Selma Unified School District Department of Curriculum and Instruction Kindergarten Release Day Day 2 February 10, 2011

Welcome Norms The Big Picture: Switch in agenda Goals for this session

Selecting Essential Standards in Selma Unified School District “All Standards are not Created Equal”

How Do Each of Us Choose What is Essential to Teach? Who among you has ever been able to teach and assess all the standards and indicators for which you are responsible? So how do you decide which standards are the important ones to teach and assess? Do we all use the same selection criteria?

“In absence of an agreed-upon set of criteria for prioritizing the standards and indicators, educators will, out of necessity, make up their own.” - Power Standards: Identifying the Standards that Matter the Most, Larry Ainsworth, 2003

Goal - Moving From This Model… State Standards District Curriculum Frantic Coverage of Every Test Objective

To This Model State Standards Potential Curriculum & Test Objectives Focused Curriculum & Assessments Essential Standards

What are Essential Standards? Essential Standards are the agreed upon standards that have endurance, leverage and develop readiness for the next grade level.

Criteria for Selecting an Essential Standard Endurance – Will this standard provide students with knowledge and skills of value beyond a single test date? Leverage – Will proficiency in this standard help the student in other areas of the curriculum and other academic disciplines? Develop readiness for next level of learning – Is it essential for success in the next unit, course or grade level?

Why Are Essential Standards Important? “By focusing on essential skills, teachers prepare students for 80% to 90% of the content that will be addressed on state tests.” (Doug Reeves, 2002)

How Many Essential Standards? “We recommend that teams start by identifying 8 to 10 most essential outcomes students will be expected to achieve in the subject area for that semester (trimester).” (DuFour, 2006)

Clarifying What Students Must Learn The essential learning must be aligned with state and district curriculum guides. The essential learning must ensure students are well-prepared to demonstrate proficiency on state, district and national assessments. DuFour, 2006

Directions for Activity Each group has been assigned a strand of the ELA content standards. Step One: Using the criteria of endurance, leverage and developing readiness, classify each standard as either a primary or secondary standard. -Resources provided include: Standards At A Glance Grade level ELA standards Individual standard cards Group poster

Criteria for Selecting an Essential Standard Endurance – will this standard provide students with knowledge and skills of value beyond a single test date? Leverage – will proficiency in this standard help the student in other areas of the curriculum and other academic disciplines? Develop readiness for next level of learning – is it essential for success in the next unit, course or grade level?

Directions for Activity Step Two: With your group go to one of the other strand posters to review and provide input. If you have questions or think there should be a change, please use a sticky note to record and post your ideas. - Please don’t move the standards that have been classified already by the group. - You will be signaled when it is time to move to the next poster. - If your group agrees with something recorded on a sticky note by another group, please place a check mark on the same note.

Next Steps Each site will provide teacher representation for a districtwide vertical articulation team. Team will meet after contract hours (supplemental pay) to look for gaps, overlaps, and omissions in first draft of essential standards. Team will also look for the correlation to CST/CELDT/CAHSEE/Common Core Standards and make any revisions. Second draft for current grade, grade above, and grade below will be shared at Day 3 of WTA.

District Priorities Daily time for writing in classrooms (WTA) Small group reading instruction use of DRA2 as Summative Assessment Use of Running Records as Formative Assessment Math

Summative vs Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Culmination Assesses student mastery of what was taught/learned DRA: Mastery level: 94%+ with Independent level comprehension. Formative Assessment On-going Diagnostic May be performance based Used to drive instruction Guided Reading: Running Records: Instructional level, %

Running Record Training Debbie Jura Selma Unified School District “If Running Records are taken in a systematic way they provide evidence of how well children are learning to direct their knowledge of letters, sounds, and words to understanding the messages in the text.” Marie Clay, 2002

Table Talk How comfortable are you with taking and analyzing Running Records? What is your experience with Running Records? How often do you use them? How often do you fully analyze the MSV section of the Running Record? How do you use them?

Binder Overview Marie Clay’s book Purposes Conventions Calculations charts Blank running records Guidelines for what to teach next

Purposes of the Running Record Formative Assessment To help in the placement of children To decide what text is appropriate To capture reading behavior To keep a record of change over time To help make critical decisions about an individual student

Having taken a running record the teacher can review……. 1.What happened, what the student used to read the text, leading to a praise and teaching point during the lesson. 2. Strategies used and neglected to plan for the next lesson (ZPD). 3. How well the student is putting it all together to develop a self extending system.

