This document discusses collaboration between teachers and outlines strategies for successful collaboration. It provides examples of how a literacy coach, first grade teacher, and library media specialist collaborated on literacy and research projects incorporating technology. They designed inquiry-based research centers for students to research nocturnal animals using online databases, books, and apps. The projects aligned with ISTE standards and resulted in student-created collages, letters, and demonstrations of how animals can change environments. The goals were to provide collaboration strategies and deepen understanding of literacy, research, and technology integration across disciplines.

1. Better Together
MassCUE/MSLA
Shannon Carlson, Donna Griswold and Kim Keith
August 2015

2. Goals
1. Add to your personal repertoire of
strategies for collaboration in your
building.
2. Deepen your understanding of what
literacy, collaboration, research and
technology might look like for your
personal and professional
experiences.

3. Standards
CC.1.R.I.10 Range of Reading and Level of Text
Complexity: With prompting and support, read
informational texts appropriately complex for grade
1.
AASL 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information
presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media,
digital) in order to make inferences and gather
meaning.
ISTE 1a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new
ideas, products, or process.

4. What is collaboration?
“Collaborative teaching is a service delivery
structure in which teachers with different
knowledge, skills, and talents have joint
responsibility for designing, delivering,
monitoring, and evaluating instruction for a
diverse group of learners in general
education classrooms”
DeBoer & Fisher, 1995.

5. Successful Collaborations
Establish a rapport-the first step is to establish
relationships.
Identify teaching skills and use them to create
cohesive lessons.
Discuss strengths and weaknesses.
Formulate a plan of action and act as a team.
Take risks and grow.

6. “By using these strengths, you can
differentiate your instruction to
meet the needs of a larger group
more frequently within the
classroom as well as allowing for
individualized instruction.”
Natalie Marston, elementary special educator, Charles
County, Maryland

7. Practical ways to incorporate technology
into our literacy instruction
ISTE Standards
 Collaborate to produce original works or
solve problems.
 Locate Information and communicate
ideas.
 Apply existing knowledge to generate
new ideas, products, or processes.
 Interact, collaborate, and publish with
peers.
 Contribute to project teams to produce
original works or solve problems.

8. Literacy Coach, First Grade Teacher
and Library Media Specialist
Wonder center-inquiry based research on nocturnal animals.
First grade class took books from the library to put in the wonder
center and decide what animal they would research.

9. The class came
into the computer
lab and used the
database
PebbleGo to
gather
information.
The next class period they came
into the library and used non-fiction
books to gather more facts and to
illustrate their animal.

10. Nocturnal Animal
Collage

11. App Smashing
Pic Collage
Chatterpix
Perfect Video

12. DY Educational Foundation
Grant
Perfect Pairs-Pairing Fiction and Non-Fiction books.

13. How Animals Can
Change an
Environment

15. Final Product
Wrote a letter to an animal telling them about
how either the gopher tortoise or the mole
changed their environment.

16. Goals
1. Add to your personal repertoire of
strategies for collaboration in your
building.
2. Deepen your understanding of what
literacy, collaboration, research and
technology might look like for your
personal and professional
experiences.

17. Contact Information
carlsons@dy-regional.k12.ma.us @Loving_Literacy
griswold@dy-regional.k12.ma.us
keithk@dy-regional.k12.ma.us @capecodlibrary
www.slideshare.net/kimfkeith