From Patsy.Dunton at maine.gov Tue Feb 19 14:41:16 2008 From: Patsy.Dunton at maine.gov (Dunton, Patsy) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:41:16 -0500 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] Welcome Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B012B3A11@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Welcome the Maine Department of Education English Language Arts listserv. We hope this method of communicating with practitioners will prove to be both helpful and fruitful. Please do not respond to postings. This is a one-way communication with postings sent only by Patsy Dunton and Diana Doiron, ELA Specialists. If you have questions, please contact us directly. If you would like to have a discussion about a specific topic, please let us know and we will set up a blog to do so. It is our intention to post updates once a week and limit the traffic to your mailboxes. If you have information you would like us to share, please contact us. If you have not done so already, please visit our new ELA homepage at the MDOE. You can find it at: http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/index.html We are currently working on building the grade-span pages and could use your help. If you have questions, suggestions, or resources to share, please let us know. SEATS ARE STILL AVAILABLE for the PSAT workshops in Orono on 2/27, Presque Isle on 2/28, Augusta on 3/5, and Portland on 3/6. Go to this link to find out how to register for this free workshop: http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=edu_letters&id=47143 &v=article (ignore the details about deadlines for registration) Thank you for signing up and welcome! Diana.doiron at maine.gov Patsy.dunton at maine.gov ELA Specialist, grades PK-5 ELA Specialist, grades 6-diploma -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080219/5fa09768/attachment.html From Diana.Doiron at maine.gov Tue Mar 4 11:14:32 2008 From: Diana.Doiron at maine.gov (Doiron, Diana) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 11:14:32 -0500 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] Grade 5 writing support, syllabus review, 2 statewide opportunities Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B02BD8B6D@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Welcome to Maine Department of Education English Language Arts List Serve. This service is an attempt to keep Maine educators informed about current issues, upcoming opportunities and resources. Please send any requests to patsy.dunton at maine.gov or diana.dioron at maine.gov Posting Topics: Elements of Quality Fiction in the 2007 MEA Grade 5 Writing Released Anchor Papers Syllabus Review Maine Writing Project Opportunity Maine Council of English Language Arts March Conference PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY TO THE END OF THIS POSTING. THERE ARE TWO STATEWIDE OPPORTUNITIES LISTED AT THE END. SUPPORTING DOCUMENT FOR USE WITH 2007 MEA GRADE 5 WRITING RELEASED PROMPT This document has been used in a couple of workshops on MEA writing and received very favorable feedback for its helpful connection to classroom instruction on some elements of quality fiction. It has recently been posted to the MEA website at http://www.maine.gov/education/mea/workshops/index.html 2007 MEA GRADE 5 RELEASED ANCHOR PAPERS AND THE ELEMENTS OF QUALITY FICTION Some Elements of Quality Fiction Anchor 6/4 Anchor 5/4 Anchor 4/3 Anchor 3/3 Anchor 2/2 Anchor 1/1 Sense of Place The attic in Maria and Joe's home is central to the plot. The response demonstrates the ability to ground the action and dialogue in the setting. The walls are described as old, damp, cob-web walls. An old rusted chest is found behind a stack of dusty boxes. After moving a large purse, Maria trips over a lamp and falls to the floor. A sense of place begins in the attic of Maria and Joe's home with observations by the narrator that "The attic was a mess. There were cobwebs and old boxes and chests that used to be a beautiful mahogany and gold." Maria's comment- "It is pretty scarey up here, Joe" adds to the feel of the attic. As the plot develops, the setting moves briefly to Joe's bedroom, then back to the attic, and finally outside the home of Maria and Joe. It is a door in the attic that provides the entry into Maria and Joe's adventures. Minimal descriptions of the attic, some description of "a island with sanday beaches, pamtrees, and blue water as far as they could see", and some description of "the woods all of their clothes were dry and it looked like they were in Alaska!" -leave much room for the reader to fill-in the gaps about the places this story evolves around. The story begins in Maria and Joe's attic but quickly moves to two locations (Military Intelligence 6 and Something Air Service) where no description is provided. The response jumps right in with the finding of the leppercon with no description to support a sense of place thus leaving the reader wondering if Maria and Joe are still in the attic The response indicates the setting is the attic where a box of CDs was found along with a CD player. More boxes of CDs are found in the attic when Maria and Joe return each Saturday. Character Development Characters have clear motivations and personalities which determine their actions with consistency. Joe lacks patience and is easily exasperated while Maria is more deliberate and able to concentrate. It is Maria's deliberateness and