Gift for You: 1000+ Literacy Resources

Over the past several years, we have created and collected over 1,000 resources that support our literacy framework. You can find them throughout the Literacy Web Site. There is a "Get Resources" button connected to each component of our literacy framework.

Now, all of those resources are located in our cloud drive that you can access and search. You can even preview files quickly before you download them.

Hamilton County Schools: Literacy Department: Hard Drive

Spy Photos: Creating and Responding (Schlosser, 3rd)

These gems come from a top-secret teacher: Agent Schlosser. Her 3rd Graders collect and present their learning in highly-classified foldable documents. Agent Leary has employed this learning technique as well. (Agent Leary: Send some pictures in!)

Spy Photos: Anchor Charts (Levan, 1st Grade)

The last one is my favorite. Everyone should have an anchor chart for friendship.

Wow! Mentor Text Project Takes Off!

We now have 131 entries in at the Mentor Text Project, including some from California and one from the United Kingdom!

The Mentor Text Project is, quite simply, a way for all of us teachers to collaborate and create the biggest searchable database of mentor texts. 

 - Do you need a chapter book to teach inference skills? 

 - Or how about an informational picture book with great leads and endings? 

Select your options in the database and find a text a teacher in our district has used for the same purpose. (Or, maybe a teacher in the U.K. used it.)

Check out these super-cool recent entries:

• Toad or Frog, Swamp or Bog?: A Big Book of Nature's Confusables – Informational/Explanatory Text; Picture Book; Search and Use Information/Synthesize/Summarize/Compare & Contrast
• I Wanna Iguana – Opinion/Argument Text; Picture Book; mentor text for writing

 Be greedy for mentor texts, but don’t be selfish! Contribute your mentor text titles, too. It only takes a minute.

Textbook Adoption Time

Come check out the upcoming options with these teachers on the Adoption Committee at these fine establishments:

1. Teresa Calbaugh, Rivermont Elementary
2. Kathy Daniel, Nolan Elementary
3. Anna Gray, Big Ridge
4. Elaine Hollenbeck, Allen Elementary
5. Tiffany Lundy, Westview Elementary
6. Ruthie Panni, Shepherd Elementary
7. Lindsay Rowe, East Side Elementary
8. Jennifer Zeigler, Normal Park Museum Magnet
9. …plus W. 40th.

The following publishers have been approved by the State for consideration:

• Benchmark Education
• Cengage Learning
• Houghton-Mifflin
• McGraw Hill
• Pearson

Mentor Text Project

Fountas and Pinnell write, "Rather than picking up a book because it is 'good for teaching inference,' you'll want to decide what you want to teach and then look at any good text through that lens--that's basic to teaching readers rather than teaching texts."

However, many teachers are asking for such resources because planning time is scarce. So, how about we all chip in and put together a quick-look resource?

If each teacher filled out the form below just once, we would have around 2,500 entries in no time. We'll take the data and collate it here -- you will be able to look up a book by literary element, genre, unit of study, author, or title. Pretty cool, right?

Click the green button to begin. It takes about 37.4 seconds per book.
You can use this link as many times as you are willing!


Or use this direct link (better for tablets/phones): http://paulsonlearning.polldaddy.com/s/mentor-texts

Common Core Writing -- TN Assessment

http://tncore.org/english_language_arts/writing_test.aspx has some general information.
Also, a teacher at January 8th's Common Core Writing PD shared:
"In iTunes, search for TNCore to get videos and information about the writing assessment."