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Check out our stories and add your own to the next volume.
Time to twist the Common Core State Standards
binoculars to focus on Academic Conversations.
The goal is to guide students to discuss learning beyond mere
statement of fact, identification, or detail. Take new knowledge out for a spin. Savor learning. Poke it. Prod it. Turn it over. Examine it for faults.
Challenge it. Connect it to previous knowledge bobbing just beneath the surface
of their gray matter. Prove it with evidence. Seek clarification. Synthesize.
Academic Conversations occur teacher to student, and
more importantly student to student. They travel though layers of intensity
known as DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE (DOK) levels.
Four levels of Depth of Knowledge have settled into place. They are based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, a hierarchy of
knowledge retention.
Using the concept of the water cycle, here’s an
oversimplified example of student knowledge traveling through the DOK levels.
DOK Level 1: Identification
What are the stages of the water cycle?
Evaporation – Condensation – Precipitation – Run Off
DOK Level 2: Exploration/Explanation
Discuss the cause and effect relationships in the
water cycle.
The addition or removal of heat will cause the water
to shift into different physical states. For example: Sunlight heats water
droplets causing them to change from liquid to gas.
DOK Level 3: Shift in Perspective
If you look closer at the water cycle, what else do
you see?
The speed in which molecules move and their density changes based
on the physical state of the water. Higher temperatures cause water molecules
to move faster.
DOK Level 4: Application of Knowledge
How can you connect your knowledge of the water cycle
to other concepts?
All elements have freezing and boiling points. The
water cycle exists in storms. - And of course they would explain in detail - create a project/presentation to illustrate their knowledge.
Students must be explicitly taught how to “think”
through these levels. My socks have been knocked off by my fifth graders as I
see them engaging in these sorts of academic conversations WITHOUT my intervention.
My students have prompt sheets to guide them through the
DOK levels. Depending on the concept I will set the expectation of which DOK levels their conversation is required to cover.
The following links are from the Stanislaus County Department
of Education. The first is an OVERVIEW of DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE as applied to
different curricular areas. The second are DOK QUESTION STEMS for academic conversations.
Here are some middle school students taking you though one application of depth of knowledge. I promise it's short.
This is the kingdom of problem solving techniques. The practices are consistent across grade levels. The italics are my "translations."
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
Stick it out through all the steps in a mathematically sound way.
Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
Use number sense, picture sense, charts and graphs.
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Explain WHY and HOW you or someone else came to an answer.
Model with mathematics.
Equations, expressions, proofs
Use appropriate tools strategically
Technology
Attend to precision.
Don't panic - be systematic
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. Patterns/Connections
CONTENT STANDARDS
Here are the strands for fifth grade. Strands may vary at different grade levels, especially in the early grades or when you cross over into middle school and beyond.
This is where I am doing the happy dance. Have you ever tried to teach a ten-year-old to calculate the surface area of a rectangular solid with fractions and decimals, or to subtract negative integers in several permutations? It's no picnic. With Common Core the shift in concepts (pushing more difficult ones to older grades) is more in line with my students' developmental abilities.
Operations and Algebraic Thinking - OA
Expressions, Equations, Prime Factorization, Order of Operations, Input/Output Boxes
Number and Operations in Base Ten - NBT
Whole number and decimal operations, Place Values
Number and Operations - Fractions - NF
Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Measurement and Data - MD
Charts and Graphs, Volume
Geometry - G
Two dimensional figures, The Coordinate Plane
Freak Out Alert -
Many of my colleagues in the primary grades are concerned about the heightened expectations, especially in problem solving for the younger kiddos.
Double Freak Out Alert -
During the transition to Common Core, we teachers have to figure out where to fill gaps that may occur between grade levels to make sure students are ready to tackle certain concepts.
Yes, it is going to be boatloads of additional work for we underpaid and overworked educators as we transition to Common Core.
Is it worth it?
I think so.
This link chats about the technology tie in to Common Core. Scroll down to Page 2 for the quick list. Digital Literacy
This week's video is a speedy fly-by of Mathematical Practices.
Welcome to the second installment of wrapping our heads around the Common Core State Standards. I'm going to aim binoculars at the English Language Arts - ELA- standards this week.
Below are the 6 ELA standard strands and a few examples of what fall under each. A key factor in Common Core State Standards is added academic rigor for the students. Please know, my scant examples do not do the complexity of each strand justice.
If you are itching for more detail - you can go to your state's Department of Education website and they will have a Common Core Standards link with a plethora of information.
And now - English Language Arts...
Reading Literature
Structure of literary forms (fiction, drama, poetry), figurative language, themes, tone, author's purpose, comprehension, inferencing, quoting accurately from a source
Reading Informational Text
Structure of non-fiction texts, comparing sources across media for relevancy, extracting information, judging with criteria, proving with evidence, comprehension, drawing conclusions, citation of resources
Speaking and Listening
Oral presentations, cooperative group strategies such as negotiation and task completion, academic conversations (I will be focusing on these in a future post)
Writing
Application of learning from both Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text standards, purposes for writing, writing across forms such as narrative/informational/opinion pieces, use of multi-media to express ideas and information
Language
Conventions of language, grammar, punctuation, parts of speech, etc.
Reading Foundational Skills
Phonics, decoding, syllabication, morphology
BUT WHERE ARE SCIENCE, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND TECHNOLOGY?
In grade K-5, they are embedded within the ELA strands.
