Emails documenting book study facilitation

1. Re: EL Book Study Shout-Out at PD
Minor, Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>
Thu 7/29/2021 4:45 PM
To: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Hi, there!
Thank you for asking, and you will be great:)
Kimberly S. Minor
English IV, CMT Academy of Digital Design
McGavock High School
From: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 29, 2021 1:59 PM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,
Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M <Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S
<Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>
Subject: EL Book Study Shout-Out at PD
Good evening!
Dr. Neal has asked me to deliver a PD on EL accomodations to the faculty on the 4th. I would
like to briefly describe our summer work, and introduce you as touchstones for collaboration.
Please let me know if you would not like to be singled out.
Once again, thank you so much for your great work this summer!
Rachel Gould-Amescua B.S., M.A.T.
This email may contain privileged and confidential information. The email is only intended for use by the specified
individual(s) to whom addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
unauthorized use, dissemination or copying of this email or attachment(s) are prohibited (e.g., forwarding). If you
receive this email in error, please delete it and immediately notify the author. Furthermore, the author of the email
cannot authenticate any correspondence that has been distributed or copied without the author's explicit
permission.
From: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2021 11:03 AM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,

2. Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Butler, Zoe A <Zoe.Butler@mnps.org>; Sheffield, Jodi
<Jodi.Sheffield@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S <Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M
<Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Askew, Lotonia Q <Lotonia.Askew@mnps.org>; Pitzer, Dottianne P
<Dottianne.Pitzer@mnps.org>
Cc: Neal-Cockrill, Nae'Shara D <NaeShara.Neal@mnps.org>; Bailey, Angela G <Angela.Bailey@mnps.org>; Vignon,
Laura A <Laura.Vignon@mnps.org>
Subject: AVID Book Study 7.23 Meeting Minutes
Good Morning!
Once again, thank you for participating in this summer's book study. Today's meeting was very productive! We
were able to choose strategies to implement the second quarter of the fall semester.
If you were unable to make it, the minutes of the meeting are provided below along with the meeting video. If
you have any questions or would like to meet with me to plan implementation of our chosen strategies this fall, I
would be happy to oblige! Just let me know when.
Finally, I will send out a form for us to decide on our next meeting time to share out our glows and grows from
first semester implementation. That meeting will be sometime in October before Fall Break.
You are all awesome!
Thank you!
Rachel
7.23 AVID Book Study
Minutes
In attendance: Hammons, Amescua, Sheffield, Minor, Grys
Discussion 1: What are some ways that you could implement our chosen strategies in your
classroom?
Ch 2: Creating a Language-Rich Environment (pgs. 26-28)
Word walls
During reading-Index cards-one per student-organize them by importance on the wall as
a whole group
Two-word walls: Tier 2 and Tier 3
Thematic key terms with mind maps on wall
Sentence stems
Word banks
Ch 3: Supporting the Use of Language Functions (pgs. 59-64)
New teacher orientation-Hammons-Book Study Overview
Graphic organizers to introduce new vocabulary and to make connections
Pre-reading-students scan for signal words to determine text purpose
Sentence frames-writing before speaking
Discussion 2: What are the best strategies for us to implement from chapter 4?
The team chose the instructional practice "Providing Opportunities for Rehearsal or Revision
(pgs 78-79)"
Goals: Teachers will...
Allow students to rehearse and revise in class before speaking to an audience in
order to promote effective and professional communication.
Ensure that students deliver presentations with confidence, while strengthening
targeted speaking skills.
Action Steps: Teachers will...

