Content Area Centers....with embedded ELA practice!

While at Teachers College back in February, I learned about content area centers for middle schoolers and fell in love with the idea. For those of you who have been teaching primary grades, centers are not new for you. But when my learning happened the examples I was provided all had to do with middle school and to be honest, the task cards were a bit overwhelming, so I starting thinking through how I would tweak them for elementary, and here is the resulting post :) 

 What if instead of cracking open social studies textbooks or jumping into science experiments from our FOSS or EIE kits, we had a day or two set aside for centers? K-8 teachers, I want to challenge you to think about some of these compelling reasons to engage in this type of teaching for the purpose of increasing your student's learning. 

Centers are: An opportunity for students to engage with content in a variety of the ways, many "access points", Requires deep thinking about content, rather than "sit and get, Students learn from conversation with one another, defending opinions, justifying thinking  with text evidence, Allows for differentiation in task, support, and thinking, Great chance to generate and answer "big questions", Lends to  thoughtful CCSS connections, Builds independence and ownership of learning, Here are some ideas for centers that could become part of your instruction regardless of the center;

Here is the link to the google doc that has both these task cards and a sheet that describes what CCSS Anchor Standards each supports in a PDF :)

Of course students need to know what your expectations are for the centers, and that does take time. Once students know what the expectations are for the photograph center however it doesn't matter if the photos are of the civil rights movement, science content, or even a math diagram, they know what to do. 

Stating Learning Targets

Stating Learning Targets

This is an excellent example of some simple ways to anchor your students and your lessons in your learning targets. I challenge you to use "I CAN" statements in this way!

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/making-lesson-objectives-clear

"Learning About" vs. Assessing

"Every time I talk to the children I am learning about them. I like the words 'learning about' much more than I like 'assessing.' I learn about my children. I get to know them. I want to know what they know. I want to know how they know. Isn't that what assessment is all about- learning what children know?"- Jill Ostrow, A Room With a Different View (1995)

When I read this I began thinking immediately about my notebook. The one I started my very first year of teaching. Just like most new educators, I was determined to be the "super teacher." I wanted to be different from others, I wanted to know my students so well that I could teach them in exactly the way they needed to be taught. I knew it was a lofty goal but, as usual, I was determined and  organized. I had purchased a notebook for anecdotal records and carefully labeled each page. The goal was to make notes (especially in the first days) of little things I noticed about my students. Everything from interests to friendships, fears to silly quotes. I imagined this book of observations to inform my teaching, aid in conversations with families and give me ammo when I was trying to curb out of line behaviors.

The idea came about in one of my undergrad classes on observation, I was sure it would set me a part. The notebook served its purpose for a time, I kept it neat and tidy, and within arms reach. I even did a fairly good job of writing in it regularly, for a while. But before I knew it the daily grind of answering emails, returning parent phone calls, eating 2 bites of lunch at the copy machine, searching for lost mittens... and of course teaching, got in the way of the routine of actually writing. What I developed was a mental notebook, where I still kept a "page" for each of my learners. I tuned into how they talked with their classmates, when or if they shared in class, the kind of books they were drawn to, and most of all what made them smile. I began weaving these bits of knowledge in with how I observed them performing academic tasks and quickly the "notebook pages" became like chapters in are larger reference type library I had built.

I found that when I knew what it was that they were good at, where their knowledge started and stopped and what I could do to keep each of them motivated, it transformed the culture of my classroom and my students' achievement. It wasn't really until my 3rd year in the classroom that I had a clean mental system for learning and applying all I could gather about the little humans in my classroom.

I would encourage you to ponder this as we head towards reading assessment windows and a dense time of learning in the year. I'm not telling you to start a notebook, but you can if it helps. Try to just gather information through conversation, observation and maybe even asking your students to write you letters. Allow what you learn to inform your instruction and guide the way you teach. Doing this will also help you understand their work better and support them in their learning.

Hint cards...

The 4 Questions for students

I've just begun reading Formative Assessment in Practice: A process of inquiry and action by Margaret Heritage and in the first 10 pages I can see connections to our work here! When I stumbled onto this quote:
"As the lesson develops, students use the learning goal and success criteria to reflect on their own learning, to evaluate their learning progresses and to think about where they need to go next."
I immediately thought of the 4 questions that guide our PLC work. And then I thought, what a great idea for a classroom poster or bulletin board, the 4 questions every student should be able to answer:

What am I supposed to know/be able to do?

How will I know when I know it?

What will I do if I don't know it?

What will I do next when I do know it?

Consider the power of teaching your students to reflect, plan and respond to their own learning!

