Our #KnowledgeMatters School Tour has arrived at @RipleyElem3_5, a Reward School that has seen Grade 3 reading gains in TN assessments. We are already hearing inspiring stories of student engagement & teacher success.

We’ll tell stories from 2 elementary schools!
#TNBestForAll
Our day starts with a round table discussion with T’s, administrators, and parents, reflecting on the @LaudCoSchools experience w/ high-quality ELA curriculum (using @WitWisdomELA).

@SchwinnTeach is joining the conversation! Afterward, we’ll visit classrooms.
#TNBestForAll
2/x
Teacher and grandparent Trina Smith spoke about her granddaughter, who has special needs and has shown dramatic progress since the new curriculum was implemented:

3/x
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
Kinder T Megan Davis describes the journey: more work in the beginning while you learn the curriculum, far less work beyond.

Also... the kids start carrying the work! (More on that when we get to classrooms.)

4/x
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
The most common comment heard from @LaudCoSchools T’s:

“Trust the process.”

There is a leap of faith involved in new curriculum... but it pays off, as this group attests.

5/x
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
“I have to be honest...There were lots of tears the first year.”

T’s has concerns about test scores, evaluations.

Admins listened & removed obstacles. Also spent much time in classrooms. 

“We said: Stick with it. Year 1 is hardest.”

@jennyray66 straight talk.
6/
#TNBestForAll
How has the investment been “hard work worth doing?”

@sheila83522973 is a mom of triplets... and one’s a struggling reader. The curriculum lets all 3 kids have a common conversation about the knowledge they are gaining (in different classrooms!). https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz"> #equity

#TNBestForAll
We also heard from parents on our visit to @HallsElemTigers.

Listen to this mom – a former teacher – describing what she observes at home with her son.

We hear it all the time: Parents see the difference!

8/
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll #LauderdaleLeads @LauderdaleSuper
. @LauderdaleSuper made an essential point:

Superintendent support for curriculum work is essential. From budgeting to finding ways to ensure systemic support for the literacy initiatives.

We discussed this theme in-depth later.
9/
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll @SchwinnTeach
. @LauderdaleSuper notes the importance of getting all stakeholders aligned with the goals of the “hard work but really important work” to raise literacy outcomes.

Right up to the school board. #LauderdaleLeads

10/ #CurriculumMatters #TNBestForAll @jennyray66 @lisacoons10
The district removed obstacles, like a requirement that T’s submit lesson plans (which made little sense now that T’s had excellent lessons in the @WitWisdomELA curriculum).

It also resourced PD, which is critical!

More from @LauderdaleSuper:

#CurriculumMatters #TNBestForAll
We asked @LauderdaleSuper what he would say to other suoerintendents and Eds considering their ELA options.

His advice: go see classrooms in districts using excellent materials! You’ll see the difference. And T’s stories will inspire you! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💯" title="Hundert Punkte Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Hundert Punkte Symbol">

12/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
After visiting dozens of schools using knowledge-building curricula – incl @LaudCoSchools @SullCoSchools @LenoirCitySch this winter – we emphatically echo @LauderdaleSuper:

You must visit classrooms to ‘get it.’ Instructional quality is readily apparent! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👀" title="Augen" aria-label="Emoji: Augen">

13/
#tnbestforall
When you see 5th Graders having vigorous conversations about the Phantom Tollbooth (!), citing evidence from the text, it’s impossible to miss the instructional quality.

As one teacher said, “I read that in High School!”

#LauderdaleLeads #TNBestForAll @LauderdaleSuper
14/
Knowledge-rich curricula are designed to impart knowledge about the world – and with tasks, activities, routines, & protocols that get Ss pulling info from the texts.

Rich conversations about text-based evidence are happening in every classroom!

15/
#tnbestforall @jennyray66
We were visiting inclusion classrooms, where some students were on IEPs... but we were unable to tell which students. (That’s a powerful statement!)

The routines in the curriculum help Ts foster participation by all Ss, working with a common grade level text.

16/ #TNBestForAll
The curriculum tees up text-centered discourse in every classroom. How?

Here is a first grade classroom doing a read aloud.

The teacher then gives students a discussion prompt, for a paid discussion, from @WitWisdomELA...