concentration that bring the problem to a resolution. Maria's words and actions show a character changing some over the course of the story. At the beginning of the story, she says the attic is pretty scarey and shows her fright over the dummy "Ahhh! It talked to me! Get it away. Get it away!" Later in the story, she decides to "go and follow it" back up to the attic and "down the stairs and watched it from the window." It is Joe's curiosity that led to the discovery of the dummy and his comfort around the dummy - all of which help move the plot along. Through the characters' words and actions we learn that Joe plays X-Box and is more adventurous than Maria and that Maria voluntarily cleans her room and is hesitant about making decisions. It is Joe's adventurous nature that creates the plot as it is he who initiates each decision in the story. The reader learns little about the characters, especially Maria. "Maria didn't dare take a sip" of the liquid in a bottle that Joe sipped. The reader is told by the narrator that Joe became a spy and did very well as a spy. The narrator tells the reader that Maria and Joe agreed to "help the lepercon find his gold if he gave them 10 pieces of gold. The narrator also provides the reader with a description of the leprechaun. It is the dialect used by the leprechaun in dialogue that supports the description of him. From the narrator tells the reader about Maria and Joe's actions, the reader learns they like to "lisined to them" [the CDs] and "danced for hours." The narrator also tells the reader that Maria and Joe "disided to put there CD's in them, so different people could lisen to them." Problem / Resolution Excited to discover what is in the old trunk, Maria and Joe are disappointed when they discover it is locked. Initially, they are unable to find the key but Maria discovers the key and a message cautioning its use after falling in the attic. The problem surfaces when "the dummy mysteriously got up and went back up to the attic... Suddenly it began thrashing about and throwing things here and there... then started talking...'Where is it. Where is it? No, wait, it must not be here! To the next house!" With the dummy getting into a spaceship the reader is left to wonder "what the dummy was looking for..." There is little lapse of time between when Joe mentions their Mom and then Maria reminds Joe "Oh no, we have been gone almost all day she must be worried sick" and the resolution "So they raced through the door and took one last look at the island and then climbed through the door!" The result is that three- quarters of the story rambles-on- a -bit before a problem is identified. The problem surfaces when Joe disappears after drinking the liquid in the bottle. Once Joe disappears, the narrator tells the reader what happens to Joe but does not mention if Maria knows what happened to Joe or what happened to Maria. It is the leprechaun who announces the problem at the beginning of the story by saying "please don't hurt me I was looking for me gold. I had it but then this little girl snached it right out of me little hands." Limited details in the story rush the reader through to the resolution when the gold is found "under a rainbow in a bucket. " It is difficult to identify a problem and therefore subsequently a resolution in the story. Story Mountain Maria's strong desire to find the key and open the trunk builds into the rising action, especially when Maria returns to the attic alone to search for the key and discovers it after tripping over a lamp. The rising action is built through the dialogue and actions of Joe, Maria, and the dummy. As the reader approaches the climax in the story, the dummy's mysterious actions add greatly to the suspense. The focus is clear and the chronological organization of the characters' activities is easy to follow with dialogue interspersed to help move the plot along and reveal character traits. The response misses the opportunity to engage the reader sooner in the story with the identification of a problem. The rising action builds quickly with Joe's disappearance after drinking the liquid in the bottle. The action continues with Joe's success in spy training. The rising action races quickly to a solution with limited details to support the pace. There is a slight rise in action as each Saturday new boxes of CDs are found in the attic in fact "twice as more boxes evey time." Some Elements of Quality Fiction Anchor 6/4 Anchor 5/4 Anchor 4/3 Anchor 3/3 Anchor 2/2 Anchor 1/1 Effective Ending The response demonstrates an attempt at an ending that brings the story's meaning home with the final sentence "After all, who knows what might be in your attic.?" The response demonstrates an attempt to have a powerful ending. The lingering questions about "what the dummy was looking for" and "what happened to Maria that night" probably contribute to a sense of little resolution at the end of the story. The story ends leaving the reader wondering how the attic was cleaned while Maria and Joe were away on their adventures and misses the opportunity to tie-up loose ends in the story, resolve the unresolved difficulties, or bring home the stories' meaning. The response is a skeletal narrative so focused on the narrow actions of a hero that it abandons the original story and leaves the reader guessing as to the outcome. The unresolved difficulty is resolved in the story but with so little details it weakens the effect of