3. Encourage students to think about what they want to say in response and allow
“think time.”
Provide students with time to share their thoughts with a partner or in a small
group in advance of impromptu speaking.
Offer an opportunity for independent rehearsal and revision—encourage
students to write their response first, prior to speaking.
Discussion 3: What are the best strategies for us to implement from chapter 5?
The team chose the instructional practice "Text-Dependent Questioning (pgs. 117-119)"
Goals: Teachers will...
Create text-dependent questions (TDQs) to guide students through challenging
texts.
Scaffold the questions to build student comprehension from word, to sentence,
to paragraph, to segments, to entire text, to across texts.
Action Steps: Teachers will...
Interject with TDQs at appropriate and preplanned places while students are
reading the text.
Assess comprehension by using word, sentence and paragraph level TDQs.
Progress student understanding of text purposing by next moving through TDQs about
segments and the entire text.
Deepen student understanding with TDQs that connect this text to other related texts.
Discussion 4: What are the best strategies for us to implement from chapter 6?
The team chose the instructional practice "Deconstructing a Writing Task (pgs. 146-147)"
Goals: Teachers will...
Model steps to consider when presented with a writing task.
Highlight ways to determine the most appropriate language function to capture
their written response.
Action Steps: Teachers will...
Read the task aloud first with “Think Aloud.”
Instruct students to read a second time.
Facilitate annotation of the task with students.
Facilitate small group discussion about the expectations of the task.
Provide writing samples and language scripts.
Meeting 2 recording
From: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2021 10:53 AM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,
Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Butler, Zoe A <Zoe.Butler@mnps.org>; Sheffield, Jodi
<Jodi.Sheffield@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S <Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>; Reneau, Mariah D
<Mariah.Reneau@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M <Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Askew, Lotonia Q
<Lotonia.Askew@mnps.org>; Pitzer, Dottianne P <Dottianne.Pitzer@mnps.org>
Cc: Neal-Cockrill, Nae'Shara D <NaeShara.Neal@mnps.org>; Bailey, Angela G <Angela.Bailey@mnps.org>; Vignon,
Laura A <Laura.Vignon@mnps.org>
Subject: Re: AVID Academic Language and Literacy Book Study-Schoology Folder and Quickwrites

4. Happy Sunday All!
It was a great first meeting! Thank you so much for the thoughtful discussion surrounding our first three
chapters. Our meeting minutes and recording are given below. Also, since there is a Reimagine Team
meeting on 7.30, we changed the date of our second meeting to 7.23 at 9am through Teams.
Minutes:
In attendance: Grys, Brady, Sheffield, Hammons, Amescua, Minor, Hussey and Askew
Chapter 1 Discussion: Which text objective is the most important to you? For the school?
There was a wide range of personal choices.
The consensus was that objective 3 would be a good school focus. I reads:
This resource will prepare content teachers to embed language and literacy
development into lesson design and delivery, including opportunities for language
coaching throughout daily instruction.
Chapter 2 Discussion: Which strategy would be the best for our team to implement in our classes
and share with our peers during the first quarter (We will also share our results in our October
meeting)?
The team chose the instructional practice "Creating a Language-Rich Environment (pgs 27-
27)"
Goals: Teachers will...
create a dynamic environment with resources that foster academic language
and literacy.
leverage the classroom environment as both a resource and a support for daily
student learning.
Included: essential questions, word wall, academic language scripts, sentence stems,
modeling, authentic writing tasks, print-rich environment
Chapter 3 Discussion: Which strategy would be the best for our team to implement in our classes
and share with our peers during the first quarter (We will also share our results in our October
meeting)?
The team chose the instructional practice "Supporting the Use of Language Functions (pgs
59-64)"
Goal: Teachers will...
Use graphic organizers, guiding questions, signal words, and sentence frames to
illustrate content in a new and more sophisticated way.
Essential Questions for 7.23 meeting:
What are some ways that you could implement our chosen strategies in your classroom?
What are the best strategies for us to implement from chapters 4-6?
Meeting 1 recording
Thank you so much!
Rachel

5. This email may contain privileged and confidential information. The email is only intended for use by the specified
individual(s) to whom addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
unauthorized use, dissemination or copying of this email or attachment(s) are prohibited (e.g., forwarding). If you
receive this email in error, please delete it and immediately notify the author. Furthermore, the author of the email
cannot authenticate any correspondence that has been distributed or copied without the author's explicit
permission.
From: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2021 8:12 PM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,
Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Butler, Zoe A <Zoe.Butler@mnps.org>; Sheffield, Jodi
<Jodi.Sheffield@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S <Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>; Reneau, Mariah D
<Mariah.Reneau@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M <Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Vignon, Laura A
<Laura.Vignon@mnps.org>
Subject: Re: AVID Academic Language and Literacy Book Study-Schoology Folder and Quickwrites
Hello all!
Just a reminder of tomorrow's virtual meeting. I attached the last info email below as a
refresher. The Teams link is in our folder in the McG Professional Development group in
Schoology.
See you at 9am.
Thanks!
Rachel Gould-Amescua B.S., M.A.T.
9th Grade ELD Link Instructor
rachel.gould-amescua@mnps.org
From: Amescua, Rachel <Rachel.Gould-Amescua@mnps.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 4, 2021 5:53 PM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,
Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Butler, Zoe A <Zoe.Butler@mnps.org>; Sheffield, Jodi
<Jodi.Sheffield@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S <Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>; Reneau, Mariah D
<Mariah.Reneau@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M <Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Vignon, Laura A
<Laura.Vignon@mnps.org>
Subject: AVID Academic Language and Literacy Book Study-Schoology Folder and Quickwrites

