1. Melissa ISD
Humanities
New Teacher Orientation 2012

2. Agenda
August 9
8:30 – 3:30
McKillop Elementary
8:00 – 11:30: Humanities with Pam & Alex - Library
11:30 – 12:30: Lunch
12:30 – 3:30: Engineering with Alissa – Science Lab

3. “Language arts and reading teachers
need content-area teachers to show
students how to read and write like a
scientist, historian, or mathematician. All
teachers in all subject areas share the
responsibility for literacy development.
Today, more and more content-area
teachers recognize this responsibility and
are incorporating content literacy into their
teaching through a variety of instructional
strategies.”
Richard Vacca, Author of Content Area Reading: Literacy and
Learning Across the Curriculum

4. Interactive Notebooks
Today, we will be making Interactive
Notebooks (INs) that you will be carrying
with you all year for Staff Development.
Samples

5. Interactive Notebooks
Key Ideas
• Interactive journaling will make a
difference!
• Students are actively engaged in thinking
and communicating.
• Students feel “ownership” because they
are creating meaningful knowledge for
themselves.
• There’s no “right” or “wrong” way.
• Modify to find ways that work best for you
and your students.

6. Why Interactive Notebooks
Engage Students
•Students use both their visual and linguistic
intelligences
•Note taking becomes an active process
•Notebooks help students to systematically
organize as they learn
•Notebooks become a portfolio on individual
learning

7. The first page The back of the first page
you create is create and Author’s
a title page (like Biography page.
a book). You
decide the title Include:
for your IN. •Name
•Birthday
•Hobbies
Draw, write, or use photos to
describe yourself on this
page.

8. Reserve 5 or more pages after the title page
for a Table of Contents (like a book)

9. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
Turn to your Table of Contents (TOC), and record your first
entry title as IN Representation in the far left column as
assignment # 1S. In the right side column record the entry
title as IN Notes as assignment # 1T.

10. How Interactive Notebooks Differ
from Other Journals
•INs have a “left-side, right-side” orientation to
help students record, organize, and process
new information. This takes advantage of the
way each hemisphere of the brain works!
Much of the classroom and homework can be
done in the interactive notebook.
•INs are not used just as a storehouse of
information. The students are expected to
continually reflect and show evidence of this
reflection through “left hand” assignments.
• On the Right hand page of your journal, fold your
paper in half (red line to red line). Create a T-Chart
to record the characteristics of left brain and right
brain thinkers.

11. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T

12. Literacy Philosophy
• Reading and Writing Sittin’
in a Tree
• May the Process be with
You
• SuperModels – Work It
• Have it Your Way
• Assess to Progress
• Media Matters

13. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
icons/phrases

14. • K-4
– Agreements
– Writer’s Workshop
– Reader’s Workshop
– Word Study Workshop
– Projects
• 5-6
– Above plus
– Integration of Social Studies

15. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards 4S Literacy Standards 4T
Reflection

16. Writing
“Writing helps students get more actively engaged in
subject matter, understand information and
concepts more deeply, make connections and raise
questions more fluently, remember ideas
longer, and apply learning in new situations. If we
say that reading helps us take in knowledge, with
writing, we make it our own.”
Harvey Daniels & Steven Zemelman, Content-Area
Writing: Every Teacher’s Guide

17. Writer’s Workshop
• Mini-lesson
– Procedures
– Process
– Craft
– Convention
• Writing Time
– Students – writing, conferring
– Teachers – status of the class,
conferring, small group re-teach
• Sharing Time
– Informal
– Formal (publishing)

18. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards 4S Literacy Standards 4T
Reflection
Writer’s Workshop : 5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
1st week ideas

19. Writing Challenges in the Content Areas
• Writing in the content areas is about writing to learn the
content or writing to develop thinking.
• It can also be about learning to write the genre of the
content.
• Challenges
– Limited vocabulary
– Lack of organizational strategies
– Lack of experience with content writing
– Lack of self-regulation or self-monitoring

20. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards 4S Literacy Standards 4T
Reflection
Writer’s Workshop : 5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
1st week ideas
Solutions to 6S Writing Challenges 6T
Challenges in Content Area

21. Writing in Content Areas
R.A.F.T.
Role: In developing the final
product, what role will the
students need to “take on”?
Writer? Character (in the text)?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product.
Will it take placePolitician? Scientist?
Artist? in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the
product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?

22. Writing in Content Areas
R.A.F.T.
Audience: Who should the
Role: In developing the final
students consider as the
product, what role will the
audience for the product? Other
students need to “take on”?
students? Parents? Local
Writer? Character (in the text)?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will becommunity? School board? product.
the focus/subject of the final
Will it take placePolitician? Scientist?
Artist? in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the
Other characters in the text?
product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?

23. Writing in Content Areas
R.A.F.T.
Audience: Who should the
Role: In developing the final
students consider as the
product, what role will the
audience for the product? Other
students need to “take on”?
students? Parents? Local
Writer? Character (in the text)?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will becommunity? School board? product.
the focus/subject of the final
Will it take placePolitician? Scientist?
Artist? in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the
Other characters in the text?
product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Format: What is the best product
that will demonstrate the
students’ in-depth understanding
of their interactions with the text?
A writing task? Art work? Action
plan? Project?