Beautiful and Diverse Text

I heard about this site while listening to a presentation Cris Tovani gave on reading engagement. The site is called informationisbeautiful.net and what you find there is just that, beautiful information. Weather you are a content area teacher or just looking to spice up your student's reading material, there are many great choices here.
You could address place value, percentages and musicians rights using this info graphic:

Or you could use this to spark a class discussion in physical science

or perhaps you would assign your health class to read and respond to this chart in small groups...

lots of interesting info and interesting text!

Questioning Circle- Anyone can do it!

From Engaging Readers & Writers Through Inquiry By Jeff Wilhelm

Text Complexity

Regardless of the grade level or subject area you teach, students come face to face with text almost constantly. In their book Leveled Books (2006), Fountas & Pinnell outline some important considerations for us as we aim to inspire EACH student EVERY day:

"When students are reading a book they can read with success, they are able to use many different sources of information in a smoothly operating processing system."
Did you catch that? Reading is a smoothly operating processing system. Reading is not finishing pages or paragraphs. The purpose of reading is making meaning, if you aren't able to run through the processing system enough to make meaning, you aren't reading, you're calling out words.

"If they are struggling, they cannot use what they know in efficient  strategic ways. In fact, forcing students to read-too hard texts has devastating results."
Did you hear THAT? Devastating. It can't just be someone else's problem that your 3rd, 8th or 12th grade student can't read your textbook, it has to be yours. It has to be mine.

So what are you supposed to do? You have a textbook, actually you have a class set of textbooks, access to texts online...but how do you choose? And how will you make them accessible to your students?

1) The first strategy I would suggest is modeling. Yes, even you EPHS teachers :) The way you approach a text is intentional as an experienced reader (even when you're not trying to be intentional.) Open up the textbook, or the text you are expecting them to read, and talk through how YOU would read it and why. Do you read all the headings first? Do you look at diagrams and maps as you go or before you start? Why do you do it that way? What is your response to bold words? What is the narrative in your mind as you read the novel? Do you take notes about questions or observations? You are the expert reader in your classroom. If we don't make the internal process of reading external for them, they won't ever gain the skills and strategies they will need to read complex texts. (Cris Tovani's I Read it, But I Don't Understand it!)

2) The other strategy is to find several passages about the topic you are teaching, at various levels. One of the passages should be from your textbook or class text. Distributing these to students in a packet, or electronic folder allows them to view and choose the ones they can most easily interact without having to publicly choose the easiest. After reading 2 of the passages from the selected group. You can guide small groups through a discussion of similarities in order to building background knowledge about the topic. You can use newspaper articles, copy and paste text from Time for Kids articles from other grade levels or even other grade level textbooks. Doing this before tackling the larger text or concept allows students to get grounded in the content at their own level, propelling them to be more engaged in a difficult text.

Beyond "Turn & Talk"

I'm really excited about these. More can be found at THIS SITE, but I'm going to put a few up here as well. The biggest thing to note is that you will need to teach these procedures to your students just like you teach lining up, hand raising and a other classroom routines. Once they know them, you can reference them quickly by flipping back to an anchor chart or poster you create as a class about the sharing procedure.

Reader's Notebook

Many of you are starting to teach your students how to write in notebooks in response to your whole group, small group and independent reading times. I found this other blog, that has great examples of what you might have students do with their notebooks. Take a look and start talking with your collaborative team about which ones would best fit in your units of study! Here is her list of what might be in an intermediate notebook.

Partner Cards

As I've been out there modeling lessons, I've used these cards a few times in some of your classrooms. I had a few requests for where I got them, so here is the link to the FREE TpT product! Enjoy !

Writing About Reading

"Writing down what they think about what they've read allows readers to clarify their thinking. It is an opportunity to reflect. Readers better understand their reading when they have written about it. The writing may be a summary or a response. Sometimes just jotting down a few notes will clarify meaning."- Cris Tovani

As your students become more comfortable with your expectations of them as a reader, you should begin to introduce them to what you expect of them as a writer. The best way to do this is to use a reader's response notebook, folder or procedure. Just like with all your other literacy activities, the expectations should be delivered through modeling and scaffolded instruction. Unlike book reports and other "product" tasks, writing about reading should naturally flow through the thinking process of a reader. It should be about creating an authentic way to record a reader's thoughts, feelings, wonderings and analysis of texts they are reading. According to Fountas & Pinnell (2001) there are multiple appropriate and engaging ways for students to write about their reading, including:

                             * Recording comments on sticky notes

                             * A paragraph or page reflection on what has been read 

                             * A letter to a friend or teacher about what has been read

                             * A web, chart or list 

But, students need to be taught how to do these things, they need direction and modeling. There are simple and more involved ways of responding, but F&P provide some great starting places and graphic organizers that can be used as you teach students what their options are. You can find a folder of those PDFs HERE for your classroom use. Be creative, look at your standards, try to allow your students to have as many opportunities as possible to write about the meaning they create when they read! 