Remember… “Taking Running Records should be as relaxed as sharing a book with a child. Teachers who have practiced with a wide variety of children and are at ease in taking Running Records will be the teachers who get the most informative records and will make the fairest interpretations.” Marie Clay, 2002

Steps In Taking a Running Record 1) Conventions or “ticking” 2) Calculating accuracy 3) Calculating Error rate 4) Calculating Self Correction rate 5) Praise points and teaching points 6) Analysis of m/s/v 7) Planning what’s next

Some basic information… Running Records allow for a standard way of recording A Running Record does not require a special form for recording errors. Mark each word in a line of text. Record all trails by the child Wrong response: CHILD text/teacher response

Let’s Practice The Conventions and Calculate the Rate!!

Break Please return in 15 mins.

What is an Error Words left out Words added Tolds Multiple attempts by the child =1 error Contractions I will SC’s are NOT scored as an ERROR Always calculate to the least number of errors.

Calculating rates Count the words read from the text, omitting titles. (A minimum of 100 is best) Total the number of errors Divide words read 77 =18 1:18=94% errors 4 Use the conversion chart to find rates for accuracy, errors, and self corrections. SC + E = 2+4 =3 SC 2

Discussion/Questions/Challenges Talk at your table about your experiences. Were there any surprises? Challenges?

Analysis of the Running Record Reader’s of text appear to make decisions about the quality of the message they are getting. One theory is that they are recalling or attacking words. Another theory is that the student is working to get the best fit possible with the limited knowledge he has. It is the last theory that guides teacher decision making. ( Marie Clay, Running Records For Classroom Teachers)

3Cueing Systems Meaning StructureVisual

Steps 1. Analyze errors for m,s,v. 2. Read up to and including the error. Ask yourself: does that make sense? 3. Read up to and including the error.Ask yourself: Does that sound right? (Correct English grammar) 4. Read up to and including the error. Ask yourself: Does it look like the word in the text? Is there visual similarity? 5. Look at the sc’s and ask “What further information did the student use to correct the error?

Steps continued 5. Total all the columns. 6. Decide which cues the child used and which he/she neglected. 7. What did the child do well? 8. Determine what’s next for this child? What does he/she need to learn to do?

Let’s Practice Select one of the Running Records. Calculate all missing information Fully analyze the m, s, v’s and the sc’s. Find what the child used and neglected. What would your praise point be? What’s next for this child?

YOU DID IT!! Remember practice is the only way to become proficient. You should take at least 1 running record daily. (Focus student) Don’t over think any one error. You are looking for a pattern. In the future, the District goal is that you will have a minimum of 2 fully analyzed running records for each student below grade level.

Writing To Achieve “Writer’s don’t improve their craft unless they have a real purpose, a real audience, and a real investment in their writing.” Mem Fox

Goals 1. Share results: What do you need to do to get 80% prof. or advanced by the end of the year? 2. Clarify expectations for descriptive writing 3. Share best practices

Kindergarten Trimester 1 Results (1/2 of students are EL students) All StudentsEL students Pro/Adv31%26% Basic46%48% BB/FBB23%26%

Descriptive Writing Defined Trimester 2: describing a person. We are looking for the use of adjectives. Size, shape, number, color, texture, etc. Trimester 3: describing a food using sensory description. We are looking for how the food looks, taste, feels, sounds, smells, etc. Describing the food.

Lunch Please return in 1 hour

Sharing Ideas You will have 5-10 minutes to share your sites best practice for teaching descriptive writing. I will be timing you! Indianola, Washington, Wilson,Jackson, Roosevelt, Garfield, Terry.

ESGI Opportunity ESGI is a computer based assessment of letters, sounds, sight words and more. Teacher created. Saves time Students enjoy testing Customizable Many support materials created for you: parent letters in Spanish and English, Intervention materials by student and more. to sign up, free. Let me know if you are interested in piloting.

Closure Fill out the evaluation form by completing the following stems.. 1. I learned… 2. I wish… 3. I need…. Thanks for today. It is always a pleasure to be with you. Mark your calendar for our next date: Kindergarten: April 7, 2011