At Jonathan Elementary School in Marshall County, teachers are strengthening literacy instruction by learning together, putting new strategies into practice and examining how students respond. Through a partnership with the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Division of Early Literacy, the school is connecting collaborative preparation with classroom coaching to make the most of its high-quality instructional resource (HQIR), Wonders.

The work reaches beyond learning how to use a resource. Teachers and school leaders describe a growing sense of confidence, shared responsibility, and commitment to helping students engage successfully with challenging reading and writing tasks.

Building Trust Through Side-by-Side Support

Implementing Wonders brought questions about instructional time, lesson preparation and how to manage the resource’s many components. Teachers also initially wondered whether coaching support from the Division of Early Literacy would center on what they were doing wrong.

Working with their literacy coach helped change that perception. Through lesson internalization, modeling, co-teaching and timely feedback, the coach established herself as a partner in the daily work of teaching.

“I feel like she’s directly beside me, like she’s working with me,” Kayla Thomas explained.

That support made it possible to turn feedback into immediate action. One teacher described adding a visible beginning, middle and end reference during a story-retelling lesson after a coaching conversation. Another example centered on using the resource’s intended academic vocabulary more consistently. The teacher subsequently noticed students using that vocabulary with one another, in their oral responses and in their writing.

These adjustments reflect ongoing professional learning as teachers make thoughtful instructional decisions that help students engage more deeply in grade-level reading, speaking and writing.

Making Time for Deeper Preparation

School leadership protected time for professional learning communities (PLCs) and the English language arts instructional block. Weekly PLCs alternate between internalizing or rehearsing upcoming lessons and analyzing student data, with extended unit internalization sessions every six weeks. “We know that time is designated just for us,” said kindergarten teacher Kayla Thomas. “So, we’re not having to worry about another meeting that’s planned or something else that might come up.”

During unit internalization, teachers examine what students are expected to learn, how individual lessons build toward unit goals and where students may need additional support. Teams anticipate misconceptions, consider background knowledge and rehearse instruction before teaching.

Teachers described this protected time as an opportunity to move beyond coordinating lesson plans to understanding the purpose of the work. Analyzing student work helped teams determine the next steps.

Classroom support from the literacy coach keeps that process connected: Teachers prepare together, apply their learning, receive feedback and bring new insights back to the team.

Supporting Students While Maintaining High Expectations

A central shift has been learning to provide support without reducing the grade-level rigor of a task. Initially, teachers sometimes modified or omitted questions they believed students would find too difficult. Through coaching and collaborative preparation, they began planning scaffolds that preserved the intended thinking.

Teachers now describe students participating more independently in discussions, using familiar instructional routines and returning to texts to support their answers. Second-grade teacher Mackenzie Wilson described how consistent instruction shapes students’ approach to learning. “But when you are intentional and consistent with that, your students are also consistent and intentional,” Wilson said.

That work begins in kindergarten, where students practice responding in complete thoughts and identifying evidence from a story. Collaboration across grade levels helps teachers build on those foundations with shared language and expectations for reading and writing. Thomas sees those expectations reflected in her kindergarten students’ conversations. “If you walk around, you’ll hear them restating their answers and telling in the story where they found that,” Thomas said.

The guiding question has shifted toward how teachers can help students succeed on grade-level tasks and assignments—and what resources, routines and support will help them get there.

Growing Leadership Alongside Classroom Practice

Principal Lyndsie Dempsey also participates in PLCs and learns alongside the literacy coach during classroom observations. They compare notes, examine instructional patterns, and identify next steps for feedback and professional learning.

Dempsey described the partnership as an important part of her own growth as an instructional leader. Teachers also emphasized how leadership’s presence, protected planning time and attention to classroom resources demonstrated a commitment to their work.

Together, these efforts are strengthening a school culture in which teachers seek feedback, share expertise and take responsibility for continued improvement. “I think the alignment that we have had has shown such a common [instructional] vision,” Dempsey said.

Jonathan Elementary’s experience shows how an HQIR, supported by collaborative intellectual preparation and ongoing coaching, can become a foundation for stronger instruction. Jonathan Elementary’s teachers and leaders are deepening that work and turning shared learning into daily opportunities for students.