BPS English Language Arts and Literacy Department
ELA Program Director Team:
Sharon Abraham: Region 1, 7, 8 sabraham@bostonpublicschools.org
Sarah Jane Quessa: Regions 3, 8, 9 squessa@bostonpublicschools.org
Stacie Withington: Regions 5+6 swithington@bostonpublicschools.org
Sharnei Young: Regions 2+4
syoung@bostonpublicschools.org
Our Role as ELA Program Directors
Develop and implement district level professional development, curriculum trainings and resources to support Tier 1 instruction of BPS endorsed curriculum
Coaching and content planning support for school based leaders, coaches, and staff
Please be in touch with program directors with any questions, concerns, joys!
The four of us at Facing History's "Coming of Age in a Complex World" at the Boston Anthenaeum.
Hey- Fundations Folks!
IN PERSON! Yahoo!
Thursday, June 6 from 9-3
At Timilty School.
Connect with Stacie for more info.
Upcoming StudySync PD with
Sharon, Sharnei, and Sarah!
Come join us for collaborative learning!
Boston Public Schools, Franklin Park Zoo, and World Unity Inc. have partnered together to launch a poetry contest with the theme, “The Importance of Diversity for a Strong Healthy World for Humans, Animals and Nature.” The genesis for the idea comes from the Sun Poem, which has an extraordinary history with Boston. In 1985, it was the centerpiece of a citywide multi-media public service campaign promoting racial and ethnic harmony throughout the city. The poem continues to resonate and inspire today.
Poem submissions deadline: 4/30/24
Find out more at BPSArts.org
New to Sora, BPS's online elibrary? Here is an introductory video, introducing you to the app and all its awesomeness.
Here is the link to a Zoom Recording for BPS and Sora General Training – Total time 25:07
Passcode: vH?38YcQ
Here is the link to the SORA Outreach Resource Center for k-12
Sora Showcase for display or touch screen monitors (can be configured for each building) Set-up guide
Ideas from other schools – School Stars winners 2023
Available texts for BPS's adopted curricula can be found in grade band links.
Boston Public Library plus PLC.pdf
Planning your school's schedule for SY 23-24? Here is the BPS k-12 Scheduling Recommendations. Please feel free to reach out to program directors with any questions about tier 1 instruction.
Wanting some new professional development options for ELA? Here is the list of possible adult learning opportunities offered by the ELA Program Director team. With any questions, please connect with your region's ELA Program Director. Thank you!
Additionally, check out these recorded sessions from CORE !
Thinking about new texts for building and activating background knowledge?
Wanting to supplement the curriculum with some cool non-fiction?
Check out Gale!
This link is also available in the Clever backpack! Enjoy!
Thinking Through Art Images Folder for EL and Studysync
BPS ELA is so excited to present the ongoing partnership between our team and the Gardner Museum. Please check out their Thinking Through Art information for more context and how to participate.
Click HERE for information and registration for the Gardner's upcoming Professional Development Cohort for TTA.
For more information about how to implement this work, please connect with Sharon (secondary) or Stacie (elementary).
For more information about the Gardner Museum and their fabulous programs, please visit their website: https://www.gardnermuseum.org
What about scaffolded questions? What about the Standards? As we know, many students benefit from question stems and teachers appreciate resources that link awesome instructional strategies to the Standards. So- enjoy this resource that connects close reading with art to Standards aligned sentence stems.
Even more art! Even more partnership!
BPS is also partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Highlighted are a few of the links to many learning and professional development opportunities as well as a link to the extensive list. Enjoy!
MFA Educator E-News to keep up with all the MFA’s PreK-12 programming
MFA Art Finders: A group of awesome teachers curates images to meet the needs of your classroom. Here is an example of images curated for AP African American History: MFA Art Finders -- AP African American Studies - Google DriveMFA Distance Learning Programs
MFA Educator Professional Development
Wondering how to access online texts and resources?
Especially curious about ChatGPT and how it might impact teaching?
Check out these awesome decks put together by Rhianon Gutierrez and the Tech team.
This link will take you to the ESE Curriculum and Instruction page for the Writing Standards in Action Project. This project provides grade-level worked student samples of the three text types:
Writing Standards in Action: Student Writing Samples gr k-12
WSA Grade10Below are the guiding principles of the Boston Public Schools Department of English Language Arts and Literacy.
The Boston Public Schools seeks to provide a rigorous standards-based English curriculum that supports students in uncovering disciplinary ways of reading and writing through research and evidenced-based instructional practices that are motivating and engaging. Experienced readers in English focus on characters, interactions, context, scene, language, sensory details, perspectives, themes, questions, images, sensory traces, and predict outcomes based on evidence.
An effective English language arts and literacy curriculum:
· Holds high expectations for all students
· Builds on the language, experiences, knowledge, and interest that students bring to school
· Develops students’ oral language and literacy through appropriately challenging learning
· Provides explicit skill instruction in reading and writing
· Draws on literature to develop students literary understanding of their own literary heritage and culture
· Draws on informational texts and multimedia to build academic vocabulary and strong content knowledge
· Emphasizes writing arguments, explanatory/informative texts, and narratives
· Develops thinking and language through interactive learning
· Reaches out to families and communities to sustain a literate society
Let's focus our work in English language arts and literacy on moving from surface learning to deep knowledge by paying attention to effect size and our impact on learning.
All resources on this site are CC-BY-NC-SA by BPS ELA and Literacy unless otherwise noted.