Writing Instruction For All Grades, With Strategies From "The Writing Revolution"
Instructional Specialist Amy Pento Presents to WNY LIT This Wednesday, 5/8!
This month, “WNY LIT: Literacy Instructors Together” is offering free professional development this Wednesday, 5/8, to any educator in the Western New York area on an important, but often overlooked, area of instruction…writing!
How does writing fit into the “science of reading?” EdWeek reports in a recent piece:
Writing is intrinsically important for all students to learn—after all, it is the primary way beyond speech that humans communicate. But more than that, research suggests that teaching students to write in an integrated fashion with reading is not only efficient, it’s effective.
We are excited to bring in Instructional Specialist Amy Pento this Wednesday, 5/8, at The Willow Room in Lockport! She will share her expertise on writing instruction using strategies from the book The Writing Revolution, by Judith C. Hochman and Natalie Wexler. Please register here to attend.
Part 1 The Why: The presentation will start with the big idea behind The Writing Revolution —'advancing thinking through writing in all subjects and grades'. We will take a quick detour to look at a diagram of how learning happens. We will reference this throughout to understand how these strategies not only help students write better, but help them learn and remember whatever they're studying better.
Part 2 The What and How: Amy will explain one sentence-level strategy and show how she's used it with CKLA knowledge units. She'll then select another subject or grade level and she'll live-model applying the strategy. She will repeat this pattern for another strategy and another until time runs out. These strategies can be used in all subjects and all grades — seriously. To quote the book, "The content drives the rigor."
Join us at The Willow Room for an engaging session packed with valuable insights and practical tips. Whether you're a seasoned educator or just starting out, this event is perfect for anyone looking to enhance their teaching skills. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from one of the best!
From Amy:
**It is not necessary to own a copy of The Writing Revolution, to have read it, or to even know what it is. Amy will bring everything necessary — just bring a pen! No tech required.
From me:
**We will be giving away several copies of The Writing Revolution! Winners will be chosen from those who have registered.
You can learn more about our incredible presenter, as well as register, by clicking here.
The ResearchEd Toronto Conference: An Unforgettable Experience For 7 WNY Educators
This past weekend, seven educators from across three school districts - Orchard Park CSD, Lyndonville CSD, and Tapestry Charter School - attended the ResearchEd Toronto: “Discovering the Science of Learning” Conference, courtesy of sponsorship from The WNY Education Alliance.
To hear from world-renowned researchers like Daniel T. Willingham, Carl Hendrick, Paul Kirschner, Barbara Oakley, Amanda VanDerHeyden, John Mighton, Anna Stokke, and Patrice M. Bain, was inspirational.
Dan Willingham’s Opening Keynote addressed "The Challenge of Belief & Persuasion.” He spoke about tribalism and the importance of “social reciprocity” - that our goal in listening is understanding, which is a good reminder at a time when education is fraught with division and the emotion of belief systems.
I will leave you with the advise from the Closing Panelists, who challenged us to ask:
What is the evidence behind this (that is not published by you?)
The science of learning is at the heart of math and reading instruction. I’m grateful that educators from WNY got to take this knowledge back to their schools.
ICYMI…The Curriculum Navigation Reports Are Live!
School leaders and board members: Our WNY Literacy Initiative partner, The Reading League, recently published their Curriculum Navigation Reports, designed to help curriculum decision makers understand the extent to which ELA curricula are aligned with research.
The curriculum reviewed includes Aprendo Leyendo, Amplify CKLA, EL Education, HMH, Open Court Reading, PAF Reading Program, and Wonders - with more to come. You can access the Reports here.
Tools like this will become more important by Fall 2025 when all school districts in NYS will be required to certify with the NYS Department of Education that their curriculum aligns with research.
Today, that's not the case. Many districts continue to use flawed curricula, such as Units of Study. Some schools have added phonics to address inadequacies, but experts agree that the problems extend beyond phonics.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise then that the publisher of Units of Study and Fountas & Pinnell did not respond to attempts to have their curriculum reviewed by The Reading League. This should be another major red flag for school districts, and parents.
Publishers: Declining to Participate or Lack of Response
Some publishers declined to provide materials for The Reading League Curriculum Navigation Report review. Those publishers are listed below. The Reading League will continue to reach out to these organizations to request the opportunity to review their programs.
Publishers that declined review or did not respond:
American Reading Company (Declined 2023 and 2024)
Benchmark Education (Declined 2023 and 2024)
Heinemann’s Fountas & Pinnell (Did not respond 2023)
Savaas’ MyView (Declined 2023 and 2024)
Heinemann’s Units of Study (Did not respond 2023)
Have a great week and I hope to see some of you at WNY LIT on Wednesday!
Tarja