What's a Literacy Coach?

This school year, in addition to teaching sixth grade English, I have also taken on the role of Middle Level Literacy Coach.  So, what does that mean?  I have a much lighter teaching schedule this year so that I can accomplish literacy-related projects (like the ones described below) and work on curriculum development.  I also love the flexibility to invest more in people - mentoring teachers at the middle school, meeting with other BFA English teachers and our Curriculum Coordinator, connecting with friends to cultivate community here, and spending time with my mentor.

 Benchmark Assessments:

One by one, I'm meeting with each middle school student for a benchmark assessment conference. Students read part of a text aloud while I take notes.  Then, they finish the text independently and we have a conversation about what they read.  The assessment allows me to determine a "benchmark" reading level (based on the Fountas and Pinnell leveling system) which we can use as a guide for reading instruction.  More than that, talking with a student about their reading provides me with invaluable data about student strengths and weaknesses in reading, which will help us to provide individualized instruction to help meet their needs.  It is so interesting to see how each benchmark assessment is different - a great reminder of the uniqueness of our students.

VOICES Writing Instruction:

We are again using the Six Traits of Writing to guide writing instruction this year.  My fellow English teacher, Katie, and I are introducing these strategies to our students and encouraging them to implement the Six Traits into their own writing.  Katie and I had the opportunity to attend a Six Traits conference in Switzerland last month, which was a great springboard for new ideas for writing across the curriculum.

Resources:

This is the shelf above my desk.  Besides just loving the sight of a stack of good books (I'm a nerd!), I am grateful for these resources right at my fingertips.  Some of these books were gifts from friends this summer or resources included in the Literacy Coach training I attended in July, so I am still doing my own reading and reflection as part of my new role this year.

Building a Book Room:

This is still a work in progress...  As we incorporate more small-group literature study, there is a need for multiple copies of various types of texts on different reading levels.  I am developing this cabinet of book sets as a resource for the English teachers to be able to do more differentiated literacy instruction.

Teaching English:

In addition to literacy coaching, I am still teaching sixth grade English.  Although it is my third year teaching this class, each year is different!  This year, I am trying a number of new things (from Pinterest, a summer conference, and friends' suggestions) and am blessed with a class of students who are eager to learn.  

One of the new lessons to kick off the school year was a week-long genre study, which culminated in a book sort.  Students worked in small groups to determine the genre for each book in our classroom library, labeling each cover with a sticky note.

I love the way our book boxes turned out!  For the most part, the students labeled the books correctly, but some will need to be reevaluated.  As the sixth graders read books from our library over the course of the year, they will be able to verify the current genre identification or submit it to me for revision.  We're off to a great start in 6th grade English!