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Socratic Seminar: Great Student Discourse

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AP Lit and Comp class participating in socratic seminar to discuss the book Frankenstein, great strategy to encourage student led discourse.

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A Socratic Seminar with Brian West of East Hall High School

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Have students facilitate a discussion in order to work together toward a shared understanding of a text.

Advisory

Civics & Citizenship

English & Language Arts

History

Social Studies

The resources I'm getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable.

- Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Have students facilitate a discussion in order to work together toward a shared understanding of a text. Advisory Civics & Citizenship English & Language Arts History Social Studies The resources I'm getting from my colleagues through Facing History have been just invaluable. - Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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ELA.RL.9-10.1

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RL: Reading Standards for Literature 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

1:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text
says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.RL.9-10.4

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RL: Reading Standards for Literature 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

4:
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text,
including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes
a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

|

ELA.SL.9-10.1c

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

SL: Speaking and Listening Standards 6-12

9-10: 9th & 10th Grades

1c:
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
(one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10
topics, texts, and issues, building on others'\x80\x99 ideas and expressing their own
clearly and persuasively.

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read and researched material under
study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from
texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful,
well-reasoned exchange of ideas.

b. Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-making
(e.g., informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, presentation of
alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and individual roles as needed.

c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the
current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate
others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and
conclusions.

d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of
agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their
own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the
evidence and reasoning presented.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How do students develop discussion skills by participating in both the inner and outer circles?

2. What can you learn from Ms. Price about using the language of the Common Core with students?

3. Ms. Price says that it's our responsibility to make it their responsibility. How does she do this?

School Details

Mountain View High School
3535 Truman Avenue
Mountain View CA 94040

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Ninth graders in Paige Price's ELA class participate in a Socratic Seminar to discuss the role of poetic language. Paige sets up the Socratic Seminar with an inner and an outer circle. Students partner up so that one student participates in the inner circle discussion while the other partner observes from the outer circle.

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Students in Johanna Paraiso’s high school English class engage in a moral reasoning conversation about themes in the book Brave New World. Ms. Paraiso uses technology throughout the class to scaffold the instruction, and she chooses controversial topics in order to engage the students. She is using…

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This podcast explains the importance of activating or creating background knowledge before reading, and it provides details about HOW to do it.

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Citing Evidence from a Science Text 8th Grade ELA

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Citing Evidence from a Science Text 8th Grade ELA

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School Improvement Network | Frontline Education

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With our extensive course libraries, formerly EDTRAININGCENTER (ETC), you can be sure that all of your employees are receiving the training they need, whether they are teachers, substitutes, paraprofessionals or new hires.

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Students Cite Evidence from Informational and Literary Text Common Core Literacy

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Students Cite Evidence from Informational and Literary Text Common Core Literacy

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Students Cite Evidence from Informational and Literary Text   Common Core Literacy

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Uploaded by Antoinette Meade on 2015-08-10.

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Great video, student demo starts min 7:40

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Timers:  Time on Task:  Increase Focus & Productivity

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Timers:  Time on Task:  Increase Focus & Productivity

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Thought starters

1. How does establishing a specific time for tasks increase student productivity?

2. What is the impact of the using a timer on the teacher's effectiveness?

3. Notice how the timing of tasks helps lesson flow and transitions between tasks.?

School Details

Rancho Milpitas Middle School
1915 Yellowstone Avenue
Milpitas CA 95035

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Time on Task: Increase Focus & Productivity

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Dr. Melina Johnson, Middle School teacher at Rancho Milpitas in California, explains the importance of establishing specific times for students to complete tasks. In addition to helping students accomplish their work in a focused and productive manner, she recognizes how the use of a visual timer helps her organization as well.

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Assessing Students with Twitter-Style Exit Slips

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Maria Perryman explains how she uses a Twitter style exit slip for formative assessment. At the end of class, she asks her students to answer one of three questions in 140 characters or less. She uses this slip to ask them questions about topics they explored in class. Because the students have to b…

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Students in Johanna Paraiso’s high school English class engage in a moral reasoning conversation about themes in the book Brave New World. Ms. Paraiso uses technology throughout the class to scaffold the instruction, and she chooses controversial topics in order to engage the students. She is using…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Wessling make this game a low-stakes activity?

2. How does this game promote active listening and participation?

3. Ms. Wessling says she often uses this game for her early morning classes. When might you use this game in your own classroom?

