Smart Step Literacy Lab
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The Smart Step Literacy Lab Project is a rigorous 14 day staff development designed for all teachers (content English/reading/language arts, resource), media specialists and principals of students in grades 4 - 12. The training covers a two-year period. Seven days in year one cover the material and research needed for teachers to implement a reading workshop environment in their classrooms. Those days address the need for creating engaging literate environments in classrooms, as well as instruction in fluency and comprehension strategies in that moving culture. Seven days in year two are designed to instruct teachers to use assessment as the driver of instruction and to implement writing workshops in their classrooms along with vocabulary and word study instruction. An additional benefit of the Smart Step program is acquiring graduate degree credit.
Year I is equivalent to RDNG 636 - Literacy Strategies for Fluent Readers. (3)
Year II is equivalent to RDNG 648 - Content Literacy. (3)
Both courses can be applied to a master’s degree in reading.
The Goal of the Program
The goal of the project is to fully implement the model. It is not to be used as an “addition to” piece for teachers. Though no controlled quantitative experimental study has been conducted, evidence from the observation of the large number of fully implementing schools and classrooms shows significant increases in student achievement in the areas of fluency, comprehension, motivation, and vocabulary development as measured on state NRT’s and CRT's.
Program Schedule
Literacy Lab requires a two-year commitment. It consists of seven days of training each year. Both years are broken into three days of training in the summer and two days of training in both the fall and spring. The State Department of Education determines the groups as new registration forms are submitted Literacy Lab assigns the group names.
Year I - Smart Step Literacy Lab
Day 1 - The uniqueness of adolescent literacy; our five goals for adolescent readers; the role of motivation; creating engaging literate cultures
Day 2 - The role of access to appropriate reading materials; educating students’ choices
Day 3 - The role of and research into reading practice; the reading workshop classroom– elements (independent reading, guided reading, literature study) and procedures
Day 4 - Fluency instruction in a reading workshop environment; designing, maintaining and perpetuating classroom libraries
Day 5 - Introduction to Comprehension Strategy Instruction; review of research and identification of the strategies and best practices in teaching; Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
Day 6 - Modeling of Comprehension Strategy Instruction; done with actual classes of students
Day 7 - Modeling of Comprehension Strategy Instruction; done with actual classes of students
Year II - Smart Step Literacy Lab
Day 1 - Assessment and its implications on teaching practice; learning to administer the Flynt-Cooter Informal Reading Inventory (fluency and comprehension);Motivation and Engagement Assessment.
Day 2 - Learning to administer the Developmental Reading Assessment 4-8 (fluency, comprehension, access to appropriate text, motivation); Benchmark (CRT) Test Strategies
Day 3 - Vocabulary/Word Study (This day will be conducted at your local Co-op plus a touch back session with your Co-op Literacy Specialist one day in the fall)
Day 4 - Writing Workshop Classroom - elements (independent writing, guided writing, and investigations) and procedures; the teaching of craft in context
Day 5 - Writing Workshop Classroom (cont.)
Day 6 - Writing Workshop Classroom (cont.)
Day 7 - Inquiry Writing
Book List
2006-07 Texts and Materials for Smart Step Literacy Lab Classroom Project provided by the school for each participant
TITLE AUTHOR PUBLISHER ISBN
*Required texts for Year I
*In the Middle
Nancie Atwell
Boynton/Cook
0-86709-374-9
*Guiding Readers and Writers
Fountas, Pinnell
Heinemann
0-325-00310-6
*The Fluent Reader
Rasinski, Timothy V.
Scholastic
0-439-33208-7
*Strategies That Work
Harbey, Goudvis
Stenhouse
1-57110-310-4
*Literacy Across the Curriculum
SREB
Southern Regional Education Board
www.sreb.org
- Developmental Reading Assessment 4-8 (DRA2 4-8)***
JoEtta Beavers
Pearson Learning
0-7652-7629-1
- Reading Inventory for the Classroom
Flynt, Cooter
Gorsuch Scarisbrick
0-13-106509-2
- Writing Workshop
Fletcher, Portalupi
Heinemann
0-325-00362-9
- Craft Lessons
Fletcher, Portalupi
Stenhouse
1-57110-072-5
- Non-fiction Craft Lessons
Portalupi, Fletcher
Stenhouse
1-57110-329-5
- A Writer’s Notebook
Ralph Fletcher
Avon Books
0-380-78430-0
- Live Writing
Ralph Fletcher
Avon Camelot
0-380-79701-1
- How Writers Work
Ralph Fletcher
Harper Trophy
0-380-79702-X
- Teaching Grammar In Context
Constance Weaver
Heinemann
0-867-09375-7
- Non-fiction Matters
Stephanie Harvey
Stenhouse
1-57110-072-5
- Word Journeys
Kathy Ganske
Guilford Press
1-57230-559-2
- Bringing Words to Life
Beck, McKewown, Kucan
Guilford Press
1-57230-753-6
- The Literacy Principal**
Booth, Rowsell
Pembroke
1-55138-146-X
*** Check the state bid list available only from Pearson (one kit may be shared with up to 4 classroom
teachers). This is a new version.
** For Administrators
Contact Information
Harry Lisle
hlisle@harding.edu
smartstep@harding.edu
Phone: (501) 279-4092
Fax: (501) 279-4506
By Mail
Smart Step Literacy Lab Classroom Project
HU Box 12254
Searcy, AR 72149-2254
Arkansas Department of Education
Debbie Coffman
Deborah.Coffman@arkansas.gov
Phone: (501) 682-4232
www.ArkansasEd.org
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