Collaboration & the Common Core:

Day Four

Whittier City School District

Summer 2013

Think-Write-Pair-Share• Answer the following question in writing. In

reflecting on this question, do not limit yourself to thinking about experiences in school. Consider the totality of your life experience. 

– Thinking back over your whole life, what were the two or three most significant learning experiences you ever had? That is, list the moments (or events) in which you discovered something of lasting significance to your life.

Think-Write-Pair-Share

• Did it take place in a classroom?• Did it take place in a school?• Was a professional teacher or teacher-like figure

(coach, counselor, etc) instrumental in making the learning experience?

• If you answered “yes” to question 3, what did the teacher do to help you learn?

• What factors were instrumental in bringing about the learning? (Consider your behaviors to be able to accomplish this task, as well as the experience that brought about the learning).

Characteristics of Good Teaching• Teacher acts as a facilitator, actively listens to

his/her students, asks probing questions and learns from what the student contributes to the conversation

• Listening to students vs. speaking/lecturing• Teacher is a part of the inquiry as well• Learner feels awakened and invigorated about

the learning

“Good teaching is the creating of those circumstances that lead

to significant learning in others.”

--- Donald Finkel

Objectives• Revisit ELA Capacities/Habits

of Mind

• Explore and Discuss Learning & Classroom Environment Shifts

• Examine SBAC Performance Task

GRIT

• Angela Duckworth GRIT

STOP AND JOTTurn and talk

–What is grit? –What are some strategies for

getting our kids to be “gritty”?

Revisiting our WCSD Graduate

Literacy Capacities “Habits of Mind” “Habits of mind” in tandem with the academic content standards intentionally

focus, deepen, differentiate, and accelerate learning by empowering students to develop 21st century

competencies.

ELA Capacities of a Literate Individual

• They demonstrate independence.• They build strong content knowledge.• They respond to the varying demands of audience,

task, purpose, and discipline.• They comprehend as well as critique.• They value evidence.• They use technology and digital media strategically

and capably.• They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

In ALL Classrooms.....

• These ELA capacities represent the behaviors or dispositions that students exhibit during the learning process

• Therefore, we all need to explicitly teach and provide students with opportunities to practice the HABITS OF MIND.

Exploring the Habits of Mind

• Review the ELA capacities on pg. v

• Underline/Highlight important words or phrases that describe student behaviors (on your own).

• As a team, reflect and discuss the behaviors that a student with these capacities might display.

• Chart these behaviors on the left side your T-chart

Habits of Mind

Behaviors– Students are

independently having conversations about a book and pushing each other to cite evidence

Exploring the Instructional Strategies to Engage Students in

the CCSS Habits of Mind

• Review the Instructional Strategies to Engage Students in the CCSS Habits of Mind

STOP & JOT• How can these strategies support the

development of the habits of mind?

Exploring the Instructional Strategies to Engage Students in

the CCSS Habits of Mind

• In working with the sequence remember that the strategies are cumulative; each prior strategy supports the next one. This then creates a shift form engagement to empowerment.

Accountable Talk

Read pgs.139 – 142– if you finish early you

can continue to read

STOP AND JOT & Turn and Talk–What is my current

practice with accountable talk?

Watch Accountable Talk in Action!• Bugs bugs accountable talk

STOP AND JOT What new ideas did I get from the reading &

video to implement next year?

Accountable Talk 4th – 8th

STOP AND JOT–What is my current

practice with accountable talk?

–What new ideas did I get from reading this section and watching this video to implement next year?

Building Capacity

• Think about which capacities are most evident in your instructional practice at this point.

• What is it you do to elicit these behaviors in your students?

• Now think about which capacities you would like to focus on helping students develop in your classroom next year. – How can you provide opportunities for them to develop

these behaviors on a daily basis?

• ADD TO YOUR CHART, Ideas for Teaching and Developing these behaviors

Habits of Mind

Behaviors– Students are independently

having conversations about a book and pushing each other to cite evidence

Ideas for Teaching/developing these Behaviors-- Implement structures and

practice at the beginning of the school year that teaches students how to turn and talk, explicitly model and take turns at listening and speaking

Gallery Walk

Summary

• These capacities describe student behaviors, not teacher behaviors.