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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Sarah Brown Wessling uses the stand-up game to encourage active participation. She asks all the students in her classroom to stand up. They are only allowed to sit down once they have participated in the discussion or share out. Sarah says this game is great for engaging tired students.

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ELA.RL.4.7

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RL: Reading Standards for Literature K-\x80\x935

4: 4th Grade

7:
Make connections between the text of a story
or drama and a visual or oral presentation of
the text, identifying where each version reflects
specific descriptions and directions in the text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Wessling create an environment that encourages curiosity?

2. How does this lesson help students make progress toward the Common Core standard of making connections between the story's text and the visual presentation of the text?

3. What would you do next to help students continue making progress with this standard?

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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Sarah Brown Wessling teaches critical thinking skills in a fourth grade classroom. First, she asks students to consider the meaning of objects in a box. Next, she leads them through an activity that differentiates between things you can and cannot touch.

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Gradual Release explained by Doug Fisher

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Gradual Release explained by Doug Fisher

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Scaffolding/Rigor

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When teachers take time to design good questions for their students that consider learning goals, student understanding improves. Watch one teacher discuss how she designs questions for her classroom.

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video

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. What happens when Ms. Baines has her students act as teachers?

2. How could backwards planning inform the gradual release of responsibility?

3. What can you learn from Ms. Baines about scaffolding?

School Details

Alief Early College High School
2811 Hayes Road
Houston TX 77082

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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High school ELA teacher Monica Baines explains how she facilitates understanding using the gradual release of responsibility model. Monica explains how she breaks content into small chunks to make it manageable for her students, then gradually shifts the load to them.

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video

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How would using the, "I do it, We do it, You do it together, You do it alone," model change the way you plan your lessons?

2. How do the post-its hold students accountable and push them to think about their own cognition?

3. Beyond shifting the cognitive load, what are the benefits of structuring lessons in this way?

School Details

Johnston Senior High School
6501 Northwest 62nd Avenue
Johnston IA 50131

Data Provided By:

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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Improving Practice with Sarah Brown Wessling

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National Teacher of the Year explores the instructional model known as gradual release. In this model, the cognitive load shifts to the learners through the lesson. Also known as structuring your lesson with an, I Do, We Do, You Do," format. Sarah shows what this model looks like in her classroom.

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Best Practice:  Classroom Management (article)

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Best Practice:  Classroom Management (article)

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Teachers stand on the shoulders of giants who developed tried-and-true strategies by testing them out, reflecting on the outcomes, and honing those strategies over decades or longer.

It's often said in the teaching world (as in many professions and trades, I imagine), "Why reinvent the wheel when there are plenty of practices that already work?"

In their book, Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School, Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan share their definition for "best practices," which they define as existing practices that already possess a high level of widely-agreed effectiveness.

We teachers are standing on the shoulders of giants before us who have developed tried-and-true strategies by testing them out, reflecting on the outcomes, and honing those strategies over decades or longer. And they work; they get results.

Check for understanding often and in a variety of ways.

If you don't have a well-thought out plan for your students, they will have one for you.

Set up the next activity while students are completing the current one -- this makes for a smooth and speedy transition with little to no downtime.

Design the end goals and end product first (also known as backward planning).

Share models with students of the product or outcome you want them to create or design -- and also continually model in your own behavior how you want them to act and treat each other.

Don't throw anything away, especially in your first few years of teaching; you might need it later.

What are some of the best pedagogical practices I've adopted over the years from my mentors and guides in this field? Here are just a few straightforward ones that are known, and used, by many educators:

The Role of Research

There are also those best practices that have data to back them up. When looking at the work of educational researcher Robert Marzano, we see that he has spent hundreds of hours observing classroom practices and using this data to suggest best practices for vocabulary instruction, student assessment, and classroom management.

Marzano's six-step process for building student academic vocabulary is deeply informed by his research and used within school districts across the U.S. When it comes to growing student vocabulary, he asserts that direct instruction is a best practice and essential. (Here's a post I wrote, Doing It Differently: Tips for Teaching Vocabulary, that says more on this.)

"The Next" Best Thing

It is the adventure and challenge for all educators, grades K-16 (yes, university instructors as well), to take that tried-and-true strategy and evolve it -- making it best to next. In this digital age, for instance, as our students' needs and strengths shift, we must remain innovative, and our best should always be transforming and moving toward the next best approach, tool, or strategy.

