September 2012 Volume 9, Number 2 	Monthly ENewsletter of Maine Department of Education 	
“Thought flows in terms of stories—stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. The best teachers are the best storytellers. We learn in the form of stories.” ~Frank Smith 	Autumn greetings! This month’s edition of Literacy Links will introduce the instructional shifts required by the Common Core State Standards for ELA. In subsequent editions, we will study each of the shifts in greater detail and consider their instructional implications. Spotlight on… CCSS Instructional Shifts he Common Core State Standards for English Arts require educators to make some shifts in their instructional practices. As with any new set of standards, there are aspects of the CCSS that will require greater emphasis than past standards. To help educators pay attention to these shifts, we have summarized the shifts below. Additional information about these shifts can be found by visiting the MDOE’s ELA website and accessing the documents listed under shifts: http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/ccss_modules.html#mod2. In the upcoming editions of Literacy Links, we will examine each of these shifts in greater detail, including their instructional implications. Shifts Explanations 1: Staircase of Complexity In order to prepare students for the complexity of college and career ready texts, each grade level requires a “step” of growth on the “staircase”. Students read the central, grade appropriate text around which instruction is centered. Teachers are patient, create more time and space in the curriculum for this close and careful reading, and provide appropriate and necessary scaffolding and supports so that it is possible for students reading below grade level. Students acquire foundational reading skills that support their ability to read and interpret increasingly complex text independently. 2: Balancing Instruction of Informational & Literary Texts (Grades K5) Students read a true balance of informational and literary texts. Elementary school classrooms are, therefore, places where students access the world – science, social studies, the arts and literature – through text. At least 50% of what students read is informational. 	

3: Knowledge in the Disciplines (Grades 6-12) 
4: Text-based Answers 
5: Writing from Sources 
6: Academic Vocabulary 
Content area teachers outside of the ELA classroom emphasize literacy experiences in their planning and instruction. Students learn through domain specific texts in across disciplines. They are expected to learn from what they read. Direct instruction of content specific literacy skills is critical. Students have rich and rigorous conversations which are dependent on a common text. Teachers insist that classroom experiences stay deeply connected to the text on the page and that students develop habits for making evidentiary arguments both in conversation, as well as in writing, to assess comprehension of a text. Writing needs to emphasize use of evidence to inform or make an argument rather than the personal narrative and other forms of decontextualized prompts. While the narrative still has an important role, students develop skills through written arguments that respond to the ideas, events, facts, and arguments presented in the texts they read as well as other sources such as listening, viewing, or digital media. Students constantly build the vocabulary they need to access grade level complex texts. By focusing strategically on comprehension of pivotal and commonly found words, teachers constantly build students’ ability to access more complex texts across the content areas. Instruction of words specific to a topic or content area (tier 3) is enhanced by the instruction of academic vocabulary applied across topics and content areas. 
Online Website…

