CommonLit 360 CommonLit's Professional Development Portal: Supporting a Successful Implementation of CommonLit 360

In my previous role as a Secondary ELA instructional developer for a school district in Florida, I had the exciting opportunity over the past couple years to work in partnership with CommonLit.

My team received early access to the CommonLit 360 curriculum so we could pilot the units and provide feedback, and the CommonLit team could continue perfecting their ELA units. Given this first-hand experience with CommonLit 360, I can go on and on about the quality of this free ELA curriculum and its ability to move students to deeper reading and better writing with relevant, cognitively complex texts.

However, putting a quality reading curriculum in the hands of teachers is only the first step. For any measurable progress in student achievement, ELA instruction must be supported with sustainable, job-embedded professional development that builds teacher capacity. That’s why I’m so excited that we offer School Essentials PRO  Plus— an affordable package that is designed to ensure that schools successfully implement CommonLit 360.

CommonLit Professional Development Portal

With the purchase of CommonLit School Essentials PRO or School Essentials PRO Plus, your school or district will have access to the CommonLit Professional Development Portal. This portal includes over 50 on-demand trainings, 40 of which are specifically designed to help teachers utilize CommonLit 360. Here’s why the CommonLit PD Portal is a great resource for a smooth implementation of CommonLit 360.

Sustainable Solution

CommonLit’s PD Portal provides on-demand training that teachers can access throughout the school year. With CommonLit’s PD Portal, not only can new hires receive the same professional development provided to everyone else at the beginning of the year, but existing teachers can also revisit PD modules as needed for refresher trainings.

Flexible and Bite-Sized Training

Each of the CommonLit 360 professional development modules is intended to be completed in 45 minutes or fewer. This opens the door for a variety of professional development opportunities during the school day and throughout the school year. This also ensures that PD can be more relevant and timely; for example, teachers could go through the “Planning and Pacing within the CommonLit 360 Curriculum” module at the beginning of the year but may decide to save the “Facilitation Tips for CommonLit 360's Vocabulary Lessons” module until the first vocabulary activity comes up in their units.

Builds In-House Capacity

There’s nothing worse than going through an awesome training and then finding out that none of the presentation materials will be shared with the participants. This is why so many teachers whip out their iPads to take grainy pictures of presentation slides during training sessions!

The CommonLit PD Portal gives you and your team access to the whole playbook. Plus, things are constantly being added and updated on CommonLit.org, including our professional development materials. So your teachers and coaches will continue to have access to the most up-to-date information and resources as the school year progresses. This means a lot to me because I know firsthand how frustrating it is trying to support teachers in an instructional program without having deep knowledge of the literacy  program myself. This is why CommonLit is committed to empowering teachers and administrators with all the resources they need for a successful implementation of the curriculum.

CommonLit Professional Development Modules

Below, I’ve included a list of the current offerings specifically designed for the implementation of CommonLit 360 as well as a sample of our other modules that apply to the CommonLit library as well as CommonLit 360.

CommonLit 360 Modules

• Planning & Pacing within the CommonLit 360 Curriculum: shares strategies for making key planning decisions across a school year and within an individual unit
• Strategies for Effectively Teaching Your First CommonLit 360 Unit: provides the necessary information for the key decisions and preparations teachers must make before teaching a unit
• Introduction to Reading Instruction in CommonLit 360: differentiates between the two types of reading comprehension lessons included in CommonLit 360 units and instructional decisions involving each
• How to Teach an Essential Reading Lesson: reviews best practices for teaching a successful essential reading lesson
• Tracking Student Progress and Providing Actionable Feedback on 360 Lessons: explores viewing student performance, providing feedback, grading, analyzing the assignment report, and reviewing student performance over time
• Getting Started with Digitally Assignable 360 Writing Lessons: provides teachers with an overview of the skills-based digital writing lessons in CommonLit 360
• Facilitation Tips for CommonLit 360’s Vocabulary Lessons: reviews research-based practices in CommonLit 360’s vocabulary lessons and tips for flexibly using them
• Facilitation Tips for Teaching Related Media Explorations: provides guidance for different facilitation styles of this unique lesson type depending on available resources
• Strategies for Effectively Facilitating 360 Discussion Lessons: explores the structure of CommonLit 360 discussion lessons and tips for facilitating effective discussions
• Facilitation Tips for CommonLit 360’s Grammar Activities: reviews the research behind effective grammar instruction and how it is incorporated into the structure of CommonLit 360’s grammar lessons

Additional PD Modules to Support Your 360 Roll-Out

• Previewing CommonLit’s Student Experience
• Supporting Spanish Language Learners in a Dual Language Classroom
• Scaffolding Reading Instruction Using CommonLit
• Using CommonLit Data to Determine Instructional Next Steps
• Utilizing CommonLit Data for Action Planning with Students

Getting Access to the PD Portal

If your school or district is interested in using CommonLit 360 as a core or supplementary ELA curriculum, the purchase of CommonLit’s School Essentials PRO Plus is a critical next step in laying the groundwork for a successful rollout.

CommonLit’s School Essentials PRO Plus package costs just $6,500 per school and is designed to support teams as they roll out CommonLit’s full ELA literacy program. In addition to the Professional Development Portal, teams receive continuous virtual professional development and consulting, 360 Unit Skills Assessments, CommonLit’s Assessment Series which provides three benchmark assessments, access to school-wide data reports, rostering support via Clever or Google Classroom, and priority customer support through a dedicated account manager.

Next Steps

To learn more about pricing for CommonLit School Essentials PRO, our affordable package crafted to support schools and districts implementing CommonLit 360:

If you would like to chat with a CommonLit 360 specialist, schedule a quick call, here.