When thinking about the learning and teaching in your classroom, what best practices do you utilize? What are ways that you've innovated and transformed a best practice to a next -- or better -- practice? Please share in the comments section below.

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Defining "Best Practice" in Teaching | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teachers stand on the shoulders of giants who developed tried-and-true strategies by testing them out, reflecting on the outcomes, and honing those strategies over decades or longer. It's often said in the teaching world (as in many professions and trades, I imagine), "Why reinvent the wheel when there are plenty of practices that already work?"

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Article

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LINCS | Adult Education and Literacy | U.S. Department of Education

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Metacognition is one's ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one's approach as needed. It helps learners choose the right cognitive tool for the task and plays a critical role in successful learning.

What Is Metacognition?

Metacognition refers to awareness of one's own knowledge-what one does and doesn't know-and one's ability to understand, control, and manipulate one's cognitive processes (Meichenbaum, 1985). It includes knowing when and where to use particular strategies for learning and problem solving as well as how and why to use specific strategies. Metacognition is the ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one's approach as needed. Flavell (1976), who first used the term, offers the following example: I am engaging in Metacognition if I notice that I am having more trouble learning A than B; if it strikes me that I should double check C before accepting it as fact (p. 232).

Cognitive strategies are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn (e.g., recalling information from memory, analyzing sounds and images, making associations between or comparing/contrasting different pieces of information, and making inferences or interpreting text). They help an individual achieve a particular goal, such as comprehending text or solving a math problem, and they can be individually identified and measured. In contrast, metacognitive strategies are used to ensure that an overarching learning goal is being or has been reached. Examples of metacognitive activities include planning how to approach a learning task, using appropriate skills and strategies to solve a problem, monitoring one's own comprehension of text, self-assessing and self-correcting in response to the self-assessment, evaluating progress toward the completion of a task, and becoming aware of distracting stimuli.

Elements of Metacognition

Researchers distinguish between metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation (Flavell, 1979, 1987; Schraw & Dennison, 1994). Metacognitive knowledge refers to what individuals know about themselves as cognitive processors, about different approaches that can be used for learning and problem solving, and about the demands of a particular learning task. Metacognitive regulation refers to adjustments individuals make to their processes to help control their learning, such as planning, information management strategies, comprehension monitoring, de-bugging strategies, and evaluation of progress and goals. Flavell (1979) further divides metacognitive knowledge into three categories:

Person variables: What one recognizes about his or her strengths and weaknesses in learning and processing information.

Task variables: What one knows or can figure out about the nature of a task and the processing demands required to complete the task-for example, knowledge that it will take more time to read, comprehend, and remember a technical article than it will a similar-length passage from a novel.

Strategy variables: The strategies a person has "at the ready" to apply in a flexible way to successfully accomplish a task; for example, knowing how to activate prior knowledge before reading a technical article, using a glossary to look up unfamiliar words, or recognizing that sometimes one has to reread a paragraph several times before it makes sense.

Livingston (1997) provides an example of all three variables: "I know that I ( person variable) have difficulty with word problems ( task variable), so I will answer the computational problems first and save the word problems for last ( strategy variable)."

Why Teach Metacognitive Skills?

Research shows that metacognitive skills can be taught to students to improve their learning (Nietfeld & Shraw, 2002; Thiede, Anderson, & Therriault, 2003).

Constructing understanding requires both cognitive and metacognitive elements. Learners "construct knowledge" using cognitive strategies, and they guide, regulate, and evaluate their learning using metacognitive strategies. It is through this "thinking about thinking," this use of metacognitive strategies, that real learning occurs. As students become more skilled at using metacognitive strategies, they gain confidence and become more independent as learners.

Individuals with well-developed metacognitive skills can think through a problem or approach a learning task, select appropriate strategies, and make decisions about a course of action to resolve the problem or successfully perform the task. They often think about their own thinking processes, taking time to think about and learn from mistakes or inaccuracies (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1995). Some instructional programs encourage students to engage in "metacognitive conversations" with themselves so that they can "talk" with themselves about their learning, the challenges they encounter, and the ways in which they can self-correct and continue learning.

Moreover, individuals who demonstrate a wide variety of metacognitive skills perform better on exams and complete work more efficiently-they use the right tool for the job, and they modify learning strategies as needed, identifying blocks to learning and changing tools or strategies to ensure goal attainment. Because Metacognition plays a critical role in successful learning, it is imperative that instructors help learners develop metacognitively.

