LEARNING PROJECT DAY ELA

January 26, 2011

PURPOSE FOR COMING TOGETHER Refine our understanding of ELA and

how the new curriculum imagines learning for students

Review additional support materials for unit and year planning

Explore formative assessment, feedback, summative assessment and reporting

Provide time to plan and design assessments

LEARNING PROJECT DAY #2 ELA is unique in many ways. We have so much to cover in

such a short time so a Learning Project Day #2 will be offered on April 6.

At that time, we will put all the pieces together (curriculum, planning supports, assessment, learning plan) and work together to advance our planning.

AGENDA9:00 – 9:10 Welcome and introduction

9:10 – 9:40 Activating prior knowledge

9:40 – 10:00 ELA key points

10:00 – 10:20 Planning supports review

10:20 – 10:30 Destination partners and coffee

10:30 – 10:45 Assessment introduction

10:45 – 11:30 Rubric inquiry

11:30 – 12:00 Rubric design

12:00 – 12:45 Lunch

12:45 – 1:20 Making rubrics

1:20 – 1:50 Formative assessment, feedback and learning plans

1:50 – 2:00 Curriculum Corner

2:00 – 2:10 Coffee

2:10 – 3:00 Work, Parking Lot and “Final go round”

ESSENTIAL QUESTION PRE-ASSESSMENT

In groups of four, consider the questions on your table and record your thoughts (15 minutes)

Whole group de-brief (10 minutes)

Transfer unanswered questions to the Parking Lot (5 minutes)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS:

KEY POINTSWhat is this subject all

about?

GOAL AREAS Compose and create -

expressive strand and includes speaking, representing and writing

Comprehend and respond – receptive strand and includes listening, viewing and reading

Assess and reflect – reflecting on self and others and setting goals for language learning

EMPHASIS In the C and C goal area, the greatest emphasis rests on the work students do before producing a product

In C and R, this emphasis shifts to the work students do during their interaction with texts

GOAL AREA CONNECTIONS Children demonstrate their learning and

understanding in the receptive strands (comprehend and respond) through expressive means (compose and create).

Example: I show I can comprehend what I read by talking about it, writing down my thoughts and representing myself through drawings, charts, diagrams, videos and so on.

Therefore: You cannot teach each goal area in isolation.

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

CONTEXTS Broaden and deepen students’ understanding of themselves, others, life and the world

Language learning happens within a context…we communicate and think about things -not as isolated skills

MINIMUM OF FIVE UNITS IN FIVE CONTEXTS

Five Contexts:1. Personal and Philosophical2. Social, cultural and historical3. Imaginative and literary4. Communicative5. Environmental and technological

TYPE OF UNIT NUMBER OF UNITS per YEAR

Multi-genre thematic 3 (minimum)

Multi-genre inquiry and/or interdisciplinary

1 (minimum)

Author or genre study 1 (maximum)

STUDENTS NEED OPPORTUNITIES TO:

Learn to use language

Learn about language Learn through language

What we do with students before, during and after engaging in a text will determine their growth, engagement and success.

WHAT IS A LEARNING STRATEGY? Learning strategies are the thoughts and

actions we engage in, consciously or not, to learn new information.

The goal of explicitly teaching learning strategies is to help students consciously and metacognitively focus on how they learn so they apply strategies before, during, and after engaging with texts across all subject areas. Students, over time, will develop skill in using multiple strategies which they can then independently apply to new and different situations.

SO HOW IS A LEARNING STRATEGY DIFFERENT FROM AN INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY?

Learning strategy Instructional strategy

Activating prior knowledge K-W-L

Anticipating author’s message Think-pair-share

Pausing, thinking and making notes

T-chart

Consider illustrations Picture walk

We must continually ask ourselves if our students are thinking and learning, and what we need to do differently in order to help them.

PLANNING SUPPORTS

Key elements

HOW DO THESE SUPPORTS HELP? Unit planner – 6 strands BDA charts – focus on learning

strategies, essential questions, enduring understandings and knowledge

Sorting documents – menu for tracking learning; tasks, strategies and criteria

DESTINATION PARTNERS

Find your destination partner sheet

Sign up four different people for your four different pairings

ASSESSMENTHow do we define

assessment and what tools should we use?

Find your Argentina partner.

Consider:What is authentic assessment?

Why do we assess?What do we assess?

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT Authentic assessment clearly assesses

the outcomes in a context that reflects the actual learning experience. In other words, we assess in the exact same way we have invited students to learn.

Authentic assessment also invites us to ask how students may come to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained and assess them based on that information.

ASSESSMENT PLAN An assessment plan clarifies the learning

destinations through establishing criteria. It clarifies how evidence of learning will be

collected – through products, observations and conversations.

An assessment plan is realized over the course of an entire unit and, ultimately, over the course of a year.

