An example of how to facilitate student created

rubrics.

First students were given a sheet with the following Learning Target and steps for the strategy self questioning using EALR 2.1.6.

2.1.6 Apply comprehension monitoring strategies before, during, and after reading: monitor for meaning, create mental images, and generate and answer questions in grade-level informational/expository text and/or literary/narrative text.

•Monitor for meaning by identifying where and why comprehension was lost and use comprehension-repair strategies to regain meaning.

•Generate and answer questions before, during, and after reading.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

There are 4 steps used in the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Step 1: Check yourself for understanding while reading the text.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Step 2: Identify a word, phrase, or event that you do not understand in the text.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Step 3: Ask yourself questions to understand the word, phrase, or event in the text.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Step 4: Use your background knowledge, the text, or another resource (i.e. the glossary) to help you answer your question.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Now we will practice again explaining how we use this strategy to our partners. Take turns explaining different examples beginning with the North partner.

Today’s Learning Target: I can explain how I use the reading strategy Self Questioning.

Write to describe how you can use this strategy for the text I Have Heard of a Land on your sheet, use your steps to make sure your description is complete.

We used the steps as a general rubric for this selection, then continued to work with the strategy in another selection.

After giving the students a chance to write their explanations, I chose a sample of 8 pieces of work for the students to analyze in groups.

The sampling contained a wide range of quality and completion.

I informed them that our goal was to create a rubric and we would first look at this work to categorize these examples into high, medium, and low groups.

Before starting this, I talked to the students about not focusing on whose work we were looking at, and not getting down on themselves if they’re work was categorized as low, since our goal was to find out how to get their work to fit into the high category. Here are some pictures.

After sorting them, the students were to write on the samples describing why they put each one in a high, medium, or low category. These questions were posted for them to answer.

Big Idea: What makes a good explanation?

What makes this example high, medium, or low?What characteristics of this example make it high, medium, or low?What does it have or what is it missing?

The next day I gave each group their samples and had them fill out the following list.