In March of 2021, the Illinois State Board of Education adopted a set of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards for the purpose of better preparing future teachers to create culturally rich spaces and curricula that are welcoming and supportive for all students. While the new standards are an important tool for teacher education programs, there does not seem to exist a similar set of standards for practicing teachers in Illinois. While research suggests that culturally responsive teaching is a practice of many high school English teachers regardless of a required set of standards, we wanted to determine the extent to which this is happening using the CRP standards as a lens for teachers to consider the ways in which they are already embracing culturally responsive practices.
Specifically, our session will first share the results from a survey and interview with several high school English teachers in Illinois about their perspectives on and teaching habits related to the CRP standards. Then, we will share a repertoire of resources that we have curated and created to support teachers in their continued implementation of the CRP standards and culturally responsive practices in general.
In non-fiction writing, there are only four basic “moves” a writer can make. An acronym to help student writers remember them is CEIT, for claim, explain, illustrate, and tie-back. First, you can make a claim. This claim may be called a thesis, a topic sentence, a theme, or a main idea. Second, you can explain that claim. Third, you can illustrate the claim. In literary criticism, this would be evidence from the story that supports your claim. Finally, you can tie the example back to the original claim. That is, you can briefly analyze how this example illustrates your theme. In addition to making these four basic moves, you can also signal them. “In other words,” signals explanation. “For instance,” signals an illustration. “This is an example of wisdom because” signals a tie back. When a thesis statement includes multiple parts, those parts can be made the core of subtopic sentences in a single-paragraph essay, or topic sentences in a multiple-paragraph essay. Each subtopic section can be explained, illustrated, and tied back to the subtopic sentence’s idea. In addition to the signals mentioned above, time or order signals can further clarify structure, such as first, second, finally, and so on. Once students become adept with the CEIT paradigm, they can choose which features to use and which to leave out. This presentation will thoroughly explain the CEIT paradigm and use student examples to show how it applies both simpler and more complex essays.
Session materials: Handout
What can teachers do when students balk at doing the assigned reading? Why do so many students have difficulty staying with a book for more than a few minutes? In this workshop Carol Jago will demonstrate instructional moves that can help students increase their stamina and develop greater confidence in themselves as readers. Based upon current research in adolescent literacy, the session offers texts and tasks designed to engage today’s young readers.