It aims to provide multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning.

It clarifies how students will be assessed formatively and summatively, how they will be offered feedback and how their progress will be reported.

IN THE NORTH EAST SCHOOL DIVISION WE BELIEVE:

that effective instruction depends on high quality assessment. Therefore, we expect all assessments to provide accurate and timely information about student achievement. Each assessment must adhere to standards of quality that all staff know and follow.

the primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. It is the expectation of the NESD that all assessments will be directly linked to specific student learning outcomes, use assessment methodology appropriate for the subject/grade level, and will allow for the effective communication of results.

 that assessment can serve as a powerful form of instruction. By involving students in the assessment and evaluation of their own achievement under direct supervision, teachers can use assessment and feedback to help students progress towards meeting the expected learning outcomes for each subject, at each grade level.

that a variety of assessment tools are considered appropriate for use within the NESD. Any ‘grade’ should include varied forms of assessment.

that a differentiated approach allows all students to be assessed on student learner outcomes in a manner that is appropriate to each individual.

that achievement and behavior should be assessed and reported separately.

TWO APPROACHES TO THINKING ABOUT ASSESSMENT

What would be sufficient and revealing evidence of understanding?

What are the different types of evidence I can use to assess student learning?

Against what criteria will I consider work and assess quality?

Did the assessments reveal and distinguish those who really understood from those who only seemed to? Do I know why mistakes were made?

What would be fun and interesting activities on this topic?

What projects might students want to do?

What tests should I give based on the content I taught?

How will I give students a mark and justify it to their parents?

How well did the activities work?

How did students do on the test?

Wiggins and McTighe (2005)

When thinking like an assessor, we ask…

When thinking like an activity (only) designer, we ask…

LOOKING AT RUBRICS Remain with your Argentina partner

and look at the four rubric samples provided.

All four rubrics were designed to assess the same task.

Consider:What task are these rubrics assessing?What values do these rubrics

communicate? What do they say is most important about this task?

STICKY NOTE BRAINSTORM5 MINUTES

Using the same rubrics, write down your observations, comments or questions about the rubrics provided.

Put one idea/ sticky note.

SHARING10 MINUTES

Join with another pair. Share your sticky notes with each other.

Sort sticky notes into general categories of commentary/ questions.

HERE’S WHAT/ SO WHAT/ NOW WHAT 10 MINUTES

Choose three and use the following prompts to reflect:

1) Here’s what we notice… 2) So what does this say

about rubrics/assessment/ learning, etc.? 3) Now what we propose is… Be prepared to share 5 minutes

CRITERIA Ask yourself:

What will students need to do in order to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required in this outcome?

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS How will I know how far and deep they

need to travel in their understanding?

What is the continuum of learning for this outcome? What will it look like?

How can I help myself and others come to understand how learning progresses?

TWO TYPES OF RUBRICS:

Holistic rubric – Provides an overall impression of a student’s work. These rubrics yield a single score or rating for a product or performance.

Analytic rubric – Divides a product or performance into distinct traits or dimensions and judges each separately.

COMPOSE AND CREATE Message – clear and specific Organization – coherent and

clear Ideas and information (grade four only) – complete and support message

Language and conventions – appropriate for audience and purpose

COMPREHEND AND RESPONDGrade four: Ideas and information – retell

and explain Text structures and features

– recognize and understand role in message

Respond to and interpret texts – using support and evidence

Grade five: Ideas and information –

understand, retell and explain Text structures and features – analyze

Respond to and analyze texts – support from text, personal experience and research

LINKING IT BACK TO CRITERIA

Sorting sheet Process/ Product connection

Holistic and analytical Example - Narrative

RUBRICS ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

By what criteria should performance be judged and discriminated?

Where should we look and what should we look for to judge performance success?

How should the different levels of quality, proficiency, or understanding be described and distinguished from one another?

How can learning continue?

REMEMBER:

Understanding is not yes or no; it is a matter of degree.

It is a continuum!

RUBRIC DESIGN

If possible, gather samples (written, video, photos, etc.) of student work

Brainstorm criteria based on outcomes Use samples to begin writing performance

indicators Start with the level you want all students to

reach (ex. a 3 on a 4 point rubric) Avoid numbers in performance indicators (ex. Is

able to list three out of four…) Test-drive the rubric on more student samples Field test the rubric with students (make sure

the language is student-friendly)

FOCUS ON LANGUAGE IN RUBRICS Keep descriptors positive - For example “Needs

editing” instead of “Many mistakes.” The first descriptor tells a student how to improve.

Formative rubrics should contain no numbers, just descriptors. Summative rubrics would contain numbers, and this may be the only difference between them.

Numbers are challenging because some students track for “just enough” instead of for success.

Avoid including criteria that measure adherence to directions of a task instead of mastery of the outcome (ex. Included title).

