Making the Intellectual Work of Instructional Decisions Visible

CWP—ISAW

Rae Owens Teacher ConsultantUC Merced Writing Project

Critical Reading/Analytical Writing &

The Common Core State Standards

From being strategic to becoming skillful for both teacher and student

Where do I want my lesson to take my students?

End Product

What stops do I need to make along the way?What are the components that make up the end product?

Responding to the essay topic/assignment Understanding and using the text/

assignment parameters Developing ideas Organizing ideas Choosing words and sentence structure Using grammar, and conventions Anticipating reader’s needs

Skills and StrategiesWhat is a skill? What is a strategy?

Comparing Skills and StrategiesSkillsAutomaticUnconsciousEffortless: just do it!Context freeAbstractRule-like principal

StrategiesDeliberateConsciousEffortful, mindfulContext bound, situatedConcreteHeuristic-like

from http://www.powershow.com/view/543ab-ZDg5N/Reading_Skills_and_Strategies_P_David_Pearson_UC_Be

rkeley

Skills and Definition

s

Strategies Mini-Tasks Rubric Pacing

Draw this chart in your notes:

What skills are necessary to achieve each of the components that make up the end product?

comprehending

analyzingsynthesizingSENTENCE CRAFTINGevaluatin

gChoosing words

FLUENCY

FLOW

punctuating

If the students do not already possess those skills,

what strategies can I employ or design that will develop those skills in

the context of the lesson?

Skill: Infiltrating—Strategy: Disguising

Teaching Points for Skill and Strategy

Mini-tasks, Rubrics, & PacingWhat is a mini-

task?What is a

rubric?What is pacing?

What mini-tasks will I design using the strategies to develop

the skillIn the context of the lesson?

Skill: Categorizing; Strategy: Charting Mini-task: Chart the results from the survey

What is the measurement or rubric of successful completion for each mini-task?

1s

t2nd 3rd

Taking into consideration the context in which the lesson will be delivered, how will I need to pace my instruction (time needed for

each mini-task)?

ScaffoldingWhat is scaffolding and who

needs it?

How will each mini-task scaffold orsupport the completion of the assignment?

Skill: Categorizing; Strategy: Charting Mini-task: Chart the results from the survey

Rationale: Charting information scaffolding into automaticity for categorizing and seeing relationships between things and ideas.

The result of a structure with incomplete scaffolding!

The result of a lesson with incomplete scaffolding!

Instructional LadderWrite out the details of your lesson in chronological order as if you were leaving them for a substitute to put into place with the expectation that adherence to the plan will produce the results you expect upon your return. In writing out your detailed instructional ladder make sure you include:

Purpose or focus for the daily , or session lesson Complete instructions for implementing each strategy along with the pacing for the strategy. Daily or session divisions Teacher notes that highlight purpose, connection, importance, etc.

The key to understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a lesson and its components is the student work.

Examine the student work using a scoring guide, continuum or analytical rubric that measures each component of the final product for lesson mastery. Areas that demonstrate weakness and can be connected to a dimension of the lesson should be reviewed and modified.

California Common Core State Standards& Improving Student Academic Writing

http://www.scoe.net/castandards/agenda/2010/ela_ccs_recommendations.pdf

Use the newly adopted California Common Core State Standards to identify the standards whose mastery is demonstrated through the successful completion of your lesson assessment/ writing assignment. The website to access this document is listed above.

References & Resources

Pearson, P. David, “Reading Skills and Strategies,” http://www.powershow.com/view/543ab-ZDg5N/Reading_Skills_and_Strategies_P_David_Pearson_UC_Berkeley

Rand Reading Study Group, Reading for Understanding: Toward an R & D Program in Reading Comprehension, http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1465/MR1465.pdf

Graham, Steven, and Dolores Perin, Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools, http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf