Classroom Instruction That Works Nine Best Practices to Improve Student Achievement

How well do the reading strategies discussed in this course reflect Marzano’s nine best practices that raise student achievement?

Finding Similarities and Differences The brain seeks patterns, connections, and relationships between and among prior and new learning The ability to break a concept into its similar and dissimilar characteristics allows students to understand and often solve complex problems by analyzing them in a more simple way

Finding similarities and differences can increase student achievement by 45% Compare Classify Create metaphors and analogies

Research Findings Guidance in identifying similarities and differences enhances students' understanding of and ability to use knowledge. Independently identifying similarities and differences enhances students' understanding of and the ability to use knowledge. Representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form enhances students' understanding of and ability to use knowledge.

Graphic Organizers for Similarities and Differences Work www.graphic.org/goindex.html http://www.edhelper.com/teachers/graphic_or ganizers.htm

Summarizing and Note Taking increases student achievement by 34% These skills promote greater comprehension by asking students to analyze a subject to expose what’s essential and then put it into their own words. Research shows that taking more notes is better than fewer notes, though verbatim note taking is ineffective because it does not allow time for processing the information.

Summarizing and Note Taking To effectively summarize, students must delete some information, substitute some information, and keep some information. To effectively delete, substitute, and keep information, students must analyze the information thoroughly. Being aware of the explicit structure of information is an aid to summarizing information.

Summarizing and Note taking Teach students how to process information for their own note taking. Use a variety of organizers to assist students who learn visually.

Tools for Summarizing and Note Taking http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6- 12/Tools/Index.htm - 50 tools to be used to help students engage in rigorous thinking, organize complex ideas, and scaffold their interactions with texts.

10-2 Strategy For every ten minutes of new learning provide students two minutes to process the new learning. Research shows that you can either pay attention or make meaning. So time to process is essential to transfer learning to long term memory. Take two minutes and reflect on how summarizing and note taking are integral to enhancing reading comprehension.

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition increases student achievement by 29% Teachers must make the connection between effort and achievement. Research shows that although not all students realize the importance of effort, they can learn to change their beliefs to emphasize effort

Recommendations for Providing Recognition Establish a rationale - explain to students you will recognize them when they have achieved an identified level of performance, but recognition is not automatic. Students also need to understand that they have not failed if they do not receive recognition.

What are characteristics of Effective Praise? Example Three: “You really did a good job reading through all of the steps before beginning the assignment. I know you’ve had difficulties with multistep calculations before and sometimes settled for getting any answer down on paper, even if it wasn’t correct. Your determination with this task really shows.” What characteristics make this praise the most effective?

Effective Praise Specifies the particulars of the accomplishment Provides information to students about their competence or the value of their accomplishments Is given in recognition of noteworthy effort or success at difficult tasks Attributes success to effort and ability

Assigning Homework and Practice increases student achievement by 28% Homework provides students with the opportunity to extend learning outside the classroom. Research shows that the amount of homework assigned should vary by grade level and have minimal parent involvement. Parent involvement should include facilitating the process but not solving problems for their children.

Homework and Practice Establish a homework policy with advice - such as keeping a consistent schedule, setting, and time limit. Communicate the purpose of homework, if students know why they are doing an assignment it won’t seem like busy work - practice to increase their speed at reducing fractions, accessing prior knowledge for tomorrow’s introduction to the Civil War, extending what they have learned about food webs

Using Cooperative Learning Increases Student Achievement by 27% Research shows that organizing students into cooperative groups yields a positive effect on overall learning.

Design group work around the core components of cooperative learning Positive interdependence - Sense of sink or swim together Group processing - Reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function better Interpersonal and small group skills - Communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution Face-to-face interactions - Helping each other learn, applauding success and efforts Individual and group accountability - Each of us has to contribute to the group achieving its goals

Generating Nonlinguistic Representations Increases student achievement by 27% Research says that knowledge is stored in two forms: linguistic (in ways associated with words) and nonlinguistic (mental pictures or even physical sensations like smell, touch, kinesthetic association or sound) The more we can use nonlinguistic representations while learning, the better we can think about and recall our knowledge

Examples of Non Linguistic Representation A variety of activities to produce nonlinguistic representations should be used. Creating graphic representations Making physical models Generating mental pictures Drawing pictures and pictographs Engaging in kinesthetic activities

Reflection What new graphic organizer will you use with your students? How will you eventually release the responsibility to them to use the strategy? How does non linguistic representation support the understanding of the student you are following?

