Ruth Culham Lessons

Many of you were able to observe a lesson or two by Ruth Culham.  We have videotaped all the lessons for future viewing in grade level teams.  I have also included the lesson plans and auxiliary materials for all the lessons here.  Although these lessons were done with specific grade levels, many can be adapted to fit a wide span of grade levels.

Kindergarten: Word Choice Lesson

1st Grade: Sentence Fluency Lesson

4th Grade: Sentence Fluency

5th Grade: Organization, Support Materials

6th Grade: Sentence Fluency Lesson, Support Materials

Each teacher will also be receiving a grade level text with strategies on using the 6 Traits.

 

Friday’s PD

Since our speaker will be presenting until 4:00, we have created an option for those staff who can’t stay past 2:45.  We will film her session, which can be viewed on Friday, February 3rd during the regular staff meeting time slot.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Writing Training with Ruth Culham

Our 6 cohort of schools (Hedenkamp, Olympic View, CV Hills, Finney, Juarez Lincoln, and CV Hills) have decided to enlist Ruth Culham from Scholastic to provide training on the 6 Traits of Writing.  At this time we are working out the details.  Here is what I know for sure.  Ms. Culham will be working with our school and Hedenkamp on January 12 and 13.  I have set aside 3 subs for those two days and would like to discuss ways that we can release more teachers.  We will also be having a joint staff meeting on Friday the 13th (Hedenkamp will be coming over to join us).  Ms. Culham will be providing demonstration lessons during those two days at both Hedenkamp and Salt Creek, with the possibility of videotaping/streaming those videotapes so that a larger number can view.  Rick Hanks (Hedenkamp Principal) and I will be working out more of the details next week and I’ll pass along those plans as soon as we have them.  Your input is very welcome at any point.  If you have some suggestions for this work, don’t hesitate to add them to the comments below.

Here are some resources that Ruth Culham has created on her website:

Mentor Texts that correlate with 6 Traits and Common Core Standards

Ruth’s Favorite Books

The Trait Lady Speaks Up