6. Happy 4th of July!
I have finished putting together our book study folder in Schoology. I made a video that shows you
where to find the folder and what the folder contains, or you can follow the instructions below. Here is
the link to the video: http://youtu.be/GtFaUxmIQhg?hd=1
Recording #22
Recorded with https://screencast-o-matic.com
youtu.be
To get to the folder you will following the following steps:
Schoology-->Groups-->Big Mac Professional Development-->Resources-->Last Folder titled AVID
Language and Literacy Book Study.
In each chapter folder, there are AVID supplementary resources from the AVID website and one quick-
write to complete after you read each chapter.
Once again, our Teams Meetings are on 7.16 and 7.30 at 9am to 10am. The Teams Meeting Link is in the
Schoology folder.
Please text or email if you have any questions, needs or concerns.
Thanks!
Rachel Gould-Amescua B.S., M.A.T.
9th Grade ELD Link Instructor
rachel.gould-amescua@mnps.org
(615) 398-9138
This email may contain privileged and confidential information. The email is only intended for use by the specified
individual(s) to whom addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
unauthorized use, dissemination or copying of this email or attachment(s) are prohibited (e.g., forwarding). If you
receive this email in error, please delete it and immediately notify the author. Furthermore, the author of the email
cannot authenticate any correspondence that has been distributed or copied without the author's explicit
permission.

7. From: Amescua, Rachel
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 11:57 AM
To: Grys, Gabrielle D <Gabrielle.Grys@mnps.org>; Brady, Kathleen E <Kathleen.Brady@mnps.org>; Minor,
Kimberly S <Kimberly.Minor@mnps.org>; Butler, Zoe A <Zoe.Butler@mnps.org>; Sheffield, Jodi
<Jodi.Sheffield@mnps.org>; Hammons, Nancy S <Nancy.Hammons@mnps.org>; Lawrence, Kay
<Kay.Lawrence@mnps.org>; Reneau, Mariah D <Mariah.Reneau@mnps.org>; Hussey, Jessie M
<Jessie.Hussey@mnps.org>; Vignon, Laura A <Laura.Vignon@mnps.org>
Subject: AVID Academic Language and Literacy Book Study-Book Pick Up and Reading Schedule
Happy Summer!
We are finalizing the materials for the book study. The books arrived. I am teaching summer school at
McGavock High School presently. I have handed out texts to other summer teachers. Please email me to
tell me if and when you can pick up your book. I am teaching until this Friday.
I am meeting with Mrs. Vignon this Thursday to get it all together. Here is the reading schedule:
Pages 1-66--> Virtual Meeting 7/16/2021 -->9am
Pages 67-159-->Virtual Meeting--> 7/30/2021-->9am
Please complete the pre- and post- questions for each section to guide discussion.
I will send out more information later in the week and the virtual meeting invitations.
Finally, I have a couple extra books, so if you know of another teacher that would like to participate, let
me know or have them email me.
Thanks!
Rachel Gould-Amescua B.S., M.A.T.
(615) 398-9138
This email may contain privileged and confidential information. The email is only intended for use by the specified
individual(s) to whom addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any
unauthorized use, dissemination or copying of this email or attachment(s) are prohibited (e.g., forwarding). If you
receive this email in error, please delete it and immediately notify the author. Furthermore, the author of the email
cannot authenticate any correspondence that has been distributed or copied without the author's explicit
permission.