Volume 10, Number 1

August, 2013

Spotlight on….2013-14 Cross Discipline Literacy Network

Moving into its second year, the Cross Discipline Literacy Network (CDLN) is a professional learning network that fosters literacy practices that support K-12 teaching and learning across content areas.  Any educator from any discipline working across the K-12 spectrum, including Pre-K teachers, is welcome and encouraged to join the CDLN.  

The CDLN utilizes both online webinar sessions and in-person networking sessions.  This year, the in-person sessions will be offered in 5 regional locations throughout Maine.  The sessions will use a Dine and Discuss format (supper included). Opportunities for text-based discussions, sharing instructional strategies and student work, and networking with other educators will be abundant during these sessions which will run from 4:00-6:30 p.m.  Conversations and sharing at local sites will be facilitated by trained Maine educators, and each site will be organized to support educators from across the K-12 grade spans.  CDLN participants will be required to read and come prepared to discuss one of two texts during the Dine and Discuss sessions.  

The webinar portion of the network will require participants to select Literacy Strands on which to focus their study throughout the year.  The literacy strands will be cross discipline, and will support the Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy Across the Disciplines as well as content area standard achievement.  Each strand will include 2 hour-long webinars.  Participants may select as many webinar strands as they want, but should plan to participate in both sessions within a strand as these will build on each other over time. Webinars will be developed and delivered by MDOE content specialists and Maine educators with discipline specific expertise at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.  Participants will be expected to connect webinar content to their practice and to share evidence of this application during the second Dine and Discuss session. Webinar presentations will be held afterschool and archived so that participants can watch them again and/or obtain the content at a later time if they miss the live presentation.  

Contact hours will be awarded for both Dine and Discuss sessions (2.5 hours each) and for participation in webinars (1 hour each). 

To register, visit http://www.maine.gov/doe/literacy-for-me/cdln.html where you can view the 2013-14 Cross Discipline Literacy Network master schedule and read about literacy strand options.  Once you know which regional site and which webinar strand(s) you want to select, click the registration button (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CDLN2013) to complete the online registration.  Registration cost is $30 for the year (includes attendance at 2 Dine and Discuss sessions and webinar strands).   The registration deadline is October 15, 2013.   For additional information, please contact: Lee Anne Larsen (leeann.larsen@maine.gov) or 624-6628.  	

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”
 Frederick Douglas

	
Online Resources
One of the benefits of the Cross Discipline Literacy Network is that it produces a collection of archived webinars that educators can draw upon for professional learning.  During 2012-13, the CDLN produced 29 webinars.  These webinars can be accessed at:  http://www.maine.gov/doe/literacy-for-me/cdln-schedules.html. The webinars are organized by content area and the titles of webinars describe the literacy related focus of each.    	

Reading and writing, like everything else, improve with practice.
Margaret Atwood	
Professional Texts
During this year’s CDLN, two texts will be used as part of the Dine and Discuss sessions.  This month we are featuring these two texts, both as helpful teaching resources and to preview the options for the CDLN.  
Content Counts!  Developing Disciplinary Literacy Skills, K-6
International Reading Association, 2011
By Jennifer Altieri  

With so much emphasis on literacy in the elementary grades, how do you give math, science, and social studies the attention they deserve? How do you make content count without sacrificing the precious time spent on nurturing literacy development?  This book’s innovative approach to disciplinary literacy shows you the way. Chock-full of fun and engaging hands-on activities to teach essential content material, the strategies will help students: 
•	Meet comprehension demands through the grades
•	Communicate content knowledge orally
•	Create content connections through writing
•	Develop viewing skills for content reading
The activities can be modified for a range of ages, grades, and abilities. Activity extensions and adaptations help you adjust instruction as needed (Amazon review).
The Core Six:  
Essential Strategies for Achieving Excellence with the Common Core

By Harvey Silver, R. Thomas Dewing, and Matthew Perini
ASCD, 2012

While educators are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about the CCSS for ELA, the next step is translating the standards into daily instruction.  This text offers six core strategies that can be used across grade levels and content areas to promote instructional practices that clearly target the CCSS.  The six research-based strategies include:  Reading for Meaning; Compare & Contrast; Inductive Learning; Circle of Knowledge; Write to Learn; and Vocabulary's CODE. For each strategy, the research behind the strategy and reasons for using it to address the goals of the CCSS are included, along with sample lessons and considerations for effective use.  	

Upcoming Events

New England Reading Association
65th Annual Conference

Moving Forward:
Inspiring Learners Beyond Measure

September 19-20, 2013
Holiday Inn By the Bay
Portland, ME

Registration Info:
http://www.nereading.org 

Children’s Literature 
This month we feature two children’s books that will help teachers and students alike think more carefully about how to determine the reliability of information found on the internet, as well as the appropriate use of information when writing from sources.  Check out these two engaging and purposeful texts.
But I Read It On the Internet
Toni Buzzeo
Upstart Books, 2013
When Hunter and Carmen disagree about the reliability of information found through internet searches, super librarian, Mrs. Skorupski, sends them on a fact-finding mission designed to teach them sound internet searching practices.  
The Pirates of Plagiarism
Kathleen Fox and Lisa Downey
Upstart Books, 2010
Buffoon pirate Captain Bumbo and his lazy pirate crew arrive at the library in search of lost treasure, but end up finding a more important treasure in the form of important lessons about plagiarism and producing one’s own written work with proper research when they help a group of students who have come to the library to conduct research.  	

	
News from Maine’s ELA Team
The Maine DOE is in the process of updating its webpages.  In the not too distant future, you will begin to see a new appearance when you visit our various content pages.  We hope the changes will make accessing information easier, but we also recognize that you may initially have difficulty locating tools because they may be reorganized in different sections.  Let us know if you need any assistance finding resources.  
Also, if you haven’t signed up to be part of the ELA Listserv, please do so by visiting: http://mailman.informe.org/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguagearts.    
This listserv provides updates on ELA related resources and professional learning opportunities. 	

	

For additional information email leeann.Larsen@maine.gov 
To subscribe: https://mailman.informe.org/mailman/listinfo/maineliteracy 
To view back editions: www.maine.gov/education/rf/newsletters/index.html 

The professional development opportunities and materials listed in Literacy Links are for informational purposes only and are not necessarily endorsed by the Maine Department of Education.