17/ #KnowlegdeMatters #elachat #LauderdaleLeads
Then Ss talk in small groups, sharing their thinking.

Kids pull evidence from texts to support their points. The curriculum’s routines / prompts promote that approach, so the teacher is reinforcing it.

You’d be amazed at the insight of these first graders!

18/ #TNBestForAll
Mr. Stevens explains the way these practices – which get all kids sharing their thinking about texts – foster instructional equity.

We heard this story repeatedly, and it gave us the chills every time! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">

19/
#LauderdaleLeads @LauderdaleSuper @jennyray66 #TNBestForAll #elachat
The routines and protocols in @WitWisdomELA are also intentional in fostering good communication, including respectful disagreement.

We discussed this with @LaudCoSchools teachers over lunch:

20/
#LauderdaleLeads #tnbestforall @jennyray66 @LauderdaleSuper
The @WitWisdomELA curriculum includes a Praise, Question, Suggestion routine that gives Ss clear guidance for how to give constructive feedback to peers.

It is frequently employed when students share writing with one another, as Ts explained.

21/ #TNBestForAll @jennyray66
The curriculum is intentional about introducing these practices from “the very beginning” of each year, so they become norms. It works!

These details explain why many hail the social-emotional learning baked into high-quality curricula.
22/
#sel #KnowledgeMatters #tnbestforall
Routines & protocols come up often in discussions with Ts.

They’re invaluable, providing clear guidance & structure for Ts about how to make the curriculum soar with students... but also BC they foster coherence across grades.

Ss grow familiar with them BC they recur!

23/
“You don’t have to explain the Notice Wonder routine to Ss more than once.” Yet it recurs across grades.

This is just one reason curricula become easier to teach in year 2. Ss enter the next grade knowing routines!

We heard this across districts & about each curriculum.

24/
The value of thoughtful, consistent routines & protocols for Ss AND Ts came up in @SullCoSchools, @LenoirCitySch, @LaudCoSchools, & EVERY other stop on our tour.

It’s a huge under-recognized virtue of @WitWisdomELA @ckschools @ELeducation & high-quality curricula generally!

25/
This thread tells stories from @LaudCoSchools; check out #KnowledgeMatters for addl 2019 stories from @SullCoSchools @LenoirCitySch.

The same themes emerge!

For ex., an equity story in Sullivan County:

@robin_mcclellan

26/

#elachat #TNBestForAll https://twitter.com/jp_teachingkids/status/1195512268420722688">https://twitter.com/jp_teachi...
Equity themes emerge constantly in conversations about work with high-quality curricula.

Hear @LaudCoSchools T’s explain the power of seeing excellent S work in poverty-impacted schools.

They gave us the chills!

27/
#elachat #knowledgematters #tnbestforall @LauderdaleSuper
Two more teachers highlight the equity effects that they are seeing in their classrooms since implementing high-quality curriculum.

We visited their inclusion classrooms, and saw rooms full of actively-participating students discussing texts.

28/
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
Why do Ts see stronger outcomes for Ss in inclusion classrooms?

All students read rich, grade level texts... whereas previously, struggling readers would have been reading lesser books.

This matters!

29/
#LauderdaleLeads #TNBestForAll @jennyray66 @LauderdaleSuper #elachat
We should note that the texts use in high-quality curricula are EXCELLENT.

We get so busy talking about knowledge-building & evidence-based instruction... one can forget to mention that these materials bring wonderful texts into classrooms!

30/
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
We should note that the texts use in high-quality curricula are EXCELLENT.We get so busy talking about knowledge-building & evidence-based instruction... one can forget to mention that these materials bring wonderful texts into classrooms! 30/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
We should note that the texts use in high-quality curricula are EXCELLENT.We get so busy talking about knowledge-building & evidence-based instruction... one can forget to mention that these materials bring wonderful texts into classrooms! 30/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
We should note that the texts use in high-quality curricula are EXCELLENT.We get so busy talking about knowledge-building & evidence-based instruction... one can forget to mention that these materials bring wonderful texts into classrooms! 30/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
We should note that the texts use in high-quality curricula are EXCELLENT.We get so busy talking about knowledge-building & evidence-based instruction... one can forget to mention that these materials bring wonderful texts into classrooms! 30/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
Instruction is grounded in work with these texts, from the discussion noted in tweets 14-19 to consistent recording and structuring of thinking in graphic organizers.

