Top 5 Ways to Make WIN Time Work in ELA

SCMTSS is founded on six core principles that are essential for students and educators to succeed:

Leadership
Building Capacity and Infrastructure
Communication and Collaboration
Data-Based Problem Solving
Tiered Instruction
Data Evaluation

Understanding the Purpose of WIN Time

"The goal of a multi-tiered system of supports is to deliver early intervention for every student who struggles to attain or maintain grade-level performance by effectively utilizing best instructional practices within an evidence-based instructional model. An ongoing, systematic process of using student data to guide instructional and intervention decisions is required." - SCMTSS Framework and Guidance Document 2019

This SCMTSS Framework is adapted from the Response to Intervention (RTI) document updated by the Office of Early Learning and Literacy (SCDE, 2016).

Spartanburg District 6 MTSS Website

*WIN Time is a daily structure that many districts use to provide students with targeted intervention in small groups. Careful planning and thoughtful implementation are essential to WIN time being effective and producing accelerated growth for all students.

Step 1: Use Data and Your Literacy Coach to Determine Groups and Instruction

It is important to use multiple sources of data to determine your small groups, and to target your instruction.

1.) Analyze your Literacy Assessments: Analyze all of your literacy assessment data including iReady, your passage oral screeners, cold writes, and Tier 2/3 screeners.

2025 Literacy Asessment Procedures for Grades K-5

2.) Understand Your Literacy Pathway: Utilize your literacy coach to help guide your creation and implementation of your literacy pathways for your students.

(See example below)

ELA Pathway Flowchart

2.) Create a Schedule: Once you know your groups and you know the skills they will be working on, create a schedule for meeting with your groups across the week. Build in at least three days with your Tier 2 or Tier 3 students. Build in a day to check in with your other groups of students to provide feedback and support.

3.) Create a Visual Copy and Keep It Consistent: Create a visual display of your WIN time schedule available during WIN so that students know what day they are meeting with you and keep this schedule as consistent as possible to build a familiar routine.

STEP 2: Creating Consistent Expectations for Small Group and Independent Work Time

Clear, concise, and consistent expectations are key for students to be productive during independent and small group work. Below are some tips for establishing an effective routine for WIN time before you begin pulling small groups.

1.) Co-Construct Expectations with Your Students. Discuss and explicitly model and explain what you expect students to do during WIN. Model what it doesn't look like and what you don't want students to do first, and then model what you do want them to do.

2.) Practice and Provide Feedback. Before you begin pulling groups, provide students with opportunities to practice your expectations for independent work. You observe, provide feedback, especially positive and specific reinforcement for the desired behaviors.

3.) Post Visual Reminders of Expectations. Make sure you consistently post either in chart paper or a flip chart your expectations and verbally remind students at the start of each WIN time what you expect and why it is important.

**Don't Forget To Celebrate Success!!!

STEP 3: Promoting Independence and Application

*According to Nancy Atwell in her work, In the Middle (1986) learners need three essential ingredients for success with growth in independent work: TIME, OWNERSHIP, RESPONSE.

1.) Consider a Must Do / May Do Chart: Discuss and explicitly model and explain what you expect students to do during WIN. Model what it doesn't look like and what you don't want students to do first, and then model what you do want them to do.

Early Childhood Example Intermediate Example

Other Options to Consider: You can also utilize Google Choice Boards, Must Do/Catch Up, May Do, Pick One

2.) Intentionally Plan for Practice: When planning your independent work, it is essential that you plan opportunities for students to continue to practice and/or finish what you have already taught. It is impractical to expect students to be able to independently apply on their own skills or assignments that they have not yet had substantive practice and feedback on. Consider student ability, student stamina, and student interest. Avoid busy work or packets that are "time fillers." Make this independent work and their effort meaningful and aligned to your direct instruction.

See example of RBES 2nd Grade Teacher Kara Mabrey's You Do Stations

3.)Inspect What You Expect: Make sure you provide clear and specific expectations for not just what you want students to do, but how you want them to do it, where you want them to put it, and how you will be assessing it. Establish your success criteria and be consistent with checking and giving feedback. Everything doesn't have to be graded, but students will quickly find out if this work is important to you. Consider ways to hold students thinking for high impact independent activities such as independent reading, book club conversations, etc.

4.) Consider Ways for Students to Reflect. Build into your independent work routine time for students to reflect on their work. Consider having them place their take up work in bins like those on the left that show their level of understanding. Other options for work done in journals /notebooks include having students put the number of their self reflection at the top of their paper and circling it.

Step 4: Ongoing Progress Monitoring

Ongoing progress monitoring is essential for WIN time to work well. Effective teachers use formative assessments to determine if and how students are progressing and most of all, use the information to guide their instruction. Below are three questions to help guide your progress monitoring. Your literacy pathway should include tools for progress monitoring. Please reach out to your literacy coach for support for selecting, implementing, and analyzing and reflecting on your data.

•Are students meeting short-term goals that will help them reach their long-term goals?
•Are students making progress at acceptable rates?
•Should instruction be adjusted or changed?

Step 5: Ongoing Collaboration and Support

We are definitely better together! Consider these strategies for improving your WIN time.

1.) Consider Collaborating As a Grade Level to Serve Students - Consider collaborating as a grade level team with your colleagues during WIN time to review grade level ELA data together and work on strategic grouping where each teacher can focus on one targeted skill based group with students from across the grade level. In several grade level teams in our district where there is strong collegiality, shared accountability, and effective collaboration there has been success with this approach.

2.) Consider a Coaching Cycle with Your Literacy Coach - Your literacy coach is an excellent resource that can partner with you to help grow the effectiveness of your WIN time. Whether it is analyzing data, planning instruction, or managing student engagement they are great at being able to help you identify strategies and structures and can help model and support implementation of them.

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