Teach so it matters...

In his book Engaging Readers & Writers With Inquiry Jeff Wilhelm states that one of the first actions steps to take towards building a culture of inquiry is to 

       

"Reconceptualize your role and that of your students as members of an inquiring community that shares a common vocabulary and set of conceptual tools and strategic practices to solve open problems in a discipline."

Sounds easy, right?!? Not so much. These things are essential first steps, and because of the that I believe they deserve some discussion. As we look at the elements of common vocabulary, conceptual tools, and strategic practices, I will give you some practical thoughts about how to try and maybe even fully implement them for the benefit of your students. 

Developing a common language or vocabulary is something all educators should be aiming for. Not just for the purpose of test taking or spewing definitions, but to enrich the understanding of the content and its themes. This can be done by 

• Most importantly, this includes the conversational language you expect and use in your classroom discussions. How do expect them to agree with you, one another or a guest? What should they say if they disagree? What does a response to a question sound like? How can students have clarifying conversations when they misunderstand or disagree? When these "norms" are established and students know the boundaries and expectations for communication, they will be more likely to engage in classroom conversation and discussion than if they think you are only looking for thoughtless compliance. 
• Creating a visual support for important vocabualry words in your classroom. A bulletin board, poster or even notecards on the wall should be in a place where you and your students can access it. The purpose being that you will use them more, your students will see them more, and the meanings will be reinforced. Consider having students create illustrations or symbols to further support the vocab as their understanding develops. 

Teaching a set of conceptual tools means giving students options for how to deepen their understanding of a concept when there is a defect  As with other elements of inquiry learning, independence is built from repeated modeling and guided practice. 

• One way to do this is by presenting graphic organizers that cause students to record what they know, questions they have and provide an emphasis on connections. If students can see connections between knew knowledge and something they already understand, their conceptual understanding will be stronger. 
• If students are building knowledge through reading a text, teach them how to find key words, identify root words or note similar vocabulary. 

Narcissism & Assessment

   

 I was at a great workshop, focusing on meaningful assessment and feedback at all grade levels. As I sat surrounded by hundreds of educators, I found myself wondering "How did we get here? How did we get to a place where we aren't testing what students really know in a way that is effective or helpful, but grading is consuming so much of our time and brain energy?" The theme of giving honest and authentic feedback kept rolling past my eardrums and into my mind throughout the day, along with the acknowledgement of a fear we have developed in truly measuring and reporting learning. I believe there are many reasons why at times we shy away from the fact that a student, or perhaps many,  are not making it and why we aren't reporting these results to them. We're afraid. Not of what it says about us as teachers or even about what it may mean in terms of curriculum changes. I believe we're afraid of our students (and in many cases their parents.)
        The students we deal with today are living in a world that literally screams a message of their "importance" .....because these are the days when you can gather Facebook "friends", twitter "followers" and Instagram "Likers" as easily as you can sit on the couch and breathe.
      As I considered the implications of this on how we give feedback and assess student learning I was reminded of an article from TIME magazine last month.

The witty and insightful content of the article is steeped in the truth and research of how we got here. The author explains that in the 1970s, there was a push towards self-esteem and self-worth in educations. The original intentions were pure, or at least remotely innocent, but the results have been long lasting. As the article explains from a physiological perspective, self-esteem without an authentic self-awareness, breeds narcissism. You see, if you are just told that you are amazing and wonderful and even worthy of royal titles like "princess" simply because you exist, you begin to develop an entitlement mentality that creeps into all of your thinking. So, zoom ahead 40 years and we now have sports leagues where all participants walk away with a trophy (even if they lost), people who pour themselves into virtual relationships rather than real ones, and an overall consensus that no one wants to be "judged" by anyone else's standard. 

      So, in turn, this leaves us as educators cowering in the corner. Students are "passing" on that shouldn't be. Parents push back about the value of homework and attempt to justify the behaviors we are "concerned" about. No one wants to be the barer of bad news, but if we don't start giving specific and honest feedback about where are students are in their learning, how close they are to the target, and what they might need to do to make improvements.......it will only get worse. 

     So as not to leave you on an immensely negative note; I believe these children are capable of developing an authentic and realistic view of themselves. One that has an awareness of strengths and opportunities.  I believe they have the capacity to receive a D on an assignment that was truly D work, and become better for it. They will need our help though. 