What's the Research?

Metacognitive strategies can be taught (Halpern, 1996), they are associated with successful learning (Borkowski, Carr, & Pressley, 1987). Successful learners have a repertoire of strategies to select from and can transfer them to new settings (Pressley, Borkowski, & Schneider, 1987). Instructors need to set tasks at an appropriate level of difficulty (i.e., challenging enough so that students need to apply metacognitive strategies to monitor success but not so challenging that students become overwhelmed or frustrated), and instructors need to prompt learners to think about what they are doing as they complete these tasks (Biemiller & Meichenbaum, 1992). Instructors should take care not to do the thinking for learners or tell them what to do because this runs the risk of making students experts at seeking help rather than experts at thinking about and directing their own learning. Instead, effective instructors continually prompt learners, asking "What should you do next?"

McKeachie (1988) found that few college instructors explicitly teach strategies for monitoring learning. They assume that students have already learned these strategies in high school. But many have not and are unaware of the metacognitive process and its importance to learning. Rote memorization is the usual-and often the only-learning strategy employed by high school students when they enter college (Nist, 1993). Simpson and Nist (2000), in a review of the literature on strategic learning, emphasize that instructors need to provide explicit instruction on the use of study strategies. The implication for ABE programs is that it is likely that ABE learners need explicit instruction in both cognitive and metacognitive strategies. They need to know that they have choices about the strategies they can employ in different contexts, and they need to monitor their use of and success with these strategies.

Recommended Instructional Strategies

Instructors can encourage ABE learners to become more strategic thinkers by helping them focus on the ways they process information. Self-questioning, reflective journal writing, and discussing their thought processes with other learners are among the ways that teachers can encourage learners to examine and develop their metacognitive processes.

Fogarty (1994) suggests that Metacognition is a process that spans three distinct phases, and that, to be successful thinkers, students must do the following:

1. Develop a plan before approaching a learning task, such as reading for comprehension or solving a math problem.

2. Monitor their understanding; use "fix-up" strategies when meaning breaks down.

3. Evaluate their thinking after completing the task.

Instructors can model the application of questions, and they can prompt learners to ask themselves questions during each phase. They can incorporate into lesson plans opportunities for learners to practice using these questions during learning tasks, as illustratetd in the following examples:

During the planning phase, learners can ask, What am I supposed to learn? What prior knowledge will help me with this task? What should I do first? What should I look for in this reading? How much time do I have to complete this? In what direction do I want my thinking to take me?

During the monitoring phase, learners can ask, How am I doing? Am I on the right track? How should I proceed? What information is important to remember? Should I move in a different direction? Should I adjust the pace because of the difficulty? What can I do if I do not understand?

During the evaluation phase, learners can ask, How well did I do? What did I learn? Did I get the results I expected? What could I have done differently? Can I apply this way of thinking to other problems or situations? Is there anything I don't understand-any gaps in my knowledge? Do I need to go back through the task to fill in any gaps in understanding? How might I apply this line of thinking to other problems?

Rather than viewing reading, writing, science, social studies, and math only as subjects or content to be taught, instructors can see them as opportunities for learners to reflect on their learning processes. Examples follow for each content area:

Reading: Teach learners how to ask questions during reading and model "think-alouds." Ask learners questions during read-alouds and teach them to monitor their reading by constantly asking themselves if they understand what the text is about. Teach them to take notes or highlight important details, asking themselves, "Why is this a key phrase to highlight?" and "Why am I not highlighting this?"

Writing: Model prewriting strategies for organizing thoughts, such as brainstorming ideas using a word web, or using a graphic organizer to put ideas into paragraphs, with the main idea at the top and the supporting details below it.

Social Studies and Science: Teach learners the importance of using organizers such as KWL charts, Venn diagrams, concept maps , and anticipation/reaction charts to sort information and help them learn and understand content. Learners can use organizers prior to a task to focus their attention on what they already know and identify what they want to learn. They can use a Venn diagram to identify similarities and differences between two related concepts.

Math: Teach learners to use mnemonics to recall steps in a process, such as the order of mathematical operations. Model your thought processes in solving problems-for example, "This is a lot of information; where should I start? Now that I know____, is there something else I know?"

