quality instruction.
Rigorous Curriculum Design: Through the Lens of “A” Standard
Participants will learn how to extract and zoom in on operational verbs within a given standard. This process will help the educator differentiate between skill, content, and context. Embedded in the standards are learning intentions, skills you want the student to learn, separate from an activity. This session will explain and model the steps of creating operationalized priority standards to the development of success criteria, generating a rigorous curriculum.
This conference is free and open to all New York State UPK-12 educators. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited!