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'The strands that are woven into skilled writing'

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HKCA G3-6 Session Planning for Writing (May 2025) (1)

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By looking at writing one strand at a time we can identify area of need

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HKCA G3-6 Session Planning for Writing (May 2025)

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This course on the EKC Community gives insights into implementation of structured word inquiry.

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Login to Erin Kent Consulting community via email or SSO today.

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Planning Structured Word Inquiry (Morpheme Magic)

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024) (3)

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024) (4)

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Ways to Actively Engage with Vocabulary Words

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Ways to Actively Engage with Vocabulary Words

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024) (2)

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024)

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Choosing Ugent, Uncommon, Useful Words to Study

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Choosing Ugent, Uncommon, Useful Words to Study

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024) (1)

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HKCA G3-6 Online Coaching Growing Vocabulary (Nov 2024)

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HKCA PLKS  KG2-KG3  Next Steps in Early Years Literacy (Sep 2024) (1)

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All teachers should participate in coaching. Collaboratively plan whole group and small group lessons based on current student data and samples.

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024) (4)

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Sorting Student Data to Inform Instructional Decisions

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Sorting Student Data to Inform Instructional Decisions

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024)

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Choose 'how' based on the current data...

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Choose 'how' based on the current data...

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024) (2)

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024) (1)

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024)

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Choosing Texts with Intention and Learning Goals Focus

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Choosing Texts with Intention and Learning Goals Focus

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024) (5)

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Phonics Scope & Sequence / Lesson Numbers

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Phonics Scope & Sequence / Lesson Numbers

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Refer to the UFLI S&S for phonics intervention lessons

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HKCA Onsite G3-6 Using Data to Guide Decision Making (Sep 2024) (3)

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EKC Comprehension Planning Guide - Blank

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EKC Comprehension Planning Guide - Blank

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Make a copy of this document and edit for your own planning

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EKC Read Aloud Comprehension Planning Guide

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Grade 3 Demo Read Aloud Comprehension Planning

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Let's live it!

In grade level teams, plan a we-do writing lesson using the template provided here:

Grade 4 Template

Grade 5 Template

Grade 6 Template

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The Writing Rope

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The Writing Rope Written by Joan Sedita, her website also has an amazing blog posts and other free resources

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The Writing Rope Written by Joan Sedita, her website also has an amazing blog posts and other free resources

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It you are looking for some sentence level work look here for examples.

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Planning the Grammar Inquiry (example: 's to show ownership)

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Planning the Grammar Inquiry (example: 's to show ownership)

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Planning Tip: Limit the 'focus phrase' to one specific grammar rule. When teaching comma usage, be intentional and specific, focusing on one usage rule at a time.

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Make a copy and save as your own:

Workshop Session Plan

Writing Small Group Planners

Predictable Needs Planner

Conferring Note Catcher

Mini Lesson Planner - MLL Focus

Phonics Application Small Group Planner

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G2 Demo Mini Lesson Planner

G2 Demo Small Group Planner

G2 Pictures for Sound Sort

G2 UFLI Decodable for Small Group

Scaffolds & Supports for MLLs

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G1 Demo Mini-Lesson Planner

G1 Demo Small Group Planner

Small Group Tools

Shared Reading Planning Menu

Scaffolds & Supports for MLLs

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Get access to resources that supports an authentic, inquiry-based approach to grammar instruction.

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Leverage small groups inside the workshop framework to offer data driven differentiation.

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Thin Slice Protocol to Inform Small Groups

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Thin Slice Protocol to Inform Small Groups

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Shared Text Small Groups- 'We Do Reading'

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Shared Text Small Groups- 'We Do Reading'

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2 types of small groups - Strategy & Shared Text with examples

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Keep: Sentence composing, exploring parts of sentences as a way to build up students writing.
Shed: Shed unit vocabulary lists
Evolve: Vocabulary to be determined by students based on their learning and research

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Siobhan:
Keep= practicing phonics and breaking down paragraphs.
Shed= giving not enough thinking time.
Evolve = surgery of words / paragraphs. Picking more levelled appropriate texts.

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What are your reflections on literacy instruction so far? For the upcoming school year what do you plan to keep, plan to shed and plan to evolve. Share your thoughts!

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Conversations with researchers and scholars and how to apply what research suggests in classrooms.

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conversations with researchers and Educators

The collection of knowledge and advice about best practices in literacy education is always evolving. This is both a gift and a challenge. In my new podcast for educators,I interview leading researchers and scholars to understand current, relevant, and digestible answers to all things literacy, learning, and best-practice, regardless of an educator's approach to literacy instruction. I'm joined by colleagues from my consulting team, and classroom educators, to debrief the researcher interview and answer the question, "How will we take what we've learned to the classroom?"

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To the Classroom: Conversations with Researchers and Educators - Jennifer Serravallo Author & Consulting

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Jennifer Serravallo interviews leading researchers and scholars about important findings, and has post-interview conversations about practical takeaways with colleagues from her consulting team.