The goal of teaching metacognitive strategies is to help learners become comfortable with these strategies so that they employ them automatically to learning tasks, focusing their attention, deriving meaning, and making adjustments if something goes wrong. They do not think about these skills while performing them but, if asked what they are doing, they can usually accurately describe their metacognitive processes.

References

Biemiller, A., & Meichenbaum, D. (1992). The nature and nurture of the self-directed learner. Educational Leadership, 50, 75-80.

Borkowski, J., Carr, M., & Pressely, M. (1987). "Spontaneous" strategy use: Perspectives from metacognitive theory. Intelligence, 11, 61-75.

Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, 906-911.

Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-236). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Flavell, J. H. (1987). Speculations about the nature and development of metacognition. In F. E. Weinert & R. H. Kluwe (Eds.), Metacognition, motivation, and understanding (pp. 21-29). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Fogarty, R. (1994). How to teach for metacognition. Palatine, IL: IRI/Skylight Publishing.

Halpern, D. F. (1996). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Livingston, J. A. (1997). Metacognition: An overview. Retrieved December 27, 2011 from http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/CEP564/Metacog.htm

McKeachie, W. J. (1988). The need for study strategy training. In C. E. Weinstein, E. T. Goetz, & P. A. Alexander (Eds.), Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment, instruction, and evaluation (pp. 3-9). New York: Academic Press.

Meichenbaum, D. (1985). Teaching thinking: A cognitive-behavioral perspective. In S. F., Chipman, J. W. Segal, & R. Glaser (Eds.), Thinking and learning skills, Vol. 2: Research and open questions. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (1995). Strategic teaching and reading project guidebook. Retrieved December 27, 2011

Nietfeld, J. L., & Shraw, G. (2002). The effect of knowledge and strategy explanation on monitoring accuracy. Journal of Educational Research, 95, 131-142.

Nist, S. (1993). What the literature says about academic literacy. Georgia Journal of Reading, Fall-Winter, 11-18.

Pressley, M., Borkowski, J. G., & Schneider, W. (1987). Cognitive strategies: Good strategy users coordinate metacognition and knowledge. In R. Vasta, & G. Whitehurst (Eds.), Annals of child development, 4, 80-129. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Schraw, G., & Dennison, R. S. (1994). Assessing metacognitive awareness. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 19, 460-475.

Simpson, M. L., & Nist, S. L. (2000). An update on strategic learning: It's more than textbook reading strategies. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 43(6) 528-541.

Thiede, K. W., Anderson, M. C., & Therriault, D. (2003). Accuracy of metacognitive monitoring affects learning of texts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 66-73.

Authors: TEAL Center staff

Reviewed by: David Scanlon, Boston College

About the TEAL Center: The Teaching Excellence in Adult Literacy (TEAL) Center is a project of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), designed to improve the quality of teaching in adult education in the content areas.

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TEAL Center Fact Sheet No. 4: Metacognitive Processes

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Metacognition is one's ability to use prior knowledge to plan a strategy for approaching a learning task, take necessary steps to problem solve, reflect on and evaluate results, and modify one's approach as needed. It helps learners choose the right cognitive tool for the task and plays a critical role in successful learning.

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Article

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Ideas, Resources, Strategies Site

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Keeping Calm during Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Keeping Calm during Parent-Teacher Conferences

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ASCD Video: Excerpt, "What Rigor Looks Like in the Classroom"

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Robyn Jackson talks to a teacher about a technique that can help empower students as readers.

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ASCD Video: Excerpt, "What Rigor Looks Like in the Classroom"

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. Why is it important to spend time modeling how to participate in debrief circles?

2. What do students learn from reflecting with their peers?

3. How does Ms. Ekmalian structure the questions she asks students?

School Details

The Springfield Renaissance School
1170 Carew Street
Springfield MA 01104

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Students in Maria Ekmalian's class reflect on their learning by participating in debrief circles. Maria divides students into an inside and outside circle, then asks specific questions. The students on the inside of the circle talk while the students on the outside of the circle listen, then they switch.

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Get teaching classroom management techniques to increase student engagement. Real life example from a middle school English Language Arts classroom.

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TIme Management, Transitions, Writing and Think Dot Strategy

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TIme Management, Transitions, Writing and Think Dot Strategy

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. What is the impact of having students' reflect on the time it takes them to complete tasks?

