Reading Apprenticeship

Conferences and Resources

Sam Peters

Conferences and Resources

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Conferences are back underway in-person this fall! This is a key time for professionals to celebrate work, solve problems, and share knowledge and resources to improve teaching and learning. Here are just a few of the many opportunities to learn more from teachers and scholars engaged in improving teaching and learning. Please join us at the conferences and share your events on Reading Apprenticeship’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. We will share the presentations and publications as soon as they are available — check back here!

 

NCTE (National Council for the Teaching of English)

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Presentation: Centering Students’ Voices in Classroom Assessment: Environmental Charter Schools and Reading Apprenticeship Collaboration
Time: 9:00 a.m.–10:15 a.m.
Presenters: Linda Friedrich (WestEd), Bethany Sanabria (Environmental Charter High School), and Jane Wyche-Jonas (Environmental Charter High School)
Description: We will actively explore an essential question through reading, considering classroom examples, and reflecting: How can we make students more central to formative assessment processes to center their voices and turn the intellectual work of literacy learning over to them? We will share assessment tools and processes that we developed.

You can read more about ECS and their exceptional leadership here: https://readingapprenticeship.org/success-story/environmental-charter-schools-ecs/ AND HERE https://readingapprenticeship.org/a-leader-to-learn-from/

 

 

Literacy Research Association

Conference schedule: https://convention2.allacademic.com/one/lra/lra22/

A) Wed, November 30, 10:15 to 11:45am (paper session): Crossing boundaries between science and literacy for equitable text use in middle and high school science teaching

Cynthia Greenleaf and Kathleen Hinchman summarize their work with Reading Apprenticeship experts and science teachers which explored the challenges and affordances of integrating science and literacy during the the pandemic. What do your students read and write? How do you help them? Access the curriculum units these science teachers developed here: https://wested.box.com/s/y6c8dmoufqalzqok2y617l0qrkiccnhz

 

B) Thu, December 1, 7:00 to 8:30am (invitation only): Reading Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Cynthia Greenleaf joins a short list of esteemed literacy researchers: she is being announced as a new inductee into the Reading Hall of Fame! Her big speech will not be this week, so stay tuned for lessons from the master. In the meantime, you can read just a few of her publications by typing “Greenleaf” into the search button on ReadingApprenticeship.org, or see the presentations below and above!

 

C) Fri, December 2, 8:30 to 10:00am – Innovations in Literacy Professional Learning

Reading Apprenticeship co-founder Cynthia Greenleaf, Associate Director Mary Stump, researcher Mira-Lisa Katz, and educator Gayle Cribb will be part of a forum for the forthcoming book (Feb 2023) from Guildford Press: Innovations in Literacy Professional Learning: Strengthening Equity, Access, and Sustainability. Their chapter describes the foundational principles of WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship program, and “makes it real” with snapshots from the professional journey teacher-school leader-PD designer-facilitator-researcher of Gayle Cribb. Their chapter closes with a challenge the field to replicate this kind of work.

New STEM Units Integrating Reading Apprenticeship Routines

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Calling all Science and Engineering teachers! Interested in helping your students become better readers of science texts as they master the goals of your grade level and more? The Reading Apprenticeship approach models discipline-specific literacy skills and establishes routines for discussion and collaboration that tap students’ own experiences. 

These 14 units were designed by teams of science educators who use Reading Apprenticeship in their classrooms. The teams were part of a Design Group led by Reading Apprenticeship senior staff members: Dr. Cynthia Greenleaf, Dr. Willard Brown and Heather Howlett. The units are guided by an inquiry question and include detailed lesson steps, student materials, and student work samples from Reading Apprenticeship classrooms.  

There is a landing page for each unit on our Resources webpage and unit overviews in the Teacher Materials.  The units were designed and tested during the pandemic, so they include digital and in-person resources and teaching routines. 

Select units and inquiry questions include: 

Explore our library of curriculum resources here. 

Select Reading Apprenticeship routines integrated into these units include: 

Interested in learning about the unit design process?  

Watch the webinar replay of two middle school science educators about how they incorporated literacy supports within Mi-STAR science curriculum units using Reading Apprenticeship strategies, and see how you can use these supports in your own classroom. 

