Curriculum & Instruction in TASD

Each edition of this newsletter features information about curriculum resources and materials and highlights instructional strategies used by the Tyrone Area School District. It is written with community, parents, and staff in mind!

NEWSELA is an educational content platform that we have had in the district for a number of years. An educational content platform is a digital space that has gathered educational resources together in one place. In NEWSELA, teachers can find articles, videos, projects, and other resources to use with students about all types of topics. Teachers can find single articles, look for curated collections of articles on the same topic, or use articles that support learning about a specific type of article, like Opinion or Cause/Effect. NEWSELA also has Text Sets that combine several articles for students to read as a jumping off point for a larger assignment that combines learning from all of the articles.

All resources are already reviewed for appropriate content. Articles are written at different reading levels so that every student in the class is reading the same article but in language they can read independently or have read to them by the program. Teachers have the option to add in ready-made questions, have students annotate the text, look at vocabulary, and even take a quiz! Or teachers can create their own assignments and activities to go with the resources. Platforms like NEWSELA put quality materials at teachers' fingertips, without having to scour the internet in hopes of finding something worthy of our students.

• You don't even have to leave CANVAS to add in NEWSELA - it's right there in the left side bar!
• Students can annotate right on the article!
• Most articles already have quizzes!

• Reading levels can be integrated into a student's account - just have them either take the reading assessment or read three articles and take the quizzes built in.
• You can then just assign different levels to their accounts and WHAM! All good!
• Their level will UPDATE after each quiz!
• You can look at metrics about their performance that are correlated to state assessments to give you a prediction about how the students might score!

"Curricular Complements" pairs articles with the My View and My Perspectives EXACT UNIT!!

1. Have you ever used a parallel text to understand a more complicated text? Think Shakespeare - the "real" language is one one side, with the opposite page being a more modern translation. Teachers can provide the same support for students using NEWSELA articles at different reading levels.

2. Model reading a higher level article with a small group who has both articles in front of them.

3. Have students read and annotate the article that's on their independent level. This builds confidence. Then give them the next level up and watch them alight with understanding!

Build reading stamina - the articles are typically a similar length to testing passages. Get students used to attending for that length of time!

Online testing is coming - students will need to be able to process digital text.

Formative Assessment is what teachers use to determine if students are learning what is being taught. Unlike Summative Assessment, which is the measure of what students have learned in the end, Formative Assessment happens during the learning to make sure students are grasping each piece. Teachers then make adjustments to instruction and planning based on that assessment. Watch the video below for more explanation and examples.