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback Increases student achievement by 23% Instructional goals narrow what students focus on Setting objectives provides students with a direction for their learning. When written in the form of a question, the brain makes easier connections to store in memory. Research shows that feedback generally produces positive results. It should be corrective in nature with respect to the specific levels expected, timely, and specific..

Setting Objectives Objective: Set objectives that are not too specific (i.e., Understand how topography influences the way people live and the extent to which they must depend on others. Written as a Question: How does where people live influence how they live? Personalize objectives - Students should be encouraged to personalize the teacher’s goals adapting them to their personal needs and desires. Communicate objectives - How do you use objectives as a pre and post test? How do you use objectives on a daily basis?

Providing Feedback Feedback should be corrective in nature. The best feedback shows students what is accurate and what is not. Asking students to keep working on a task until they succeed appears to enhance student achievement.

Providing Feedback Feedback should be timely. The larger the delay in giving feedback, the less improvement one will see. Feedback should be specific to a criterion, telling students where they stand relative to a specific target of knowledge or skill.

Providing Feedback Students can effectively provide some of their own feedback. In fact, non-authoritative feedback produces the most gain. What are ways your students provide feedback to one another before, during, and after reading?

Generating and Testing Hypotheses Increases student achievement by 23% “Knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do” is how Piaget defined intelligent behavior. When students generate and test hypotheses they are applying knowledge. Teachers can keep student engaged with problems, puzzles, and riddles by using open ended examples. By considering several courses of action, the mind is exercised and the learner engaged.

Analyzing Systems Students study many systems across the disciplines, weather, government, ecosystems, etc. One way to enhance and exercise student understanding of these systems is to ask them to generate hypotheses that predict what might happen if a certain aspect of that system changes. Example: How would our government differ if the legislative branch were no longer a part of the system? What is an example you have tried?

Problem Solving Problem solving is about finding the best solution, not just any solution. Problem solving of unstructured problems - those that do not have clearly defined goals and usually have more than one solution- are the kinds of problems we find in everyday life. Example: Ask students to build something using limited resources. This will generate questions and hypotheses about what may work or not work. What problems have your students had to engage in solving?

Model for Problem Solving 1. Identify the goal you are trying to accomplish 2. Describe the barriers or constraints that are preventing you from achieving your goal - that are creating the problem 3. Identify different solutions for overcoming the barriers and hypothesize which solution is likely to be the most effective. 4. Try the solution - in reality or simulation 5. Explain whether your hypothesis was correct. Determine if you need to test another hypothesis using a different solution.

Other ways to Generate and Test Hypotheses Historical Investigation - What really happened? Why did this happen? Collecting evidence is the most important part. Experimental Inquiry -describe observations, generate explanations, make predictions, and test them Invention - Shouldn’t there be a better way to. . .

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers Increases student achievement by 22% Cues, questions and advance organizers help students use what they already know about a topic to enhance further learning. These tools should be analytical, focus on what is important, are most effective before a learning experience.

How can using cues, questions, and advance organizers enhance connections students make? Pause briefly after asking a question. Doing so will increase the depth of your students’ answers Vary the style of advance organizer used: Tell a story, skim a text, or create a visual image.

Prelearning Strategies Discuss Predict Question Brainstorm Create a Graphic Organizer Set Purpose

Anticipation-Reaction Guide Focusing Important Information Purpose is to establish a purpose for reading, access prior knowledge, and help students reframe their thinking as necessary Prepare a series of statements important to the reading Before reading, have students indicate T or F Have students read selection or watch video or demo After reading have students answer same questions again Have students discuss where they found the information that changed their thinking