I wonder what would happen

A new idea has arrived in my head. What would happen to bilingual students' writing scores if they were encouraged to write in Spanish as well as English? I'm especially thinking about the upper elementary kids who, in my school district, have been transitioned out of bilingual instruction and into all English.

I spent some time this past week looking at data. You too? (ha, ha)

I found about 10% of the 4th and 5th graders at my school, who had previously scored proficient or advanced on TCAP/CSAP state standardized writing tests in SPANISH at the end of 3rd grade, then scored in the lowest third of "Partially Proficient" or even "Unsatisfactory" on the next year's TCAP and/or writing subtest on CELA (Colorado English Language Assessment). That's got to be discouraging to those young writers who had previously been declared proficient.

So, here's my proposal. Start an after-school writing project. Plan to meet for an hour twice a week. Two months of this. The first month we work on fleshing out some "seed" ideas and getting them written into our writer's notebooks. In fact, we do a book study using A writer's notebook: unlocking the writer within you by Ralph Fletcher, form small study groups to discuss his ideas and how we can use them. Then the second month the students each develop a polished piece of writing from one of their notebook ideas. At the end of our after-school project, the students' writing is published in an anthology.         

Here's the unique part. Encourage the kids to write in either Spanish or English, some of each. They can watch their skills progress in their native language as well as in their second one. Experiment with thinking in each language. How does one language effect the other one when writing?

The writing project group lessons will still be in English as they would be during the school hours, but the students may discuss their ideas in small groups in whichever language they want. They may write in whichever language they want, and they may publish in either (or both) language.

What could happen? I hope I get to find out. I'm writing a grant proposal with high hopes of carrying out this "action research".

The Blurry Line Between Us

Let me bend your ear as I try to make out the line that divides a Literacy Specialist from a General Education Classroom Teacher... some say that the "Specialists" are experts, but I'm not sure that is true.

I am a Literacy Specialist Teacher, paid the same as a General Classroom Teacher. I believe we are peers - the 3rd grade Teacher and I, or the Kindergarten Teacher, the Art Teacher, the Computer Teacher. We are all at the same level. Or at least, that is what I believe. The difference between us is what we teach, what we focus on. I might teach Kinder(gartners) through 5th grade, but I only teach them Literacy (mostly Reading with a bit of Writing thrown in). The 3rd grade Teacher teaches Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies - only to 3rd grade students. Her "specialty" is 3rd grade. My specialty is Reading and Writing.

In a recent conversation with a Literacy coach in my district, I was told that classroom teachers are to use "Tier 1" instruction. Her description of this during small group (more or less 5 students at a time) instruction is a presentation of general/universal content and methods. She referred to a small group reading instruction format called "Right Start", as an example of this universal instruction.

Right Start is a reading lesson in which the teacher previews a book which she and each student have a copy of. This preview might include new vocabulary the students aren't familiar with, a spelling pattern (like -ough, in which the gh is pronounced as "f"), or something else intended to set the students up for a successful first read of the book. Then all students whisper read as the teacher listens to each one individually, making notes about what common errors/successes she notices. Then she may reteach something from the preview or highlight a new difficulty that arose. Finally the students are given some written assignment related to what was taught.

As a Literacy Laboratory teacher, I am to instruct using "Tier 2" instruction. This includes extensive assessment and data analysis so that I can target instruction of individual students' needs to address what  specific skill they haven't mastered that prevents them from moving forward to a higher reading level.

But here's where I see a not-so-clear line between Lit Lab instruction and small group Reading instruction in a grade level specific classroom. Last year, when I was teaching 4th grade (not as a Literacy Specialist) I did extensive analysis of lots of assessment data. Why? Because I believed that to be my job, and what I needed to do in order to help students improve their reading skills. [Pause here for a new paragraph...]

On the School District website, there is a document entitled "Tier 1 Instruction", in which the following is included as part of the description of what this general classroom level of instruction must include:

• ●  Data is collected frequently and is used to make instructional decisions.
  
• ●  By using a variety of methods, teachers check for student understanding.
  
• ●  Assessment data is used to differentiate instruction for students.  
• ●  Multiple opportunities are provided for learning, including: whole group, small group, and 1:1 instruction, throughout the day.
• ●  Teachers are differentiating instruction for students through flexible grouping, sheltered instruction, tiered assignments and scaffolds for learning in collaboration with support staff.

This description of grade level Tier 1 instruction, sounds like targeted/differentiated instruction to me. I do realize that  the 3rd grade teachers also use whole group instruction which targets specific skills that all 3rd grade students need to know. Therefore, during that part of the day, they are using universal instruction. In the Literacy Lab, we don't use universal instruction, unless one could say that for each small group of students that have been assigned to me for 30 minutes per day I use universal/whole group instruction to address their collective common needs.

If the distinction between Tier 1 and Tier 2 instruction is that close, then why would I, the Tier 2 Specialist instructor, be thought of as an expert in Literacy instruction any more than the Tier 1 General Ed teacher? especially if she has at least as much experience teaching reading (at her grade level) as I do? and if we each are differentiating instruction according to individual students' needs?

Stay tuned. Clearly I need further investigation of these distinctions. So far it is a rather blurry line that differentiates these two Tiers.

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In the beginning

In the beginning ...
Jennie sat on my lap one evening, just like every other evening since her birth, as I read aloud a bedtime story. It was probably Corduroy; she'd listened to me read it so many times, that she could catch me leaving out words, which I did sometimes in an attempt to shorten the story. By four years old she had come to the conclusion that the words in books were supposed to remain constant every time they were read. Crossing that literacy threshold, brought her to the point, on this momentous evening, of asking "where does it say 'bear'?"

I pointed out the word "bear" as she leaned closer to get a better look at it. That night I could hardly sleep. I was so excited. My pre-school age daughter understood what READING was.

In the beginning ...
I worked in the kitchen at my daughter's elementary school for a few months. One day when I went upstairs to the school office to retrieve the lunch count, I discovered that a sick child in the health office and the secretary attending to him were unsuccessfully trying to communicate: one only spoke Spanish and the other only spoke English. I offered to help since I knew both languages. Later the secretary suggested I talk to the principal about some teaching assistant job openings in a couple bilingual classrooms. Soon I found my self working part-time in kindergarten in addition to serving lunch in the cafeteria.

One thing led to another and within two years I'd renewed my old teaching certificate and was in a professional position in the field of education, as a part-time literacy teacher in kindergarten. Kindergartners are exhausting but the job was exciting. I especially loved sitting in a circle on the floor with a few 5 year olds. My favorite thing to say to the students in the fall each year was, "Today I'm going to teach you to read." Every year, in response to that announcement, they would sit up straight and lean forward to see how READING works.

Now...
As I am entering the twilight of my professional teaching career, I seem to have circled back around to the beginning. Not as a kindergarten classroom teacher. A room full of 25 kindergartners would be too exhausting. But I am excited to be gearing up to teach 4-6 five year olds at a time, as a Literacy Specialist. This past weekend I dusted off my speech so as to be ready to announce to a new batch of kindergartners: "Today I'm going to teach you to read."

We'll start on Wednesday. Of course, I'll need more preparation than just an eight word speech. I haven't worked with kindergartners for a few years, but it must be like riding a bike, right? You never forget: pull out the little magnetic letters, gather together some name cards and tracing crayons, multiple copies of early emergent books and some very short chairs.

Then here I go... back to the beginning of teaching a child to READ!