RUBRIC FOR NARRATIVE TEXT – GRADE 5

Great work! This is going extra well for you!

You did it and you did it on your own!

Good start. You are beginning to make sense of this on your own.

You can do it. Spend some extra time with the criteria and ask for help.

Mes

sage

/Mea

ning

Focus on central idea or topic

The topic for the narrative was established early on, was immediately engaging, and was developed skillfully throughout.

The topic for the narrative was established early on and developed clearly throughout.

The topic for the narrative was established but, at times, was lost in the story. More time should be spent in the ‘before’ stage, clarifying the intent of the narrative.

Despite assistance, the narrative’s topic was never fully developed and therefore, the message was lost. Much more time needs to be spent in the ‘before’ stage.

Develops a point of view

First person point of view was developed and maintained throughout the essay. The point of view added compelling relevance to the story.

First person point of view was developed and maintained throughout the essay. The point of view was convincing and relevant.

Some help is needed to develop a first person point of view which is maintained throughout the essay.

Much more attention needs to be given to considering and developing a point of view.

A Awareness of audience and purpose

The topic, language and organization are extremely well-suit to the intended audience and purpose. There is clear understanding of the reason for the narrative.

The topic and language and are appropriate for the audience and purpose.

There are aspects of the topic, language and/or organization that do not suit the audience and purpose. More time should be spent considering who will be reading the narrative and why the story is being told.

Despite assistance, there is clear difficulty with writing to match the audience and purpose. More clarification of criteria would help.

C AND R – VISUAL REPRESENTATION

Great work! This is going extra well for you!

You did it and you did it on your own!

Good start. You are beginning to make sense of this on your own.

You can do it. Spend some extra time with the criteria and ask for help.

Idea

s and

Info

rmati

on

Discuss purpose, point of view and biases

You had a deep understanding of how the purpose, point of view and biases have impacted the representation and can elaborate on your thinking.

You can clearly identify the purpose, point of view and any biases within the representation.

With some help, you were able to identify the purpose, point of view and any biases of the representation. Think a little more about how the reason for making the representation might have impacted the representation itself.

Why was this representation made? What was the point of view presented? Were there any biases in this representation? What is a bias and how might it look?

Identify underlying values

You showed a deep understanding of how values impacted the representation and were able to expand on your thinking.

You were able to see what values the creator might hold and how their values might impact their work.

With some help, you could see how the creator’s values might have impacted the representation. Spend a little more time learning about the creator and his/her beliefs.

What do you know about the person who created this representation? Can you see how what they value and may have affected their work?

Distinguish between fact and opinion

You have a clear understanding of fact and opinion and how the creator used them to convey a specific message.

You can clearly identify which aspects of the representation are fact and which are opinion.

With some help, you can tell which parts might be fact and which might be opinion. Make sure you know what fact and opinion are and how they might look in a representation.

What is a fact and what is an opinion? How can you tell which is which in a representation? Which did this creator use and why?

Text

str

uctu

res

and

feat

ures

Identify text structures and features

You have an in depth understanding of text structures and features used and how they impacted the viewers and the message.

You have a good understanding of the text structures and features used in the representation.

With some help, you were able to identify some structures and features used by the creator. Where can you learn more about text structures and features used in representations?

What are the parts of a representation? What helps to organize the message? What was used in this representation?

ASSESS AND REFLECT

Great work! This is going extra well for you!

You did it and you did it on your own!

Good start. You are beginning to make sense of this on your own.

You can do it. Spend some extra time with the criteria and ask for help.

Establish criteria Has an in depth understanding of the criteria and how they link to the work they are doing

Is able to state the criteria for the work they are doing independently

Needs a little help remembering some of the criteria. Make sure you know what is most important.

Is unable to state the criteria for this project on own. What is unique about this text form? What is the same as other text forms?

Identify successes

Has a specific understanding of own strengths and how they relate to the goals of the work they are doing

Is able to describe the things that went well

Needs a little help identifying some strengths. What went well for you? What did you find easy?

Is unable to recognize strengths on own

Set goals Goals are appropriate and specific and display an ability to reflect deeply on own strengths and challenges

Is able to set goals that link to strengths and challenges independently

Needs a little help setting goals that relate to the work they are doing; has trouble linking future work to current work

Is unable to set goals that are appropriate and specific; needs to spent much more time practicing reflection

Take steps toward goals by applying strategies

Has a clear and deep understanding of how to progress toward goals and enthusiastically does so

Is able identify steps needed to address goals and then take those steps

Needs help imagining how to address goals and showing movement toward goals. What areas need work?

Is unable to independently move toward goals. Think about the rubric for your work. Where do you need to improve and how can you do it?