• Students need to develop a well-grounded understanding of how to employ these capacities so that they become Habits of Mind.

• Our charge is to provide students with experiences that help them reach this goal.

“Habits of Mind are the

characteristics of what intelligent people do when

they are confronted with problems, the resolutions of which are not immediately

apparent.” (Costa) 

Morning Break

Power Words Activity

• Actively read and think aloud about your grade level standards with your small group.

• Collaboratively create a list of 5 Power Words for your group’s set of standards.

• Record your list of Power Words on your poster

• Present your poster to the entire group.

Grade Level Speaking & Listening Standards

Speaking & Listening

• Read the middle of pg. 168 - middle of pg. 170.•How do the strategies we’ve discussed, such as, accountable talk, think-pair-share, etc. and the ideas in this reading, support the Speaking and Listening standards.

Learning Environment

“Children grow into the intellectual life around them” --Vygotsky

Choice WordsPeter Johnston

Productive classrooms don’t just teach skills: they...– build emotionally and healthy learning

communities– are intellectual environments that

produce caring, secure, actively literate human beings

– Use language to create strategic thinkers

Close Reading with Choice Words by Peter Johnston

• Argues that we need to be thoughtful of the language that we use with our students in order to give students “agency”.

Close Reading with Choice Words by Peter Johnston

• Read Making Meaning: Making People on pgs 5-6

TURN & TALK:–What does it mean when Johnston refers

to “language has “content”, but it also bears information about the speaker and how he or she views the listener and their assumed relationship.”

Close Reading with Choice Words by Peter Johnston

Read Agency and Becoming Strategic on pgs. 29-33,

TURN & TALK and discuss: – According to Johnston, describe a child who

has agency versus a child who does not.– How does the language he argues teachers

should use help build agency in students?

Close Reading with Choice Words by Peter Johnston

Read Agency and Becoming Strategic on pgs. 38-41

TURN & TALK and discuss: –What are the “cautions” that Johnston

discusses in regards to agency?

Quaker Read

Read aloud a phrase that moves you.

21st Century Classroom Environment

Think About....In creating a student centered learning

environment....--What will your walls look like?--Where will you gather your students close to you to build knowledge and exchange and build on each other’s ideas?

--How will you configure your desks to promote student discussion and group work?

Design a map of your classroom in your notebook for next year.

Enjoy Your Lunch!

Video Analysis

• Selected-response • Constructed-response

o Complex thinking skills, comparison and contrast, cause and effect, patterns, conflicting points of view, categorizing, summarizing, interpreting information

• Performance TasksoEach performance task will take place across

more than one sitting of 45-60 minutes each and includes reading and writing

• Technology-enhancedo Requires productive use of technology

SBAC Item Types

Levels of D.O.K.

• Level One – Recall –Recall of a fact, information, or procedure

• Level Two – Skills and Concepts–Use information or conceptual knowledge

• Level Three – Strategic Thinking–Reasoning, developing a plan

• Level Four – Extended Thinking –Requires an investigation, collection of

data and analysis of results

Grade 3 ELA (DOK 4)

Directions to Students:

You will read an article and watch a video about what animals do to defend themselves from danger. Then you will answer three questions about what you have learned. In Part 2, you will write an article that explains how some animals defend themselves.

DOK 4: 4th grade ELA Example

• During the U.S. Civil War, quilts became a popular item for women to make. In Part I, students will watch a video, view three images, and read two articles about quilts that were made during the Civil War.

• In Part II, students will write an informative essay summarizing the history and purposes of Civil War quilts.

DOK Level 4ELA 8th grade Example:

Directions to Students:

You will read an article on fan fiction, an excerpt from a literary work, and two pieces of fan fiction inspired by that work. You will answer some questions about the sources. Then you will plan, write, and revise your own fan fiction narrative.

SBAC Debrief• How do these assessments compare to the

types of assessments you currently use in your classroom?

• What can we do to successfully prepare students to engage in these complex tasks?

Additional Resources

• Sample Units on Engage NY

Feedback

Every Kid Needs a Champion

Have a great summer!