Make It Happen Power of Communication

It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question. -- Eugene Ionesco DecouvertesEugene Ionesco Decouvertes

Faculty Meeting Focus “The Power of Communication” Developing student communication skills to build student proficiency/mastery through... Reading-Writing in Content Areas Student Talk – Discourse and Analysis Explicit Reading Comprehension Instruction: Before, During and After (BDA) Focusing on the learner through ongoing assessment Character Education: Building the Community

Faculty Meeting October 18, 2007 Content Literacy/Assessment/Questioning Focus Question: How do we assess students “for learning?” How can our use of questioning as a literacy strategy inform our practice and improve student achievement? What is the purpose of assessing students on a consistent basis? Key Terms: Initiating – Constructing – Utilizing (I-C-U) Formative Assessment Questioning

Attention to Process: InitiatingConstructing Utilizing Reading Set a Purpose Preview and Predict Activate Schema Build Background Identify text structure Writing without Composing Ideas Organization Lists, Brainstorming, Graphically organizing, vocabulary reviews Reading Reflect Reread Summarize Assess Writing to Demonstrate Learning Conventions Assessment Essays, reports, research papers, formal letters, expository/narrative /creative writing Reading Predict Read with Purpose Make Connections Question Code text Visualize Clarify Writing to Learn Voice Choice Word Choice Sentence Fluency Quick writes, journals, rough drafts, content notes, post-it notes

Professional Learning Community Three Critical Questions 1.What do we want each student to learn? 2.How will we know when each student has learned it? 3.How will we respond when a student experiences difficulty in learning?

Teaching Reading Comprehension Focus Questioning: The Strategy that Propels Readers Forward

Nurture Wonder and Promote Questioning Hold class wide discussions Read aloud and Think aloud Code Text Identify burning questions Play question games Institute a question of the day Read newspapers and magazines

Sincerity vs. Assessment Sincere Questions Questions we don’t know the answers to Questions we ponder and wonder about Questions that require further research by both teacher and student Assessment Questions Questions we know the answers to Questions we ask in order to check or monitor our students

Classroom Practice in Cues and Questions Explicit Cues Questions that Elicit Inferences Analytic Questions Straight forward ways of activating prior knowledge Objectives and Essential Questions Formulating questions to guide students to a deeper understanding of the topic being studied. Create higher level questions that guide students’ ability to analyze and critique information

Questions that Check Inferential Comprehension

Putting Questioning into Practice Read the nonfiction selection Utilize the Question Cues from Bloom’s Taxonomy to create three questions about the text –1. Knowledge or Comprehension (Right There/Literal) –2. Application or Analysis (Think and Search/Inferential) –3. Synthesis or Evaluation (On My Own/Evaluative) Be prepared to share

Assessment –Constant questioning to check for understanding Determine the attributes of good performance –look at teacher-supplied anonymous samples Use scoring guides to evaluate real work samples –start w/one criterion and expand Revise anonymous work samples –outline improvement Create practice tests –identify learning targets and essential concepts Communicate with others about their growth –when they are nearing success Chappuis and Stiggins, “Classroom Assessment for Learning”

Faculty Meeting October 18, 2007 Content Literacy/Assessment/Questioning Focus Question: How do we assess students “for learning?” How can our use of questioning as a literacy strategy inform our practice and improve student achievement? What is the purpose of assessing students on a consistent basis? Key Terms: Initiating – Constructing – Utilizing (I-C-U) Formative Assessment Questioning