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"Finally, a book that has the power to stop the literacy pendulum swings! In Shifting the Balance, Burkins and Yates skillfully explore 'balanced literacy' and 'the science of reading' to find the sweet spots where they overlap, connect, and actually complement one another. The result is a resource that raises our level of instruction while helping children discover and reap the joyful rewards of reading."

"What are the research-based, critical elements for teaching reading? In Shifting the Balance, Jan and Kari give you the information, classroom examples, and tools to help you make the best decisions around six key shifts for instruction. After reviewing the misunderstandings, the science, and the needs of your students, you will be able to audit your current practices (individually, in a PLC, or system-wide) to provide responsive and effective literacy learning for all your students."

"In Shifting the Balance, Jan and Kari invite us to reflect and reexamine our beliefs about teaching reading. They gently nudge us to rethink and possibly adjust our early literacy practices. Jan and Kari have taken on this controversial topic by embracing vulnerability and modeling what it means to be truly reflective practitioners. This book is a must read for new and veteran teachers!"

"In Shifting the Balance, Kari and Jan have masterfully dispelled many of the myths and misunderstandings associated with reading instruction. Additionally, they offer classroom teachers and coaches six simple, practical shifts that have the power to transform the way we teach children how to read. Indeed, balanced literacy and science do exist in harmony, and we practitioners can offer our children both concurrently. Thank you, Kari and Jan, for this important work that is sure to change lives!"

"In Shifting the Balance, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates provide a safe space for teachers to courageously examine some long-held balanced literacy practices and turn a critical eye to where those practices have gotten out of balance. If you're willing to be vulnerable and move towards resolving the gap between research and practice, this book provides actionable steps you can take to shift your thinking and bring instruction into alignment with the scientific evidence."

"Shifting the Balance is a welcoming opportunity to reexamine our familiar teaching practices. Without judgment, Burkins and Yates invigorate these practices by inviting educators to make scientific shifts in the systems that have been in place for years. This book will revolutionize reading instruction and in turn, the lives of countless students."

"This book speaks to teachers. It is overwhelmingly clear that Jan Burkins and Kari Yates have been and are immersed in the world of today's classrooms. Shifting the Balance will help many rethink instruction in ways that will support all students. In the current version of the Reading Wars, it is difficult for any of us to say we were wrong about some of our beliefs or practices. And thus, few do. However, Jan Burkins and Kari Yates have done just that. This is as commendable as it is unusual."

"This book found me at just the right time! Shifting the Balance gives voice to the questions I've had in my mind about Balanced Literacy and the Science of Reading and provides clear insights on how to connect the best parts of both to benefit early readers. Throughout the book, Jan and Kari confirm practices worth holding onto while providing actionable next steps I can't wait to implement with students to strengthen my reading instruction."

Dr. Jan Burkins was an elementary classroom teacher for seven years and a literacy coach for seven years. She has worked as a part-time assistant professor, a district literacy leader, and is currently a fulltime writer and consultant.

Kari Yates is an author, speaker, consultant and staff developer with a passion for helping busy literacy educators thrive. Her experiences include classroom teacher, special education, Reading Recovery teacher, elementary principal and district literacy coordinator.

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Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom

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Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom

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1. You Can Have It Both Ways: Reading Literature Deeply and Fostering Joyful, Independent Reading

2. Start with the Students: Identify the Skills Your Students Need

3. Look Beyond the Usual Suspects: Choose the Book Your Students Need

4. Map Out the Unit: Plan the Timing and the Strategies You'll Teach

5. Delight in the Details: Play Your Daily Instruction: Read-Alouds and Minilessons

6. Reach Everyone: Differentiate with Small Groups and Conferences

7. Keep Students Engaged: Address the Challenges of Teaching a Whole-Class Text

8. Track Growth: Assess Along the Way Through Writing About Reading

9. Launch Readers: Honor Choice to Develop Stronger, Independent Students

10. Celebrate Achievements: Assessing, Writing, and Making as an End to the Unit

Can't we provide both individualized instruction and challenging reading for our students? This book shows how we can do just that. In a nutshell:

1. We plan a unit in our classroom, naming the skill or skills that will be our primary focus.

2. We choose a whole-class novel that will both interest the kids and do the heavy lifting for the skills we plan to teach.

3. We plan our lessons accordingly.

That's it. Pretty simple. Of course, like many simple ideas in and out of education, the execution takes some doing. That's what the rest of the book is for. We'll begin with a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both whole-class novels and readers workshop and think about what we can aim for in our teaching (Chapter 1). Then, we'll follow the trajectory of a unit: choosing the skills and book you'll be using (Chapters 2 and 3), teaching with the whole-class novel (Chapters 4 and 5) and meeting individual needs while doing so (Chapters 6 and 7), assessing formatively (Chapter 8), helping students transfer the skills they've learned to book-club books (Chapter 9), and assessing summatively (Chapter 10).

