Chapter 7: Give It Up For Text Sets by Jeanie Schneider

Texts sets are collections of resources from different genre, media, levels of reading difficulty that are designed to be supportive of the learning of readers with a range of experiences and interests. A text set collection focuses on one concept or topic and can include multiple supplemental items: songs, interviews, poetry, plays, videos, maps, articles, picture books, etc.

 

I am glad I was chosen to discuss this chapter because I have sent a lot of time deliberately collecting items for specific history topics. I know, you have done the same for your particular content area. I have typically found that narrowing down what to use becomes the greatest problem because there is so much information available today. For example, the shear magnitude of information on the Civil War would allow me to teach on the topic for months and never get it all covered. So how do we know what is the best information to include in a text set? Use your best judgment combined with state standards. Gather all the things that you would have been interested in when you were a kid. Remember to include materials that cover a range of reading levels. Now, take these items and display them throughout the classroom as you teach the topic. This helps to create interest in your students. Allow them to interact with the materials and include examples of work from former students.

 

After you finish a particular topic and are about to move on, save all your materials in a well labeled folder or clear container so that you may easily add items that you pick up throughout the school year.

 

Questions for thought:

 

Teachers know their content and want students to become passionate about the concepts that build and infuse their disciplines, but teachers become discouraged when they see the vast amount of content taunting them from the pages of their teacher's editions. Do you control your textbook or does your textbook control you? Do you use the textbook as a jumping off point or as a "must complete" single reference tool for instruction?

 

Using the websites on pages 154-155 or your own research this summer, share with us one or two new items you will be adding either to a current text set or one you are starting this school.

Chapter 6 - Assessing for Learning - Missy McCallen

Assessment

Background Knowledge:

Formative assessment helps teachers form ideas for teaching and gives us knowledge of students’ strengths and weaknesses.  Students can use the feedback from this type of assessment to begin taking responsibility for their own learning and develop valuable lifelong skills such as self-evaluation, self-assessment, and goal setting.

 

Summative assessment sums up what we have taught and gives a grade for the grade book, but may not tell us what students have retained and can use later. This type of test is usually based on a time period or at the conclusion of a chapter or unit. This feedback generally helps teachers know what to teach next year.

Personal Connection:

I love to see growth in students and celebrate with them as they meet and exceed expectations.  Throughout my teaching career, I have taught many multi-skill leveled classrooms.  One multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, or True/False assessment could never give me the information I considered necessary to determine if students were actually making progress or mastering skills. I know many teachers feel that once they teach the content the students should “get it” and be able to spit it back out. But is this really how learning takes place? Do we want students leaving middle school to only have the skill of memorizing and writing down exactly what we have told them?

Reflection:

Take a minute and think/write/post about the bigger ideas of the types of activities and assessments that took place in your classroom this past year. Think about these questions as you frame your response:

1. Did more than 80%of my students grow academically, spiritually, and emotionally? How do I know this?
2. Could I name 10 students who I worry about moving to the next grade due to lack of skills? What were the skills? Did I provide a way for them to improve? Could all of my students have improved in this area?
3. Did I refrain from activities or types of assessments due to my students’ lack of skills?
4. What did my assessments tell me about my students?
5. What did my assessments tell about me about my teaching style?
6. What could I change about my assessment and expectations to help my students achieve at a higher standard?

 

Exemplar:

Here is a practical example. Writing is an area in the lower school that we will be working on next year through small group instruction.  The following is my reflection on assessment as I begin thinking about writing in grades 1-4 next year:

1. Assess for the bigger ideas: reading, writing, cause and effect, sequential order, problem to solution, vocabulary, skills for life, etc.

1. Ask students to pre-write, use a graphic organizer create or research a topic of interest.
2. Learn to write using ideas of interest, not manufactured prompts.
3. Look for the foundational skills that will make them excellent writers.
4. Allow time for students to make connections to self, media, culture, history,  and, real-life activities.

1. Give consistent feedback in a timely manner that shows students how to perform better the next time.
2. Allow students to try several attempts at getting it right.
3. Keep track of individual students’ struggles so I can look for growth and then do number 5.
4. Re-teach skills that have been missed, misunderstood, or are not up to expectations.
5. Spend time conferencing with students at least once every nine weeks.
6. Assess using a rubric and give examples of writing for each grade level.

 

Your thoughts:

So blog about any of the ideas mentioned in this chapter or my response. Before you do, watch this video by Matthew West: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_RjndG0IX8  (Sorry about the advertisement!)

 

Expand your knowledge:

A blog on formative assessment and technology:  http://www.nwea.org/blog/2014/update-36-digital-formative-assessment-tools-classroom/

An article on assessment, choice, and the brain: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/assessment-choice-and-learning-brain-glenn-whitman (Make sure you click on the Tic Tac Toe Link)

Chapter 5 - Writing to Learn by Cristal Watkins

Chapter 5- Writing to Learn

 

In the past few years, teachers have been encouraged to incorporate writing throughout various content areas.  While all teachers may not feel that English is their forte, subject leveled writing can extend lessons to not just promote learning for a short period of time but allow students to actually understanding the concepts being taught.