The design of the STEM units was supported by a 2018 SEED grant to WestEd from the U.S. Department of Education (Grant U423A180020) and by a grant from the Hewlett Foundation. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the U.S. Department of Education nor the Hewlett Foundation.  

Permission to use: The lesson materials open education resources in the Creative Commons (CC BY license). You are free to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the lesson materials and plans as long as you credit the authors for the original creation. The texts in the unit are CC licensed by the authors or public domain. Please credit the original authors for the texts.    

Register Today for August Essentials I Institutes

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A great way to get started with Reading Apprenticeship is to join one of our Summer Institutes.  Learn more or register for any of the events via the links below. Not sure where to start? Check out our get started page or contact us.
If you need additional information download our flyer, brochure or evidence summary.

Open to middle school, high school, and college educators of all subject areas:

  • Essentials I In-Person, Washington, DC (Aug 2–4) will introduce you to the framework and core routines you can use to develop students’ literacy and social-emotional learning skills. Deadline to register is July 8!
  • Essentials I Online (Aug 3–5) kicks off with three consecutive days of 2-hour synchronous sessions, and then continues with 1.5-hour monthly meetings throughout the school year.
  • Note that all online Essentials courses are highly interactive and combine synchronous and asynchronous work. Participants experience the kinds of text-based, collaborative teaching and learning they will enact with their students.

Registration open now! Visit the links above or our services page to learn more. To learn about services at your site or course buyouts, contact our Partnership Development Director, Stephanie Patterson, at (310) 367-3892.

 

A note on federal funding:

As part of the federal relief laws passed by Congress in 2020 and 2021, financial support is available to districts and schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds. These funds offer schools and districts the flexibility to address their critical areas of need as they support their students, educators, and communities around various accelerated learning efforts. One area in which your leadership team can use these funds is to address unfinished learning through evidence-based professional learning frameworks, such as Reading Apprenticeship. If you are interested in leveraging this one-time funding to introduce teachers to the Reading Apprenticeship approach, please contact us.

EIR Grant Wraps Up First Year

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More than 200 North Carolina 9th and 10th grade Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts educators participated in the first year of Reading Apprenticeship North Carolina, reaching over 5,000 students! Participants engaged in both in-person and online training, and district leaders and educators were exceptionally nimble as pandemic related challenges necessitated changes to the learning progression as originally conceived.

Despite the obstacles, teachers were open and enthusiastic in their learning and implementation of Reading Apprenticeship. They were further motivated by the differences they saw in their classroom culture. A Social Studies teacher reported the following: We’ve done well with our establishing a culture where being confused is acceptable and nothing to be ashamed of. Lots of more questions are driving instruction than ever before, which I feel has been the greatest success of RA this year.

Our facilitators and local partners were able to travel to and engage in an in-person day of learning in each district this winter that served to be both engaging and energizing. For many of our participants, this was their first in-person professional development session in more than two years. We saw firsthand the earnest and sincere efforts of these outstanding educators.

One of our districts, Wilkes County, arranged visits to classrooms where Reading Apprenticeship had been implemented with fidelity and skill. Participants were able to observe these wonderful teachers in action with their students and then our team led the debriefing. That kind of creativity and collaborative programming is only possible with rich partnerships with the dedicated district staff and leadership.

Reading Apprenticeship North Carolina will continue to support the learning and implementation of our Framework through Summer in-person learning for our existing cohort and an additional cohort of teachers. We will then move to supporting implementation in online modules in the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Teacher Leaders have been identified and will be supported to sustain Reading Apprenticeship beyond each district’s two-year commitment.

This project is made possible by the EIR grant from the U.S. Department of Education and supports primarily rural districts in North Carolina. You can learn more about the project here, and more about the evidence of our impact on teacher practice and student learning here.

The last cohort of Reading Apprenticeship North Carolina will launch in Summer 2023. If you are interested in your district participating, please contact: Sam Peters, Program Coordinator, [email protected].

Diana Mansour, Facilitator

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Location: Michigan

Years of Teaching: 14

If you had to describe yourself as an educator, what six words would you use and why?

