Independence High School

Literacy Plan 2011-2012

Submitted by Tori Damron and Mark Olsen

Current Literacy Plan

• School-wide PLC data team meetings (bi-monthly).


• SSR: Department-wide in English classes for 20 minutes every Wednesday with summary journal.


• ERWC modules implemented 9th-12th in English.


• Monthly CAPP literacy meetings within the English department.


• Pretests and posttests for students' reading levels and place those in need of reading remediation into Literacy classes.


• Place focused ELD students in a writing enrichment class (2nd Semester).


• Concurrently enroll as many ELD and Special Education students as is feasible into regular English classes (to help ensure ELA standards are met).


• Place as many students as feasible who didn't pass the CAHSEE into a CAHSEE prep class to help insure they pass the test.


• AVID strategies, in particular Cornell Notes, implemented school wide.

Literacy Goals

• Continue literacy teams to better prepare out campus to improve the literacy of our students.


• Incorporate tutoring opportunities, especially for English courses. Students who work after school will receive community service hours and/or pay (dependent on funding).


• Provide more professional development opportunities for the school staff to share with one another. Paid time after school? Summer hours?


• Once a month, each subject will introduce subject specific relevant articles (i.e.-famous mathematicians, professional athletes, health issues, current politics, etc). The literacy team will provide templates for questions to help teachers with this task.


• Incorporate templates from They Say, I Say for student written responses in English classes and eventually extend to other subject areas


• Skillful use of data to evaluate student growth within PLC teams.


• Implement a word of the week into the announcements and include vocabulary strategies to define and use the word in class.


• Implement First Year Experience/One Book, One Bakersfield, One Kern across all senior classes


• Institute My Writing Lab Plus/Humanities 207 across 11th and 12 grade levels.