 

The author pointed out a vital flaw in many textbooks: writing assignments that are not mentally stimulating.  Often these assignments are available at the end of a unit and lead the students to simply complete a task.  Writing should not be used as a form of busy work.  It needs to have purpose and promote learning.  My high school history teacher gave my class the assignment to present information on a country, not in research paper format, but from the perspective of a travel agent.  This changed the way that I viewed the assignment since I was able to take the class on a virtual tour of the country I selected.  While the facts were still obtained, as it would have been in a research paper,  it was something that was personal for me since I was able to highlight the aspects that were of interest to me. 

 

I really enjoyed the self-reflection sheet in figure 5.1.  This can be incorporated after lessons or units to help see how the progress of each student is developing.  I have given review assessments where there was a combination of pervious concepts learned only to be discouraged because while the students scored well on assignments, they didn't grasp the big picture of putting it all together.  Self-reflection sheets can give insight on concepts that may need to be reviewed for a longer period of time. 

 

Whether choosing to use a given writing prompt or create your own, the author pointed out four components of effective writing assignments: content and scope, organization and development, audience and communication, and finally engagement and choice.  All are vital to creating effective writing.  The use of technology can greatly help in the process.  While instructing students to use five sentences to answer an essay may discourage many, the same concept, but presented as a Facebook, page may change a student whole outlook on the learning process.  Pages 106, 117-118 offer a plethora of resources that teachers can use to promote writing as a tool in the learning process. 

 

Points for discussion:

 

1.  Using the tools for content-area writing (interactive notebooks/learning logs, journals, RAFT writing activities) how would students benefit academically in your content area? 

 

2.  How can peer feedback promote "writing to learn" in collaborative assignments for both students (the author and reader) involved?

 

 

 

"Writing is easy, all you have to do is cross out the wrong words." Mark Twain

Chapter 4 - Reading to Learn by Wendy Doig

I was excited to learn that I was assigned this chapter to start our discussions on "Reading to Learn". I attended a seminar about three years ago instructed by Sue Beers, a reading specialist, who opened the seminar with this exercise  that I would love you to try. (Really, please try it! The results are profound!) Read the following passage and answer the questions:

         

                    A Marsden Giberter

 

Glis was very fraper.  She had dernarpen Farfle’s marsden.  She did not talp a giberter for him.  So, she conlanted to plimp a marsden binky for him.  She had just sparved the binky when he jibbed in the gorger.

“Clorsty marsden!” she boffed.

“That ‘s a crouistish marsden binky,” boffed Farfle,  “but my marsden is on Stansan.  Agsan is Kelsan.”

“In that ruspen,” boffed Glis, “I won’t wank you your giberter until Stansan.”

 

Why was Glis fraper?

What did Glis plimp?

Who jibbed the gorger when Glis sparved the blinky?

Why didn’t Glis wank Farfle his giberter?

 

 

Do you understand anything you just read? So, how are you able to answer the questions? This exercise made me realize how many assessments I had done that I assumed the kids were"getting it" because they answered the questions correctly. In reality, they weren't comprehending anything. Our students have learned to "play the game", and they play it well.

 

We have a responsibility to re-train them to read for learning, not just to get the answer to the question correct. This responsibility of teaching them to read for learning should not fall exclusively to the Language Arts teachers.(HaHa! Like this!) Teachers of each content area are in the strongest position to help students know how to use their textbooks or any selected text as a resource for learning. Content area teachers know their subject matter and the standards they should be meeting. They also understand the literary demands of their content; how to read the different kinds of text; how to write in formats associated with each subject; how to recognize key concepts and vocabulary terms. Teaching reading in the content areas is NOT so much about teaching students basic reading skills as it is about teaching students how to use reading as a tool for thinking and learning.

 

As teachers our objective should be to effectively use before, during, and after reading strategies within the classroom to accelerate and improve student learning.

 

Before reading strategies should activate prior knowledge and focus attention on the purpose of reading.

 

During reading strategies should give the students the opportunity to think critically, organize and question while they are interacting with the text. We need to teach them to be active readers. Instruction that encourages students to continually summarize, visualize, connect, predict, question, and infer will increase their comprehension.

 

After reading strategies should help students consolidate their learning, reflect on the new information and integrate it to prior knowledge by applying new concepts.

 

Questions for discussion:

1. The author suggests that each of us should help students to read  in our discipline they way that we learned when we were novices in our field. What would that look like in your classroom?

 

2. The following are links to some resources,in addition to what we find in the chapter, that provide strategies to use before, during and after reading. Share strategies that you think you will be able to incorporate in your classroom this year.

 

www.clintweb.net/ctw/reading_strategies.pdf

 

www.tennessee.gov/education/standards/english/ENG_3081.pdf

Chapter 3 - Vocabulary is the Content - By Heather Kelley

I was very excited to see that the chapter Mr. Clark asked me to write about was all about vocabulary. As teachers, I think we all struggle with determining the best way to incorporate vocabulary into our curriculum, and I was hoping for some innovative ideas to use in my classroom. Fortunately, the book did not disappoint!