The Maine Department of Education (Maine DOE) is committed to ensuring that Maine’s children are ready for post-secondary education, careers, and civic life by the time they graduate from high school and enter adulthood. Helping all Maine residents develop strong literacy skills is a crucial part of that mission, and one that transcends schools and requires involvement from everyone in our communities. Literacy for ME: Maine’s Comprehensive State Literacy Plan offers a roadmap for local communities to bolster their literacy infrastructure with the help of state-level activities that support those efforts. The Literacy for ME plan, as well as a summary of the plan, can be obtained at http://www.maine.gov/doe/literacy-for-me/. The Literacy for ME plan is organized around six critical components of comprehensive literacy planning: strong leadership, collaborative partnerships, standards and aligned curriculum, instruction and intervention, assessment, and professional learning. To support community literacy planning around these components, the Literacy for ME website has a number of tools. These include: 
Electronic Toolkit—this resource is a collection of research-based resources that support the six critical components of comprehensive literacy planning. All the tools are available in electronic formats and the toolkit is sortable by a variety of parameters. 
Continuum of Literacy Learning Targets—this tool provides parents and community members with easy to follow literacy learning targets for age/grade spans across the birth-adult continuum. 
Parent and Community Literacy Resource Guide—this easy to access guide provides links to key literacy resources that support literacy across the birth-adult span. 
Community Literacy Needs Assessment—this tool provides a guide to conducting literacy needs assessments that inform comprehensive community literacy planning. 
Parent and Community Brochure—this resource includes tips for supporting literacy learning across the birth-adult continuum. 
A cornerstone recommendation of the Literacy for ME plan is to assist local Maine communities in developing their own comprehensive literacy plans to strengthen literacy levels among their citizens. Maine schools are foundational to this critical work, but should not be in this work alone. Comprehensive literacy planning enables communities, of which schools are a critical component, to take stock of the literacy support resources already available, to coordinate those resources to ensure adequate support is in place across the birth-adult span, and to identify and address gaps that may exist across the local community. 
If you have questions, please contact Lee Anne Larsen, MDOE Literacy Specialist at 624-6628 or leeann.larsen@maine.gov. 

Summary of Professional Texts… 
This month we feature a couple of professional texts that focus on some of the shifts that the CCSS for ELA require of instruction. 
Comprehension Through Conversation 
By Maria Nichols
Heinemann, 2006

In this helpful text, Nichols guides readers to better understand how collaborative conversation can promote deeper understanding of both literary and informational texts. In particular, her focus on conversation as a scaffold for bridging prior knowledge with increasingly advanced reading skills can support greater independence for reading and writing. 
Talk About Understanding: Rethinking Classroom Talk to
Enhance Comprehension

By Ellin Oliver Keene
Heinemann, 2012

In her latest text, Ellin Keene models what classroom talk, both by teachers and by students, should sound like when it promotes deeper comprehension. Video footage included on a dvd that accompanies the text enables Keene to explicitly share the language and teaching moves that support improved comprehension. 
Children’s Literature… 
Presidential Election Texts 
If I Ran for President 
By Catherine Stier 
ISBN # 9780807535448 
Author Catherine Stier takes a complex process and turns it into an understandable one with humor and entertaining illustrations. Told by six children who are running for president, numerous aspects of the election process are explained. It is important to point out to students that you really must be 35 to run for this position in the USA. 
Grace for President 
By Kelly DiPucchio 
ISBN # 0786839198 
When young Grace learns that no woman has ever been president of the US, her teacher, Mrs. Barrington, arranges a school election to help students learn about the election process. “In this timely story, author Kelly DiPucchio not only gives readers a fun introduction to the American electoral system, but also teaches them the value of hard work, courage, and independent thought--and offers an inspiring example of how to choose our leaders” (Hyperion Books). 

News from Maine’s English Language Arts Team… 
This professional learning network fosters literacy practices that support learning across content areas. The network operates regionally across the state, utilizing both online webinar sessions interspersed between face-to-face networking sessions. To learn more about the network and to register, visit http://www.maine.gov/doe/literacy-for-me/cdln.html where you can view the 2012-13 Cross Discipline Literacy Network master schedule, literacy strand options, and local site options. Once you know which site and which webinar strand(s) you want to select, click the registration button to complete the online registration. Registration cost is $25 for the year (includes face-to-face sessions and up to 2 webinar strands). The registration deadline is October 5, 2012. For additional information, please contact: Lee Anne Larsen (leeann.larsen@maine.gov) or 624-6628. 
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We still want your suggestions! As you peruse the monthly editions of Literacy Links, you might have topic ideas for the spotlight, instructional strategy, children’s literature, professional text, or web site resource sections. We’d love to hear your suggestions. Please email them to: Leeann.Larsen@maine.gov. 
For additional information about any of the items in this newsletter or to 
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Leeann.Larsen@maine.gov 
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The professional development opportunities and materials are listed in Literacy Links for
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Maine Department of Education.