the ending. The story ends weakly with a statement "But every time they found twice as more boxes evey time." Some Elements of Quality Fiction Anchor 6/4 Anchor 5/4 Anchor 4/3 Anchor 3/3 Anchor 2/2 Anchor 1/1 Power of Language Rich details create vivid images for the reader: "rope snapping with the age" "gleaming broaches" Descriptions help create sensory images for the reader: " a sharp creaking noise" complements Maria's comment "It is pretty scarey up here, Joe". Effective use of language and an emerging personal style are most noticeable with the use of colorful verbs: "stumbled", "waltzed right up the steps", "thrashing about". There is a good sense of transitions from one activity to another in the story and some instances of using strong verbs "amazed" "raced". The pace and conversational tone of the response- "..knowing Joe would goof-off" "...Joe found something somewhere behind a stack of dusty boxes" "Of course. He didn't learn how to use a weapon."- engage the reader with Joe's adventures. There is a hint of effective dialogue with the use of dialect "looking for me gold... right out of me little hands". Shifts in focus, from dancing to finding more boxes to "different people" to boxes multiplying, create a disorganized piece of writing which the reader cannot easily follow. Some Elements of Quality Fiction Anchor 6/4 Anchor 5/4 Anchor 4/3 Anchor 3/3 Anchor 2/2 Anchor 1/1 Degree of Control of Standard English Conventions In this on-demand response, there are a variety of sentence structures (simple, compound, and complex) used in the writing and there are few errors in correct usage and grammar in the complex text. In this on-demand response, there are a variety of sentence structures (simple, compound, and complex) used in the writing which enhance the fluency of the writing. The response shows control of grammar and mechanics. Dialogue is correctly punctuated, paragraphs are indented, and even ellipses are used correctly. The response demonstrates a particularly good use of clauses and the reader uses a variety of sentence structures. Spelling errors standout but are overshadowed by the length and complexity attempt in the text. There are few errors in usage and spelling and just a few errant commas sprinkled here and there. Sentence structure is simplistic overall, and uncontrolled attempts at complexity end in run-on sentences. Problems with mechanics, including commas, periods, apostrophes, and proper dialogue punctuation detract from the flow of the text. There is little control of even the simplest sentences. Spelling errors such as Saterday, lisined, and disided are particularly noticeable, while punctuation, capitalization, and grammatical errors appear throughout the piece. SYLLABUS REVIEW Commissioner Gendron announced recently an initiative to require all high school teachers to submit a syllabus for their courses. This process will be similar to the AP syllabus review completed last year by College Board. Three secondary Maine schools are currently developing the syllabus protocol, identifying the necessary "fields" for each of the drop-down screens. This process involves evaluating each individual syllabus then evaluating the collection of syllabi a student would experience in a content area during his or her high school experience. The question is whether the "pathway" that a student takes allows sufficient opportunity to learn and demonstrate achievement of the breadth and depth of a content area. During school vacation week, a small group of Maine educators met to create "decision" rules regarding the syllabus review process. These decision rules will help those evaluating a syllabus determine what a performance indicator looks like in a syllabus, what is evidence and what is sufficient evidence. This was a great opportunity for a close examination and discussion of the application of our revised MLR for ELA. These decision rules will eventually be published as guidance for teachers developing their course syllabus. More information will follow as soon as possible. THE MAINE WRITING PROJECT The MWP is currently accepting applications for the next cohort. If you are not familiar with the MWP, please visit their site at http://www.umaine.edu/edhd/mwp/. We have also posted a link on our website where you will find the MWP application. http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/index.html MAINE COUNCIL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS Don't forget the upcoming conference sponsored by MCELA. Let's Talk the Talk: Conversation on 21st Century Literacy Friday, March 28 8 am to 1 pm at the University College at Rockland. Visit the ELA homepage under "notices" to find session descriptions and registration information. http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/index.