Here, students discuss their reflections in a group, and share a bit w/ us:

31/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
These structured thoughts, and reflections on evidence from the text, flow naturally into student writing work, which is consistently connected to texts. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💪" title="Angespannter Bizeps" aria-label="Emoji: Angespannter Bizeps">

32/ #elachat #knowledgematters #curriculummatters
This regular window into student thinking is powerful formative assessment; we could certainly see which students were making meaning from the texts and distinguish a few who needed some support in this regard.

33/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll #elachat
The fact that all Ss are working with common, grade level texts empowers this work, including formative insights for Ts, who can know the texts intimately!

When we compare this approach with curricula in which each group or each student is working with different texts...

34/
...the shortcomings of such guided reading curricula become clear.

How can Ts understand the soundness & depth of student thinking about a text if they haven’t themselves read the text?

Addl detail on the weak evidence base for leveled curricula:
35/ http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/29/are-classroom-reading-groups-the-best-way.html">https://www.edweek.org/ew/articl...
Are Classroom Reading Groups the Best Way to Teach Reading? Maybe Not.

Recent studies raise some hard questions about the value of ability-based reading groups.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/29/are-classroom-reading-groups-the-best-way.html
The power of grade level text work is a theme that cuts across the high-quality curricula.

In @LenoirCitySch, which uses @ELeducation, we heard a lot about the value of this practice.

Ts reflected on empowerment of Ss. Weaker readers are proud to use same texts as others!
36/
Principal @BrandeeHoglund of @lcimspanthers notes a key issue with leveled group work, which was a norm in @LenoirCitySch before selecting @ELeducation:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👉" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach rechts"> Giving students a weaker text is not a scaffold!

Yet many think it is.

37/
#KnowledgeMatters #elachat #tnbestforall
. @BrandeeHoglund has excellent advice for schools that want to make the shift to work with grade level texts for all students.

38/
@MillicentZoe710 @artinker @JK_Barker #KnowledgeMatters #elachat #TNBestForAll
Principal @BrandeeHoglund made a point that we heard across districts & across curricula:

Ts were initially anxious that Ss, esp those below-benchmark, would struggle with complexity of the texts.

Yet Ss consistently rose to the occasion!

39/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
The social-emotional learning theme also cuts across these ELA curricula.

The @LenoirCitySch team praised the @ELeducation curriculum for its intentional inclusion of ‘Habits of Character,’ from kindness to perseverance.

Hear more:
40/ #CurriculumMatters #TNBestForAll
Another theme across our visits: TIME.

Teacher time is precious, and Ts simply don’t have the capacity to craft excellent lesson materials for every school day.

In @SullCoSchools, we heard principals reflect on this theme:

41/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll @robin_mcclellan
Since using @ckschools, teachers have text-based “questions that dive deep into that literature piece that they’re learning.”

The quality of Q’s goes up – and teacher time can go towards student work, differentiation, etc.

42/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll @robin_mcclellan
The best part:

Teachers could readily see the quality of the new materials.

“That’s probably the thing that sold them first. That they could ask better questions” while working with authentic texts. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">

43/ #KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll @robin_mcclellan
Teachers in @LenoirCitySch spent 10 HOURS PER WEEK sourcing materials prior to implementing a quality curriculum, @ELeducation.

8th grade T @amandahboyd on lesson creation previously:

“I would start with the Standard and Google it.”

44/
#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
Hear @amandahboyd talk today about watching all kids access grade level texts... with scaffolding where necessary.

“It has never been that they couldn’t do it, it’s that we didn’t let them.”

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎯" title="Volltreffer" aria-label="Emoji: Volltreffer">

#KnowledgeMatters #TNBestForAll
45/ @MillicentZoe710 @JK_Barker
Our School Tour stopped in @PCSSTN, where our visit began with a superb foundational skills lesson from @StefanieBWalker.

Check it out, and skim #KnowledgeMatters for more stories from knowledge-rich ELA classrooms!

#elachat #tnbestforall
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