- Introduction

"A Novel Approach dismantles timeworn methods for teaching whole class novels that consume class time, provide little relevance or rigor, and disengage students from reading. Kate Roberts offers an empowering road map for navigating whole class novels with your students while supporting their independent reading lives. A forward-thinking model for progressive literacy education."-Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild

"I wish this book was around back when I completely stopped reading in High School. I lost years of my reading life, just as so many students turn away from reading in secondary grades because the assigned books are uninteresting, too confusing, or seem to drag on. Kate's approach shows us that when novel teaching is skills driven, brief, and complimented with book clubs, it can be more engaging to students and more rewarding for teachers."-Christopher Lehman, coauthor of Falling in Love with Close Reading and author of Energize Research Writing

"Increasing the volume of student reading starts with finding the right balance between independent reading, book club reading, and core work reading. And this is where A Novel Approach proves invaluable. Kate Roberts not only shows secondary teachers why achieving this balance is important, she demonstrates how to do it."-Kelly Gallagher, coauthor of 180 Days and author of Readicide

"There isn't a teacher among us who hasn't wondered, "How do I do all of this?" Reading this book is like having the world's best instructional coach by your side to help you craft a clear, manageable, and responsive approach to helping your students become better readers, thinkers, and people. Kate reminds us of the tremendous power of our instructional decisions on our students' reading lives, all the while, handing us resources, instilling in us a necessary confidence, and high-fiving us through pages of this book." -Allison Marchetti and Rebekah O'Dell, coauthors of Beyond Literary Analysis and Writing With Mentors

"Like any author worth her salt, Kate trusts her readers to bring their own expertise to the text. If you are expecting the definitive answer to the age-old question, "What's better: giving students opportunities for independent choice, or teaching with a whole class novel?" you won't get the answer. What you will get is Kate's straightforward, common sense approach on how to use both. Kate helps teachers weigh their options and make choices about what's best for their students. She shares her systems and structures and reassures readers that students of all levels can make growth."-Cris Tovani, coauthor of No More Telling as Teaching and I Read It, But I Don't Get It

"In A Novel Approach, Kate Roberts offers those of us in the classroom a witty, engaging, and thoughtful examination of a problem we are all grappling with one way or another: How to teach whole-classs novels in ways that challenge and engage not only our students but us! This thoughtful book provides a range of approaches that would work in different classes with different kids. Just as important, though, it shows us that it is still possible to be the sort of English teacher we wanted to be when we entered the profession."-Jim Burke, author of The English Teacher's Companion

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A practical framework for creating units that combine whole-class novels and independent reading to truly help students grow as readers. Take a deep dive into the troubles and triumphs of both to find a student-centered, balanced approach to teaching reading.

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Research shows that vocabulary is the best support for students' comprehension of narrative and information texts. Often, vocabulary instruction focuses on a few target words in specific texts. However, to understand the many new words in complex texts students need to know how words work. This book, written by an award-winning authority on reading instruction, shows teachers how to make small changes to teach more words and also how words work. Many of these small changes involve enrichments to existing vocabulary practices, such as word walls and conversations with students. Each chapter includes descriptions of teachers' implementation of small changes to support big gains in students' vocabulary. This book, which has sufficient depth in research and theory for graduate and undergraduate courses in vocabulary instruction, also offers practical steps that K-8 teachers can use in any reading program to help all students grow their vocabulary.

Teaching Words and How They Work shows teachers how to:

Identify the most important word families to teach.

Teach students to use opening text as background knowledge for comprehending the rest of the text.

Use word walls with more purpose and greater student engagement.

Select the right words to teach from new information texts.

Better understand limitations of leveled texts and how to adjust.

Use assets and address challenges to support English learners.

Access free mentor and teacher resources online at textproject.org.

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Teaching Words and How They Work: Small Changes for Big Vocabulary Results

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Teaching Words and How They Work: Small Changes for Big Vocabulary Results

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Malvern HK RW Onsite PYP P1-3 Meetings (March 2023) (1)

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Malvern HK RW Onsite PYP P1-3 Meetings (March 2023) (2)

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Malvern HK RW Onsite PYP P1-3 Meetings (March 2023) (4)

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justine@erinkentconsulting
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-otte/

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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Join the EKC Literacy Community of Teachers

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Join the EKC Literacy Community of Teachers

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https://erinkentconsulting.com/community

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Literacy Consultants & Consulting Services | Erin Kent Consulting

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About the Community | Erin Kent Consulting (EKC)

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A few special gifts for signing up now: a strategy call with Erin Kent or an EKC Senior Strategist to get started using the EKC Community to support your current literacy initiatives; and 5 free spots in our live, virtual winter courses ($1495 value!)

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Interested in this bundle? Email us at [email protected]

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EKC Community Course: Supporting Students at the Sentence Level

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EKC Community Course: Supporting Students at the Sentence Level

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This course is available through the EKC Community platform and will guide approaches to teaching readers and writers at the sentence level.

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Login to Erin Kent Consulting community via email or SSO today.

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Malvern HK RW Onsite PYP P1-3 Meetings (March 2023) (3)