Caring, Learner, Leader, Student Advocate, Inspirer, Passionate

 
Reading Apprenticeship helps and empowers students to take control of their own learning and become strong readers and disciplinary experts.”

 

What drew you to Reading Apprenticeship?

I was drawn by the framework. The framework reminds me that I have humans in front of me. I noticed and appreciated that it valued process and granted individuals the time and space to process.

What is your go-to Reading Apprenticeship routine?

A/B Partner Think Aloud

Can you share a story about a time when you or a student had an “aha!” moment with Reading Apprenticeship?

“My first “aha” with Reading Apprenticeship was when I recognized my own reading process, especially with reading figures. As a science reader, I always gravitated towards figures first, yet I always taught them last. It was then that I learned to always recognize my process and help others recognize theirs.

My major “aha!” moment was when my 9th-grade Biology class engaged in sophisticated conversation about Evolution in a way that I don’t even remember myself engaging in as an undergraduate college student. Students were building on and using disciplinary language and vocabulary make meaning and deepen their understanding of the content. I could see and hear their growth in the ways they were thinking and speaking. I knew then that Reading Apprenticeship was a game-changer.”

If you could describe Reading Apprenticeship in a sentence, what would you say?

Reading Apprenticeship helps and empowers students to take control of their own learning and become strong readers and disciplinary experts.

What are you reading right now?

Life as a Leb-neh Lover: The Identity Crisis of a Maybe-Lebanese by Kathy Shalhoub

Sheng Vu, Facilitator

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Interested in learning more about Reading Apprenticeship facilitation? Read on to learn about Sheng and her “why”! Apply to our 2022 Reading Apprenticeship Facilitator in Training program. Applications are due March 31, 2022.

Location: Clovis, CA

Years of Teaching: 8

If you had to describe yourself as an educator, what six words would you use and why?

I would describe myself as a “students first,” “always learning,” “always improving” educator because my students are at the forefront of every professional decision I make. Due to that, I am always looking to learn and improve upon my craft to better help them find success.

Reading Apprenticeship meets students where they are at and is a toolbox of strategies that will help students build confidence and problem solve in reading complex texts across disciplines.”

 

What drew you to Reading Apprenticeship?

What drew me to Reading Apprenticeship is that it teaches students to push through the struggle and develop grit and problem-solving skills without constantly relying on the teacher for help. Reading Apprenticeship improves literacy across all disciplines and allows students to share whatever their level of insight is collaboratively while meeting students where they are at so that all students, no matter their varying abilities, are able to be contributing learners and teachers in the discourse of the learning taking place in the classroom. Reading Apprenticeship not just tackles literacy comprehension in terms of words and reading, but literacy in terms of graphs, charts, images, etc. to help improve literacy across disciplines.

What is your go-to Reading Apprenticeship routine?

“Reading Strategies List” is my go-to Reading Apprenticeship routine!

Can you share a story about a time when you or a student had an “aha!” moment with Reading Apprenticeship?

I was teaching an 11th grade class that had struggling readers and some RSP students. As my class was reading the complex but very powerful “Letter From Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I overheard my students engaging in metacognitive conversations while talking to the text. They were problem solving when they got to difficult parts in order to make sense of the text and they were not afraid to share out when they were confused so their peers could help them out. They were also sharing insights they found on their own that they were proud of to help their peers learn from their insights. “Birmingham” is a complex text and when my students got through the reading and completing the rhetorical analysis task at hand and realized they did not once ask me for help, one of my students said: “Mrs. Vu, you are an amazing teacher!” They had credited me for their comprehension and engagement of this complex text, but they did not realize that I had done nothing but observe them collaborating and working through the “struggle” instead. They had done this all by themselves without having to rely on me, the teacher, for any help so I replied to this student and to the class: “Don’t thank me! You did that all by yourselves. Thank yourselves. That was a hard text and you all did it by yourself!” to which some of them proudly replied “we DID do that all by ourselves!”

If you could describe Reading Apprenticeship in a sentence, what would you say?

Reading Apprenticeship meets students where they are at and is a toolbox of strategies that will help students build confidence and problem solve in reading complex texts across disciplines.

What are you reading right now?

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson.