Interactive Bulletin Boards & Unit Design Opinion Research and Writing Jarred Winebarger Summer Institute

Success Criteria “Success criteria are the ingredients of the learning objective… (they) have a major impact on both teaching and learning, but mainly in equipping pupils with the tools to be able to self- and peer-assess.” ~Shirley Clarke Active Learning Through Formative Assessment (p.92)

Success Criteria… (p. 92 continued)  “Need to be known by teacher first  Should be the same for all students  Are generated by students  Are used across curriculum (not just before a formal unit)  Need to be constantly referred to by students (checklist)  One success criterion can be used as the focus for a lesson, broken down into further success criteria  Need to be part of a bigger picture in defining quality”

Sample Analysis WR News:  The Clash Over Cash (Fundraising)  H2O To Go (Bottled Water)  Log Off? (Computer Time)  Pop Quiz (Grade Levels)  Science or Sit-Ups? (Exercise in the Classroom)

Complete the stem using two reasons to support your opinion. Article Title: ______________________________ I agree with ____________________ because: 1.________________________________________ 2.________________________________________

Success Criteria  What made these samples successful?  What are the samples missing that we need to consider?

Sample Analysis  Next school year, I plan on using my student samples from this year for my sample analysis.

Standards-Based Grading

Pre-Assessment  We begin by interpreting the main writing standard. This helps to lay the foundation of what our unit focus will be.  I am learning to use my point of view with reasons to share my opinion. (W.4.1)

I am learning to use what I know and what I learn to support what I think using details.

Pre-Assessment Continued  Next, we echo each “sub-standard,” one by one, focusing on the important vocabulary we need to understand in order to meet that standard. Students will write their own interpretation of that standard on their pre-assessments.  I am learning to introduce a topic clearly.

Pre-Assessment Continued  Finally, students will rank themselves 0-3 according to how well they think they understand the standard.  0 (no understanding)  1 (“I think I may know, but I am unsure.”)  2 (“I have a good idea, but I need some help from a peer or teacher.”)  3 (“I am confident I understand the standard, and I can show my understanding without assistance.”)

Learning Log  Success Criteria: Subtitle  The subtitle of an opinion writing asks a question and identifies the main idea. (Refer to and analyze WR News opinion article subtitles.)

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kid Act of 2010 “Let’s analyze the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kid Act of 2010 so that we can develop a question together as a class that will allow us to share our opinion about this new law.” (Divide and Conquer - Team Stand and Share (Kagan) - Jigsaw)

Research T-Charts Students then create basic t-charts for their research in their journals, one t-chart for every article or news story we watch. The left side is titled “Agree” and the right, “Disagree.” Students are then instructed to bullet information on both sides of the t-chart. (Students are already familiar with taking notes using bullets from previous research units. I re-model the process with the first article to refresh this process.)

Uproar Over School Lunches - ABC News - Jim Avila  Article Search : (Find current news articles from actual newspapers on your kids Lexile/grade level!) 

Post-It Note Research “Now, choose a side and answer our subtitle question. Then, go back and revisit your research (t-charts) to identify reasons that support your thinking. Write these reasons on your pink post-its. *Be sure to write down the title of the article/video, author/reporter, publication/news station, and date on the back of your post-it.”

Organizing Post-Its Students then order all of the post-its before writing their first draft.

EXPLO! What next? I want my students to select meaningful topics independently from which to support an opinion.

Classroom Website:  Creating a database for opinion research and writing. 