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080304/f1dfb9f3/attachment-0001.html From Diana.Doiron at maine.gov Tue Mar 4 12:54:29 2008 From: Diana.Doiron at maine.gov (Doiron, Diana) Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2008 12:54:29 -0500 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] Elements of Quality Fiction and the 2007 MEA Grade 5 Released Anchor Papers Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B02BD8B6F@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Welcome to Maine Department of Education English Language Arts List Serve. This service is an attempt to keep Maine educators informed about current issues, upcoming opportunities and resources. Please send any requests to patsy.dunton at maine.gov or diana.dioron at maine.gov In an earlier email posting today the Elements of Quality Fiction and the 2007 MEA Grade 5 Released Anchor Papers table did not maintain its formatting. I have attached the table to this posting as a back-up measure and as a test to see if attachments will be allowed with our listserv service. <> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080304/5260d4ec/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ElementsInAnchorPapers2-08C.pdf Type: application/octet-stream Size: 45264 bytes Desc: ElementsInAnchorPapers2-08C.pdf Url : http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080304/5260d4ec/ElementsInAnchorPapers2-08C-0001.obj From Patsy.Dunton at maine.gov Wed Mar 12 10:44:24 2008 From: Patsy.Dunton at maine.gov (Dunton, Patsy) Date: Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:44:24 -0400 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] ELA update 11 MARCH 2008 Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B012B3AA3@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> We're a little late this week but we have had a big increase in subscribers in the last 48 hours and wanted to get everyone on board! Welcome to Maine Department of Education English Language Arts List Serve. This service is an attempt to keep Maine educators informed about current issues, upcoming opportunities and resources in ELA . Please send any responses to patsy.dunton at maine.gov or Diana.dioron at maine.gov Thank you for joining us. There has been some question about why this is an administrator post-only resource. As you know, getting critical information to educators in a timely manner has been a challenge. It is our intention to keep you informed without clogging up your mailboxes. We have learned that technology resources and skills vary widely across the state. We will attempt to send messages without attachments if possible but include links to documents instead. We will establish a blog so that if a topic needs to be discussed, it can be done logically and without using up your mailbox space. PSAT workshops The PSAT workshops were presented in February and March despite some very challenging weather. Workshop materials will be posted online later this week. Visit the Maine Department of Education English Language Arts Website for this information. Syllabus Review The decision to withdraw Chapter 2174 (graduation requirements) from this legislative session leaves many questions. I will share answers with you as they become available. What we do know so far is that the syllabus review will go forward as it is closely related to standards implementation. Maine Learning Technologies Initiative presents "Arts, Innovation, and Creativity" Spring Institute. This is a great opportunity to learn about connecting visual and Performing Arts to other content areas with a focus on creativity. The event will be held at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine on April 6 and 7. It's very affordable and a great place to be on a Spring day! Go to http://MaineLearns.org/ for loads of information and registration. Don't forget to visit the ELA homepage for at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/index.html for more ELA information and opportunities. Thanks for your support. Patsy Dunton English Language Arts Specialist, grades 6-12 Midcoast Regional Representative 624-6625 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080312/70331b86/attachment.html From englishlanguagearts at lists.maine.gov Tue Mar 18 17:34:31 2008 From: englishlanguagearts at lists.maine.gov (Communicate with ELA teachers) Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:34:31 -0400 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] [English language arts]ELA Update 18 March 2008 Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B02BD8C07@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Welcome to Maine Department of Education English Language Arts Listserv. This service is an attempt to keep Maine educators informed about current issues, upcoming opportunities and resources. Please send any requests to patsy.dunton at maine.gov or diana.dioron at maine.gov March 18, 2008 Posting Topics: The Revised Maine Learning Results Informational Texts MCELA Spring Conference Picturing America Initiative Teaching the Holocaust: A Workshop for Educators Grant Opportunity: Maine Community Heritage Project The revised Maine Learning Results In June of 2007, the Maine legislature approved Chapter 131: The Maine Federal, State, and Local Accountability Standards which include standards and performance indicators for mathematics, reading, and science. This document defines the standards and performance indicators for federal accountability. You can find Chapter 131 at http://mainegov-images.informe.org/education/mea/chptr131.pdf In October, the Maine State Board of Education approved Maine Department of Education Regulation 132- Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction (effective October 22, 2007). This document includes all eight content areas and all of their performance indicators and descriptors. This is a much more detailed document and defines the targets for instruction across the content areas and grade spans. Find this document at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/pei/index.html The current Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) includes field test items aligned to Chapter 131. Results for these field test items do not count towards students' scores and are therefore not reported in 2008. However, the 2009 MEA will be entirely aligned to the revised standards. AYP in 2009 will be determined at all grade levels by items aligned to the revised standards in Chapter 131. In the coming weeks, we will be posting more information about tools to help you align your curriculum to the 2007 revised standards. Informational Texts Informational texts are defined in the Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction Glossary as a much broader category than nonfiction. Informational texts include many kinds of expository or non-narrative writing intended to convey information. Examples of informational texts include reference tools, manuals, newspapers, brochures, articles, recipes, and selections from websites. In our lives today, access to the plethora of informational texts is increasing with each advance in technology. It is estimated that 40 exabytes (that's 4.0 x 1019) of unique information will be generated worldwide this year. (http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html) Do the realities in our classrooms include daily opportunities to learn from informational texts? Patsy and I plan to devote some space on the ELA website to the topics of informational texts and its subcategory nonfiction as well as the literary subcategory narrative nonfiction. We will keep you informed regarding the development of these topics on our website. In the interim, I would like to invite you to visit the ReadWriteThink website (www.readwritethink.org). It offers many free, classroom-tested, K-12 lesson plans on a variety of ELA topics. There are a number of lessons on this website that explore the use of informational texts. In the lessons, you will find not only classroom strategies but also book and website lists to help you choose the best texts to use with your students. Accompanying the lessons are step-by-step instructional plans and suggested assessment techniques. To access the lessons on the ReadWriteThink website, click on the orange Lessons tab and scroll through the lesson index to find the titles. MCELA Conference Don't forget to sign up for the Maine Council of English Language Arts spring conference on March 28. Let's Talk the Talk: Conversations on 21st Century Literacy will be held at University College at Rockland (URock). Download the conference brochure and registration information at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/pei/index.html Picturing America Initiative The National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) new Picturing America initiative provides an innovative way for citizens of all ages to explore the history and character of America through some of our nation's greatest works of art. Picturing America is a free resource that can be readily used in every classroom and public library in the country. Images of people, places, and events illustrating American history give citizens everywhere a chance to better understand our country's past and its ideals. From the courage and leadership portrayed in Emanuel Leutze's Washington Crossing the Delaware to the power of American democracy illustrated in Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech, these works of art represent enduring American ideals. These masterpieces open the viewer's eyes to America's rich history and culture, while also providing an introduction to the broader world of the humanities. Picturing America is available to all eligible public, private, parochial, and charter and home school consortia (K-12), as well as public libraries in the United States and its territories. These organizations will receive a set of 40 high-quality reproductions (approximately 24" x 36") of great American art and a teachers' resource book. Detailed instructions for submitting an application may be found on the Picturing America Web site (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/ ). The online application will be accepted through April 15. Teaching the Holocaust: A Workshop for Educators April 17, 2008 8:00 am-4:30 pm Sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in partnership with the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine Michael Klahr Center University of Maine at Augusta, 46 University Drive, Augusta No registration fee Complimentary lunch Free educational materials Register online: http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/currentapplications/online_a pp.php?location=42 For more information call 207-621-3530 or email infohhrc at maine.edu Grant Opportunity: Maine Community Heritage Project Apply Now! The Maine Historical Society, in partnership with the Maine State Library, is seeking Maine communities to participate in the Maine Community Heritage Project (MCHP), an innovative new program that promotes collaboration between local schools, historical societies, and public libraries through the exploration and celebration of local history. The MCHP grows out of the Maine Memory Network (www.mainememory.net), the Maine Historical Society's nationally recognized statewide digital museum, and is supported by a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services. The MCHP will provide wonderful opportunities for schools to build or expand partnerships with local