Respond to feedback

Seeks feedback willingly and applies new information to the work they are doing; shows strong reflective practices and good listening skills

Approaches feedback with an open mind and a reflective manner; makes decisions about how to respond to feedback and apply it to the work they are doing

Is showing some skill in responding to feedback through reflection and good listening; needs a little help deciding how to apply feedback to work

Much help is needed in active listening and deciding how to apply feedback to work they are doing. What did you hear? How can you apply it?

MAKING A RUBRIC Find your Hawaii partner. Together, construct the criteria for

reading a narrative text rubric at your grade level.

Consider:How can our sorting documents

help us?How can our rubric supports help

us? Be prepared to share and discuss

SHARING What criteria are part of this task?

Where did you fit it on your rubric?

Does it matter if it is in the wrong spot?

FILLING IN THE GUTS

With your partner, choose one criterion and fill in the four levels (review if necessary)

COMPARECompare your new rubrics to the samples

you looked at in the beginning. How do we know what the criteria are for

a given task? Where do we get clarification about the

degree to which levels of understanding or skill are required (descriptors or performance standards on a rubric, for example)?

Were there aspects of the online rubrics that were appropriate according to our curriculum?

HIGHLIGHTING OUR TASK SHEET Look at the task sheet for reading a

narrative. Highlight in one colour those aspects that

made it onto the rubric. Somewhere on the sheet, list those things

that appear on the rubric that do not appear in some form on the task sheet.

HAWAII PARTNER With your Hawaii partner, reflect:What is the link between criteria and the task sheet?

Does everything on the rubric belong on the task sheet?

Does everything on the task sheet belong on the rubric?

UBD – LINKING ASSESSMENT TO

PLANNING

LINKING SUMMATIVE TO FORMATIVE AND FEEDBACK Find your France partner and

consider: How does determining the criteria assist in developing formative assessments and in giving students feedback?

What makes feedback most and least effective?

CONSIDER…

Timely and specific feedback is the greatest contributing factor to growth in learning and skills.

OUTCOMES TO CRITERIA TO LEARNING PLAN

With your Thailand partner, consider:How does determining the criteria clarify the Learning Plan?

CRITERIA AND TEACHING: THE ESSENTIAL LINK If we determine the destination before

embarking on the journey, we must ask ourselves how we can ensure every child makes the connecting flights. What skills do they need to do so (strategies)?

It is our job to explicitly TEACH the understanding embedded in the criteria and invite children to reflect on how they are learning in addition to what they are learning.

Task #2 Goal: Comprehend & Respond: READI NG, listening Compose & Create: WRI TI NG Assess & Reflect Essential Questions: What makes poetry fun to read? What are some of the f eatures of poetry? Why is poetry a unique way to express you?

1. BEFORE: Use following questions as prompt f or journal writing entry: a) How many times have you been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Make a list of ten possible answers-real or f unny.

b) Think of a poem or a rhyme that you can say off by heart. Write it down and explain why you remember it. c) What do you think about poetry? Explain why you f eel the way you do. 2. DURI NG: Read, “When I Grow Up” f or enjoyment. On second

reading, identif y message. (Reader response: Personal/ Critical thinking) Read a third time and listen f or rhyme scheme to identif y pattern of rhyme (couplets).

3. AFTER: Discuss how rhyme pattern adds to the enjoyment of text and distinguishes the writing f orm. Consider how rhyme links to memory. Think of nursery rhymes you can say off by heart. I dentif y other f eatures of poetry (expresses strong f eelings/ emotions; figurative language; concise, takes grammatical liberties to reflect message, can be humorous, etc.)

4. AFTER: Experiment with rhyming words. 5. AFTER: Brainstorm some of the challenges of growing up. What

changes and challenges are you f acing? What are some of the pros and cons of getting older? What are some of the challenges you will f ace in the f uture? Experiment with rhyming couplets, to express some of the issues that come with growing up. Develop these ideas into a poem. Self reflect on poetry writing. (see attachment)

Other Poetry/ Song Selections

“Yesterday” (Cornerstone) “Moths and Moons” (Collections: Looking for Answers)

“I Want to Be” (Collections: Looking f or Answers) “Sunrise, Sunset” (Fiddler on the Roof )

“Cats in the Cradle” (Harry Chapin) “I Will Take Care of You” (Amy Skye)

“Butterfly Kisses” (Bob Carlisle)

CURRICULUM CORNER

Where can I find things?

Model units?

WORK TIME

CHOICES CHOICES! Develop and link tasks Sort “Whats” into Unit/Year plans and identify contexts, unit types, and Big Ideas

Develop assessments with criteria

Develop Learning Plans for units

CLARIFYING AND CELEBRATING

Parking lotBurning questionsSharing our work – here and now and later on…

FINAL “GO ROUND” I now have a deeper understanding of…

I am pleased that I… From here, I can…

SAFE TRAVELS EVERYONE!!