24. Writing in Content Areas
R.A.F.T.
Audience: Who should the
Role: In developing the final
students consider as the
product, what role will the
audience for the product? Other
students need to “take on”?
students? Parents? Local
Writer? Character (in the text)?
Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will becommunity? School board? product.
the focus/subject of the final
Will it take placePolitician? Scientist?
Artist? in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the
Other characters in the text?
product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?
Format: What is the best product Topic: This is the when, who, or
that will demonstrate the what that will be the
students’ in-depth understanding focus/subject of the final product.
of their interactions with the text? Will it take place in the same time
A writing task? Art work? Action period as the novel? Who will be
plan? Project? the main focus of the product?
What event will constitute the
centerpiece of the action?

25. Writing in Content Areas
R.A.F.T.
Role Audience Format Topic
•writer •self •journal •issue relevant to
•artist •peer group •editorial the text or time
• character •government •brochure/booklet period
•scientist •parents •interview •topic of personal
• adventurer •fictional •video interest or
• inventor character(s) •song lyric concern for the
• juror •committee •cartoon role or audience
• judge •jury •game •topic related to
• historian •judge •primary an essential
• reporter •activists document question
•rebel •immortality •critique
•therapist •animals or object •biographical
•journalist sketch
•newspaper
article

26. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Hemisphere 1S Hemisphere 1T
Conclusion Specialization
IN Representation 2S IN Notes 2T
Philosophy icons 3S Literacy Philosophy 3T
Standards 4S Literacy Standards 4T
Reflection
Writer’s Workshop : 5S Writer’s Workshop 5T
1st week ideas
Solutions to 6S Writing Challenges 6T
Challenges in Content Area
R.A.F.T. brainstorm 7S R.A.F.T. notes 7T
for content areas

27. Reading Workshop:
Daily 5
• A structure to teach independence and
foster literacy development:
– K-3 Daily 5: Students immersed in literacy
through the five components
• Read to Self
• Read to Someone
• Listen to Reading
• Work on Writing
• Word Study

28. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 symbols 8S Daily 5 flip book 8T

29. Reading Workshop:
CAFÉ
– Whole Group mini-lesson-strategies added to CAFÉ
board
– CAFÉ structure –
• Student
– Working on one of the 5 Daily Five task
– Conferring with teacher
– Working in small group
• Teacher
– working with small group or individual conference

30. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 8T CAFE 9T

31. Word Study
• What do we study?
– Word features
– Content Words
– High frequency words
– Student generated word lists
• When do we study?
– Daily mini-lesson
– Daily 5 Component
– Reading/Writing mini-lessons or guided lessons
– Content lessons
• Context is everything!
• Regarding spelling, remember
– There is no “silver bullet” program that will
magically cause our students to spell everything
correctly.
– Spelling is a developmental process; it’s okay for
kids to have different words.
– We’re teaching how to be a better
speller, writer, and reader, not teaching spelling
words.

32. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 9S CAFE 9T
Word Study 10S Word Study 10T
Reflection

33. Assessments
• K-2: ISIP(Istation Indicators of Progress)
• K-6: Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark
Assessment
• District Assessments/Benchmarks
• K-8 Writing Samples (BOY, MOY, EOY)
• STAAR
– Grades 3-9 Reading
– Grades 4 & 7 Writing
– Grades 9-12 EOC

34. Table of Contents
Entry Title Assignment # Entry Title Assignment #
Daily 5 flip book 8S Daily 5 8T
CAFÉ icons 9S CAFE 9T
Word Study 10S Word Study 10T
Reflection
Reflection of day 11S Picture  11T

35. Reflection
1. Reflect & journal about one thing
you will use & how you will use it
2. Reflect on one thing we talked
about today that you still wonder
about

36. Resources
• Akhavan, Nancy. The Content-Rich Reading and Writing Workshop:
A Time-Saving Approach for Making the Most of Your Literacy
Block.
• Allen, Janet. Tools for Teaching Content Literacy.
• Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read What Teachers can Do: A
Guide for Teachers 6-12.
• Burke, Jim. Illuminating Texts: How to Teach Students to Read the
World.
• Burke, Jim. Reading Reminders: Tools, Tips, and Techniques.
• Burke, Jim. Tools for Thought: Graphic Organizers for Your
Classroom.
• Daniels, Harvey and Stephanie Harvey. Comprehension and
Collaboration.
• Daniels, Harvey. Content-Area Writing: Every Teacher's Guide.
• Daniels, Harvey. Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to
Content-Area Reading.
• Fisher, Douglas. Reading for Information in Elementary School:
Content Literacy Strategies to Build Comprehension.
• Miller, Debbie. Reading with Meaning.
• Morris, Alana. Vocabulary Unplugged.
• Tovani, Chris. I Read It, But I Don’t Get It: Comprehension
Strategies for Adolescent Readers.
• Wormeli, Rick. Summarization in Any Subject: 50 Techniques to
Improve Student Learning.