This weeks video is a quick overview of the purpose and benefits of national standards. And the doodler in me loves the graphic style of the presentation.
This is the link I share with the parents in my class. Don't be put off by the length of the PDF. Each slide is a mini-poster of info. not a barrage of headache-inducing verbiage.
Question from last week:
Are standardized tests going away?
The style of the test is changing. It will be online and include both individual and group tasks/assessments. I will focus on this topic in a future post.
Next week: Common Core Math Standards and Practices
It's time for me to hop into the national conversation (or should I say "freak out") on the Common Core Standards.
*Dons 5th Grade Teacher Hat*
This will be first in a series of bite-sized posts that will hopefully demystify the Common Core Standards.
There are a lot of statements and opinions flying around out there. Let me be clear that I believe the Common Core Standards are a gift to our students.
What are the Common Core Standards?
Simply stated, they are a set of learning objectives/goals that have been agreed upon by a consortium of 46 states so far to create an equity of educational focus across the country.
A small portion of the Common Core Standards will remain state specific. Each state will decide on that piece for themselves.
Why do we need the Common Core Standards?
We need to refocus education for 21st Century learners. We not only need to teach kids what to think in order to pass an annual standardized test, but HOW to arrive at information, and judge its relevance.
Simply put: Instead of list or name something - prove with evidence your knowledge of...
Research - Question - Judge With Criteria - Extend - Apply
(News Flash: Effective teachers have been doing this since education began.)
Higher education and the workplace have become environments of think tanks, collective problem solving, and technological savvy.
We owe it to our children to prepare them for the rigors of this reality.
Standardized testing HAS NOT been an effective measurement of the capabilities necessary for future success on the world stage.
Here's a funny commentary on why implementing the Common Core Standards is the way to go for our kids.
I'd love to hear from you. If you have any questions about The Common Core Standards, pop them in the comments and I will do my best to address them during this series.
I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE it when talented storytellers like Julie Musil let their stories take flight on the indie winds. You will want to stay tuned for her launch date.
THE BOY WHO LOVED FIRE is a gripping story.
A story as riveting as this one is deserves an equally riveting cover.
Mission accomplished.
Genre: Contemporary YA with a splash of ghosts
Manny O’Donnell revels in his status at the top
of his high school food chain. He and his friends party in the mountains on a
blustery night, sharing liquor and lame ghost stories around a campfire. The
next morning, as a wild fire rages in those same mountains, Manny experiences
doubt. He was the last of the drunken crew to leave the cave, and he’s
uncertain if he extinguished the flames. Within hours, he becomes the number
one arson suspect.
Santa Ana winds + matches = disaster. You’d
think he would've learned that the first time he started a fire.
As he evades a determined arson investigator,
Manny, a modern-day Scrooge, is visited by ghosts of the past, present, and
future. He’s forced to witness the fate of his inadvertent victims, including
Abigail, the scarred beauty who softens his heart. Manny must choose between
turning around his callous, self-centered attitude, or protecting his own skin
at the expense of anyone who gets in his way.
Julie Musil is the author of YA fiction.
As the mother of three teen boys, she’s immersed in teen speak, drama, and gym
socks. She loves to chat--just ask her Super Supportive Hubby, the guy with the
glazed eyes. Connect with Julie on Facebook, Twitter, or her blog.
You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop,
The Scieszka Zone
Where else can a math cursed kid put two halves together and escape through a hole in the wall?
Where else can the Big Bad Wolf plead his case?
Where else can a cowboy crack up about a head of lettuce?
Where else can Chicken Licken seek an audience with Obama?
Nothing tops a roomful of giggling kids. That is why I start every school year sharing the witty and hilarious words of Jon Scieszka with my class. The crazy-perfect illustrations of Lane Smith enhance the laughter even more. Their stories are every bit as guffaw-inducing for adults as they are for the kids.
Mr. Scieszka has my undying admiration for his literacy program and website called GUYS READ. Here's the mission statement:
Welcome to Guys Read, a web-based literacy program for boys founded by author and First National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. Our mission is to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.
The GUYS READ website is a wealth of information and resources to get our boys reading. Through it I discovered middle grade gold such as the Time Warp Trio,
Guys Read Anthologies,
and the Spaceheadz online interactive series
that have transformed some of my most reluctant male (and female) readers into potential bookworms.
Jon Scieszka has clocked time as a teacher in the elementary school trenches and he proves over and over his special magic for communicating with kids. As a teacher I appreciate everything Scieszka for the teachable moments the works provide above and beyond engaging kids with their perfectly pitched humor.
MATH CURSE – Introduces the Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 (Have you cracked the code?) as well as empathizing with students about the mind boggling math concepts they have to conquer each new school year.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS – Is an approachable and entertaining example of teaching voice and point of view.
COWBOY AND OCTOPUS – Is Diversity 101. The relationship and tolerance between these two unlikely amigos exemplifies the joy of putting differences aside and being friends with someone unexpected.
THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES – Besides the perk of getting to say “stupid” for the guaranteed laugh, these quick spins on traditional tales are ripe for teaching the elements of a story.
Thank you Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for all the lesson plan blanks you’ve filled in for me, and above all else, for making kids crave books.
SCBWI-LA 2013 Conference - Scieszka and Rose
What could be cooler than meeting one of your heroes in person and seeing they are as amazing as you always dreamed they'd be?
Answer: Nothing.
Look for the signpost up ahead – your next stop,
The Scieszka Zone
*The Twilight Zone introduction is written by Rod Serling.
