District ELA leaders describe updated literacy units, districtwide author program and new multilingual strategies

Lisa White, ELA coordinator for the Plymouth Public Schools, and teacher Shelley Terry updated the school committee on Feb. 10 on elementary literacy screenings, revised writing units, author visits, Poetry Out Loud and recent shifts in how multilingual learners are instructed at the secondary level.

"Oral language is a precursor to reading and writing skills," White said, describing early-literacy emphasis and classroom practices that move students from teacher-led lessons to small-group, targeted instruction. She said the district has updated writing units for grades 3–5 to emphasize authentic audiences and purpose; she described a third-grade unit in which students wrote letters to district officials about issues in their schools. White read classroom responses, and described buying 35 books in Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Spanish and Tagalog for a third-grade class after a student requested more books in other languages.

White described the district’s inaugural, districtwide author program; the second-year author, Kate Messner, will make virtual visits to every school in March. She also said the Reflections Anthology of student writing is in its 10th year and will be unveiled on Wednesday evening at Plymouth South High School.

Shelley Terry, a teacher who won a Milken Award since the committee’s last update, described classroom-level changes at the secondary level: teachers are beginning to place multilingual learners in full English classes so students use English to learn, supplemented by co-teaching and targeted supports. Terry said students who previously would have been in an ESL-only section are now engaging with grade-level texts and writing. "In ESL I was learning English. In ELA I was using my English," she read from a student note.

White described several secondary-level changes: updated course offerings, attention to AI in classroom practice, efforts to reduce low-level course tracking (phasing out CP2 at the freshman level), and professional development that includes embedded coaching and national conference participation.

She said Poetry Out Loud has expanded so all high-school students take part via classroom winners and building-level competitions; the district sends winners to regional contests. White also described a PNN student interview series that recently spoke by video with astronaut Sunita Williams aboard the International Space Station.

On multilingual supports, White said some recent placements produced rapid progress and student confidence. "They were using their English," she summarized. The district plans additional co-taught classes for early-level students next year, she said.

The committee asked about resources for multilingual families and whether technology could help distribute translated materials; White said the district is expanding classroom libraries and translating communications, and that teachers are exploring allowing students to draft in their home language then translate for instruction when appropriate.

The presentation was informational; the committee took no formal vote on curricular changes at the Feb. 10 meeting.