This chapter discussed reviewing units of study and the role of the literacy coach. The chapter states that a unit of study is a set of related activities that focus on a main topic; usually using genres. The chapter also states that grade-level teams develop these units collaboratively. With the implementation of CCSS, units of study should include fiction, non-fiction and informational text along with other sources of literary texts. Units of study should be developed to focus on multiple standards. This way of developing instruction requires a lot of time, it takes the majority of instructional time and the units are reused for multiple years.
For a literacy coach, the purpose must be set with a clear understanding of what the unit's focus is and when the students are engaged in order for it to be effective. It is important that the LC is supportive before the unit, during the unit and after the unit.
Before the unit is taught, it is important for the LC to review the unit carefully and clarify any questions if the unit is already developed. Or if a unit is not developed, a LC should meet several times with the grade-level team to develop a unit based on standards. Also before the unit is implemented, a LC should share the unit reflection log, encourage teachers to write notes on this form and ask teachers how you can support the teachers.
During the unit, LC should provide any support that the teachers have requested. They should also check in with the team members after the unit as been implemented for a week to answer any questions that the teachers may have. Also, if the LC is not involved in any coaching strategies, the LC should at least observed the classroom and take notes.
After the unit, the LC should facilitate a meeting to review any changes or revisions that the unit may need LC should provide open ended questions that allow the teachers to reflect on their comments and how they fit in with their unit. Finally, the LC should send out a summary of the updated summary plan to the team members.
I know that I am a teacher but I have yet to collaborate with my team members the way the book has described. I have not sat down with a team and developed a whole unit of study. The teachers I have worked with have usually used the reading curriculum the district has provided, then the teachers used it word for word. The closest I have gotten to developing a unit of study with a team member, is my through my coaching experience. One of the required writing strategies that our first graders are assessed on is narrative writing. Some of the essential questions we wanted the students to answer were, how can we get students away from writing sentences from "I like...I like...I like..." and helping them develop new ways to begin sentence writing. "What standards would we like to implement?" Another question was, "what resources can we provide students in order to better understand what narrative writing is?" Also, we asked, "how can I help them provide detail to their writing in order to "spruce" up a sentence?" Lastly, we asked, "how can we help the students through the writing process while writing our personal narrative."
I think answering the questions from the form I would say, not all the essential questions were appropriate. I think that we could be more specific with them. I think the standards are critical to the unit. I feel that a summative assessment could be made in order to provide data that would allow for better feedback and revision of the plan.
I think that I would like my team (if we created a unit together) to provide feedback on data results to help with the development of ways to help struggling students. I also think I would like them to give suggestions of resources that they have used that were effective for them.
Question:
I feel that I have always heard from teachers (and the reading specialist) , I don't have the time to sit and plan together. As a LC, how do you get teams to sit down and collaborate to this extent. What suggestions would you provide to me to get my team on the same page? ( I have been guilty of not "having time")
Support obviously is key to helping teachers and teams. What other important aspects of a LC do you think are key in order to create an effective unit of study?
