Literacy Classrooms That S.O.A.R.: Strategic Observation And Reflection in the Elementary Grades

SOAR Teaching Frames for Literacy provides a unique approach to planning, implementing, and elevating instruction that drives improvement in teaching and learning. SOAR focuses on the high-impact teaching practices that research identifies as key to student learning. In this book, the authors present and unpack these practices within the context of Teaching Frames. The frames provide a common language and a set of tools to foster informal self-evaluation, as well as teacher-to-teacher and coach-to-teacher collaboration. All stages of implementation are illustrated with classroom examples from the authors’ 15 years of research and professional development throughout the United States. School principals, coaches, and classroom teachers can use Literacy Classrooms That S.O.A.R. to support professional learning and growth across schools and districts.

Book Features:

• Instructional strategies with step-by-step guidance for implementation.
• Vignettes that demonstrate how to implement SOAR in a variety of contexts.
• Visuals of instructional resources that teachers can use.
• Rubrics that can be used by instructional leaders, literacy coaches, and professional learning communities.
• Question and answer sections to help teachers differentiate practices to meet the needs of all students.

Susan O’Hara is former director of the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching at Stanford University. Robert Pritchard is a professor emeritus of education at Sacramento State University. Debi Pitta is vice president of professional learning for EPF for Teaching. All three are former K–12 teachers with more than 40 years of classroom experience and extensive experience supporting districts to build instructional capacity.