2. How do the 1, 2, and 3 finger signs help limit class interruptions?

3. Why does the use of a timer help both the teacher and students more so than just saying?

School Details

Springfield Twp Middle School
1901 Paper Mill Road
Oreland PA 19075

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Strategies to Improve Transitions and Time Management

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Instructional expert Jim Knight observes Wendy Hopf's Language Arts classroom to offer feedback on her management of transitions between tasks, as well as time management. Ms. Hopf involves students' in thinking about how long an activity or task should take and how long it actually takes.

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Text What You Learned: Using Technology to Assess

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High School English Teacher Sarah Brown Wessling uses texting and word clouds to assess her students' learning. Using Poll Everywhere, Sarah has students text in what they learned in class. As students participate, their responses appear on the screen for everyone to see.

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ELA.RI.6.1

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

RI: Reading Standards for Informational Text 6-\x80\x9312

6: 6th Grade

1:
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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ELA.W.6.2a

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

W: Writing Standards 6-\x80\x9312

6: 6th Grade

2a:
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a
topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information
through the selection, organization, and analysis
of relevant content.

a. Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts,
and information, using strategies such as
definition, classification, comparison/contrast,
and cause/effect; include formatting (e.g.,
headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables),
and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with relevant facts,
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or
other information and examples.

c. Use appropriate transitions to clarify the
relationships among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific
vocabulary to inform about or explain the
topic.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that
follows from the information or explanation
presented.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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ELA.SL.6.1a

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

SL: Speaking and Listening Standards 6-\x80\x9312

6: 6th Grade

1a:
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled)
with diverse partners on grade 6 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others'\x80\x99 ideas and
expressing their own clearly.

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or
studied required material; explicitly draw on
that preparation by referring to evidence on
the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on
ideas under discussion.

b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set
specific goals and deadlines, and define
individual roles as needed.

c. Pose and respond to specific questions with
elaboration and detail by making comments
that contribute to the topic, text, or issue
under discussion.

d. Review the key ideas expressed and
demonstrate understanding of multiple
perspectives through reflection and
paraphrasing.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does each part of the lesson prepare students for writing?

2. What skills do students develop in the lesson?

3. How could the scaffolds Ms. Norris puts into place be taken away as students gain fluency?

School Details

Monroe Middle School
4716 West Montgomery Avenue
Tampa FL 33616

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Getting Ready to Write: Citing Textual Evidence

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In preparation for writing a magazine article about child labor, students identify and discuss textual evidence. Dawn gives her students three questions to answer as they read an article about child labor. Students selectively highlight to answer the questions as they read. Small groups participate in an All Write Consensus Round Robin to discuss their answers.

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Selective Highlighting: Reading with a Purpose

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Teaching students to read with a purpose can be challenging. See how using the simple technique of selective highlighting will help many students to better understand what they read.

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Students in Katie Langlois’ class examine the vocabulary found in the Gettysburg Address. Working in groups, each student got different clues about vocabulary words. The groups worked together to figure out which vocabulary words the clues referred to.

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Strengthening Lessons with a Student Work Protocol

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Teachers learn how to use EQuIP's Student Work Protocol in order to evaluate and revise a Common Core lesson. Melissa Fazzino, Andrea Breomor, and Alissa Peltzman describe the five steps of the protocol. Teachers in the training practice the protocol within subject area groups for ELA and Math.

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Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Chism use accountable talk stems?

2. What concrete strategies does Ms. Chism introduce for getting students to engage in respectful talk?

3. How could you use Ms. Chism's strategies in your classroom?

School Details

Winridge Elementary School
3500 Ridgeway Road
Memphis TN 38115

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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4th and 5th grade Gifted ELA teacher Sherwanda Chism encourages students to engage in respectful talk. Sherwanda gives students accountable talk stems, giving them an entry point into academic discussions. Sherwanda explains how it's important to empower students to talk while making sure they are not harming or hurting anyone.

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Share out then listen & learn (timed to keep focus)

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Learning about Literature Circles and the 5 student roles: summarizer, visualizer, inferencer, symbolizer and word detective. Literature Circles help deepen student understanding of texts.

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Deepening Discussions

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does this strategy encourage student-led conversations?

2. What are the benefits of using movement during class discussions?

3. How could this strategy be adapted to other activities?

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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Sarah Brown Wessling uses movement during small group discussion to help students deepen their conversations. Sarah asks only some students in each small group to move with each topic switch, allowing those students to carry the conversation from their previous group to the new group.

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Scaffolding instruction