 

One of the concepts that I found most interesting was that of tiering vocabulary words for our students. I know that in my classroom I have sometimes depended on the vocabulary lists provided in the literature book only to realize that there were many other words within the story that students were not familiar with. By allowing students to work with partners or in small groups, tiering words can also allow students to use their prior knowledge to help teach unfamiliar terms to one another.

 

I also loved the idea of having students keep a vocabulary log. I think most of us have at some time been guilty of the "write the definition and create a sentence" vocabulary assignment, only to discover that the students had no better understanding of the vocabulary after completing the assignment. With the vocabulary log, students will still write the word's meaning, but they will also have their own personal connection to that word through their own associations and illustration. By personalizing the learning experience, students are actually learning more without feeling that they are doing "busy work".

 

Although there were many other helpful tips and suggestions throughout the chapter, I think the most important thing we can do for our students is to encourage them to read. By providing positive reading experiences, we will allow our students to see that vocabulary is a part of the real world, not just the classroom. When students have a chance to share their experiences with others, whether through a word wall, classroom presentation, etc., it will hopefully spark their curiosity and help us to create a culture of learning within our school.

 

I am really looking forward to implementing some of these teaching methods into my classroom, and I hope you are too!

 

Points for Discussion:

 

 What methods for teaching vocabulary do you currently use? Which of these work best?

 

 Chapter 3 describes many strategies for teaching vocabulary. Which of these do you         think would work best in your classroom? What changes would you need to make in your planning and teaching methods to implement these changes?

 

  Studies show that reading comprehension and vocabulary go hand in hand. In addition      to textbook reading, what reading opportunities can you provide to your students to help       spark their interest in learning?

Chapter 2: Background Knowledge: The Glue That Makes Learning Stick

What great comments from the last weeks post on Engagement.   

I don’t know about you, but as I read about the importance assessing and building background knowledge, it made me stop and think about all of the lessons that I taught to my second graders.  The main focus of my planning was on how I would teach the new skill or information for that lesson.  I understood what previous knowledge they had developed while in my classroom and so as I created the lesson I would build upon that information.  I realized that not much thought or effort had gone into assessing what prior knowledge they had developed from other sources that would impact their full understanding of what I wanted them to grasp.  How much more successful would my students have been in 2^nd grade and beyond had I taken the time to intentionally use background knowledge appropriately?       

Throughout this chapter a variety of strategies were presented that that can be implemented into any unit as we seek to not only assess but build background knowledge in our students.  Accessing prior knowledge will help ensure that our students are a more than ‘a mile wide and an inch deep’ in their knowledge of the content you are teaching.  The statement that really made me stop and think was when the author quoted Gallagher who said “Those students who sit down to the exam with the broadest base of prior knowledge will have the highest chance of scoring well” p45  If this is the case then we can only benefit our students by making a conscious effort to enhance their background knowledge. 

Points for Discussion:

1)  It seems to me that the step of focusing on background knowledge is the easiest step to skip while planning / teaching a lesson.  Do you agree or disagree with this statement and why?

2) Out of the strategies given throughout the chapter which one or two are you considering implementing in your classroom and what affect do you think it will have on the way you plan?

 

3) If you always planned a unit with assessing and building background knowledge as an integral part would it change the way you looked at your current textbook or resources?

Chapter 1 - Learning: It's All About Engagement

What a great chapter to get us thinking about learning! Engagement…although it may be initially difficult for us to define, we can all think of particular lessons we have taught when we knew that our students were highly engaged in the learning process. I am doubtful that the lessons you are thinking about included a long lecture or having the students read 10 pages from the textbook and answer some questions at the end of the chapter.  I would imagine that the lessons you recalled were those lessons in which students were involved in the learning process through some form of collaboration or involved in problem solving and active learning. The classroom was not quiet and the desk were most likely not in orderly rows.  You were probably not sitting behind your desk or standing behind your podium.  And most noticeably, you might have been a little nervous if an administrator walked in. J

As noted in the reading, engagement was the meditating factor in improved student outcomes.  In our fast paced and technologically advanced society, it is important that our educational practices are meeting the needs of today’s students. The following quote stood out to me as I read this chapter. “Never before have students’ lives outside of school been so different from their lives inside the classroom.” (Lent, 2012)   As educators are we trying to force 21^st century students to learn in a 20^th century classroom? Do our classrooms develop the skills that our students will need to be successful in the 21^st century?

The chart on page 15, provided some great principles of engagement which you can use in the classroom. Take a moment and note which of these principles you currently utilize and I encourage you to pick two that you will seek to implement in the first two weeks of school. I would also encourage you to utilize the student evaluation noted on page 29 to evaluate levels of student engagement. How could you use this tool in your classroom? 

I am looking forward to next week as Julie blogs about “Background Knowledge: The Glue That Makes Learning Stick” Have a great week!

Points for Discussion:

As educators do we value compliance over engagement? As you reflect on your educational experience as a student was compliance or engagement valued most by your teachers? Are there policies at GCA that do not foster engagement?

 

What role do you as a middle school teacher have in developing students who are curious? How can you foster this desire in your students?

 

How can you specifically implement some of the principles of engagement as noted on page 15 in your classroom?