"School should not be a place where young people go to watch old people work!"

"I don't know if teachers can work any harder  than they're already working, so we've go to find ways to make students carry more of the thinking load in our classrooms. As I walk out of school with my colleagues at the end of each day, we're all tired. We're carrying heavy bags of books and papers, and our shoulders are slumped. Meanwhile, our students bound past us to the parking lot, running and jumping down the steps two at a time, full of energy. I once heard someone say: 'School should not be a place where young people go to watch old people work' We've got to figure out how to work smarter, because what we're being asked to do is really a challenge."- Cris Tovani in Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? (2004)

This is one of my all time favorite quotes for today's teachers. There are so many demands on us, and so many people and government structures telling us that we aren't doing enough. And at times, we preach that message to ourselves, questioning a lesson or a student's engagement level and if there is anything we could even possibly to do change it. And then something "new" comes along from our district or instructional leaders and we walk away from a conversation, email or PD thinking "I just can't handle another thing!" But Tovani makes an excellent point. If we were spending our days as facilitators of thinking, delivering short bursts of high quality modeling followed by a large stretch of time to support learners in small groups and individually as THEY work, we may have a little something left at the end of the day.Many teachers find themselves giving the "This is our community and we all have responsibilities" speech to their classes several times a year, but somehow when it comes to the learning, we have most of the responsibility.

Do you know about Emperor Penguin mothers? After delivering an egg into the care of the father, they travel, by walking and swimming, for 2-3 MONTHS eating food for their babies. They return from their long trip, only to regurgitate already digested food into their baby's mouth, which the young penguin receives without so much as a "Thanks Mom, you didn't have to do all that work and digest it for me too!"

I don't want to be a "penguin mother" teacher. I don't want to spend all my evenings and weekends swimming the seas of worksheets and papers, waddling across the snowy plains of lesson plans and show up on Monday to deliver a "student-proof" lesson.

I want to make them do a lot of the work.... and MOST of the thinking in my classroom. If they don't, they won't learn.

Give some responsibility away, ask a student to tell you what they're thinking instead of answering a specific question. Encourage them to communicate their new learning with a poem or diagram and then ask them to help you see the holes in their own thinking.

"Back When I was in School..."

I realize that by sharing some of this I am inviting criticism because it could potentially reveal my age, but I think it is timely and important. When I was in Kindergarten, I distinctly remember being considered a "high reader" because I could independently turn pages of Dr. Seuss and other classics while "reading" them accurately to other children. I also remember receiving compliments on my "wonderful" writing which consisted of words with simple beginning and ending sound (sometimes correct and sometimes not.) I don't believe that the school system I was in was behind the times or upholding low expectations, it was simply a different time in literacy education, and every other kind.

A few other things I distinctly remember from my childhood mark the turning of the tide for not only our culture, but education as well. First, I recall exactly where I was and the cock-eyed pigtails I was sporting when my mom tried to explain that my Uncle Hal had just gotten a "bag-phone" for business. My small mind and mouth bombarded her with questions about how a phone like this could work if it wasn't plugged in and why someone would ever want to talk on the phone anywhere but from home (in this moment my iPhone is vibrating an email notification.) I also remember our first computer as a family. It was a step above the Apple II e that I had grown found of jamming black bendy "disks" into at school. This screen was in color. And as far as I was concerned, creating imaginary "Wibbles" made this machine worth the space and money investment for my family.

And now, zooming ahead, as an educator I find myself communicating with my colleagues almost constantly, via text, email, tweet and phone. I am expected to share information with my student's families in many of those ways and maintain and updated classroom website. My filing cabinet was full of graham crackers for the last 3 years, and my desktop was "overflowing" with shared files. I often stand in front of a "smart" board rather than a chalk or whiteboard, manipulating words, shapes, and the internet in front of my students. It is a different time.

Lucy Calkins (2010) explains; "Today's information age requires that young people develop literacy skills that are significantly higher that those that have ever been required of them- and this education needs to be for all students, not just for the elite."

This is so powerful to me, because Calkins is acknowledging the change and the challenge for us, but there is no room for belly-aching. If you aren't comfortable, or the student doesn't speak English, or the standardized tests are paper & pencil.....(or whatever other excuse comes to mind) it's out! This is our charge. Regardless of if our students grow up to be doctors or custodians, professional athletes, politicians, sales clerks or mechanics, we need to help them be more than just literate. Students of today need to be Multi-literate problem-solvers with a head full of knowledge about the world and the tools that are available to them.