libraries and historical organizations, and for teachers and students to engage and connect with their communities through the study of local history. Importantly, the project will also give participating communities extensive training, support, and a $10,000 grant to support the endeavor. Local teams-each consisting of a local library, historical organization, and school will apply this spring to participate in a year-long process (June 2008-June 2009) through which they will inventory local historical resources, identify key themes and topics in the history of their communities, digitize local collections, build online exhibits, and, ultimately, create a prominent website within Maine Memory that is dedicated to and radically expands information about the history of their community. The application deadline is May 9. Please visit www.mainememory.net/mchp for a full project description, application guidelines, and application form. We hope that your community will consider submitting an application. For more information, please contact Kristie Littlefield, School Partnership Coordinator, Maine Historical Society, by email at klittlefield at mainehistory.org or phone at 774-1822. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.informe.org/pipermail/englishlanguagearts/attachments/20080318/1e953214/attachment.html From englishlanguagearts at lists.maine.gov Wed Mar 26 12:59:03 2008 From: englishlanguagearts at lists.maine.gov (Communicate with ELA teachers) Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:59:03 -0400 Subject: [EnglishLanguageArts] ELA Update 25 MARCH 2008 Message-ID: <32E5C6B0B949584D9B6168C5F727916B012B3B3F@SOM-TEAQASMAIL1.som.w2k.state.me.us> Welcome to Maine Department of Education English Language Arts Listserv. This service is an attempt to keep Maine educators informed about current issues, upcoming opportunities and resources in ELA. Please send any responses to patsy.dunton at maine.gov or diana.dioron at maine.gov as this is not a discussion forum. March 25, 2008 Posting Topics: 1) Growing Our List 2) MCELA Conference Final Reminder 3) The revised Maine Learning Results 4) Informational Texts: Recommended Readings Growing Our List and keeping the field informed Our list enrollment is now up to 153. This is very encouraging but we would like to see that number grow. It seems that one audience we are not reaching is elementary level educators. You can help by sending the listserv link to your elementary colleagues in your district. FYI: There are more than 2000 ELA teachers in this state! MCELA Conference Final Reminder Don't forget to sign up for the Maine Council of English Language Arts spring conference on March 28. Let's Talk the Talk: Conversations on 21st Century Literacy will be held at University College at Rockland (URock). Download the conference brochure and registration information at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/pei/index.html The revised Maine Learning Results We are in the last week of this year's MEA testing window which has been extended for a week due to the impact of winter weather on instructional time. We are now ready to make the shift to posting documents supporting the 2007 MLR a.k.a. Chapter 132 or the PEI's (Parameters for Essential Instruction). We will have documents or links to documents on the ELA home page when the topic is general ELA or on the grade-span page when the topic or resource is specific to the grade-span. Documents which facilitate the interpretation of the revised standards in general will be accessed through the Learning Standards and Guidelines navigation button. Check our page at http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/index.html over the coming days and weeks for further information. Informational Texts: Recommended Readings In last week's posting, we provided a link to the International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English joint website: www.readwritethink.org and its wealth of lesson plans. To continue our exploration with informational texts, I would like to recommend the following book: Study Driven by Katie Wood Ray (Heinemann, 2006). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction of Study Driven: A couple of years ago, Patsy and I attended one of Katie Wood Ray's workshops in which the concepts and techniques at the heart of Study Driven were the focus of the workshop. The workshop left a deep impression with me regarding the power of using mentor texts to support students' learning and understanding of the traits of good writing. Two other recommendations: If you are a member of the International Reading Association, its publication of the September 2005 The Reading Teacher has an article by Sylvia Read titled First and Second Graders Writing Informational Text. This article is available online at: http://www.reading.org/Library/Retrieve.cfm?D=10.1598/RT.59.1.4&F=RT-59- 1-Read.html (Need to be a member of IRA to access online publications.) Also in the September 2005 The Reading Teacher is an article by Barbara Moss titled Making a Case and Place for Effective Content Area Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Grades. This article is available online at: http://www.reading.org/Library/Retrieve.cfm?D=10.1598/RT.59.1.5&F=RT-59- 1-Moss_8.html (Need to be a member of IRA to access online publications.) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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