Our+Professional+Learning+Community

= = "There is no great writing, only great rewriting."--Justice Brandeis

=Cape Cod Hill School =



About Us
Cape Cod Hill School is located in New Sharon, Maine, and is part of Mt. Blue Regional School District. Our school organized into three vertical professional learning communities (PLCs). Each year the organization of the PLCs depends on the student population, which fluctuates from year to year, and the number of multi-grade classrooms in the building. The groups are designed to be balanced in terms of number of teachers, and specialists are involved as much as possible. This year, we have a K-1, 2-3-4, and 5-6 PLC in our building. Last year, the 2-3 PLC determined essential learning outcomes for reading and math learning, created some common assessments, and had learning labs in mathematics three times a week with the goal of enhancing student learning. This year, the 2-3-4 PLC classroom teachers include: Delana Yeaton, grade 2; Peggy Beach grade 2/3; Sherie Karkos, grade 3/4; and Lynn Wells, grade 4. Sarah Ferguson, Special Services teacher, is also part of our team. Our focus for this year is writing.

Mission
Knowing how to express yourself effectively in writing is a powerful tool. Yet learning how to write is a complex skill that requires considerable effort and time to master. Writing is a way to reflect, communicate, think, and analyze. Being able to communicate effectively through writing is integral to student success, and has real world applications. Thus, it is critical that students receive quality instruction.

The choice of our curricular strand came about as a result of conversations we had during our weekly PLC meetings during the 2009-10 school year. It was evident that many students need to improve their writing skills as we shared informal observations, scored district writing prompts and common assessments. We noted a particular need to enhance writing skills in the following areas as we looked at data on the district writing prompts:
 * writing a fluent message structured around a topic
 * writing has fluent organization/sequence
 * writing has a strong beginning, middle & end
 * student shows awareness of audience/voice is evident

It is our mission to improve student writing skills in grades 2, 3, and 4. The first goal of our P.L.C. is to increase our knowledge of effective writing instruction, and to examine and refine our practice in order to meet the needs of all our students. We plan to work collaboratively to bring continuity to writing instruction and research best practice methods of teaching, and explore new ways that technology can enhance student motivation for writing. Writing is the focus for our 2-3-4 PLC, and learning labs, starting in December, will focus on enhancing student writing skills and motivation to write. The content of student writing is specifically what we are targeting, to improve the message, voice, and fluency of written communication.