The New Year: A Time for Reflection

According to Assessment for Learning (from Education Services Australia), students who use self-assessment: recognize that learning is associated with a very positive kind of difficulty, which increases motivation rather than destroying it experience an increase in self-esteem experience an improvement in their learning because they come to know how they learn rather than just what they learn Teachers who encourage students to self-assess: see the responsibility for learning shifting from them to their students recognize an increase in student motivation and enthusiasm for learning and a corresponding decrease in behavioral problems are able to use feedback from their students about how they learn to shape lessons to individual and group needs rather than teaching to the mythical class as whole Strategies to Enhance Student-Self-Assessment Check out these strategies to enhance student self-assessment: reflection activities, student-led and three-way conferences, rubrics, graphic organizers, learning targets, and time management. “Be Sure To”: A Powerful Reflection Strategy A video from the Teaching Channel: The new year is a great time for reflection and goal setting. Watch Julie Manley walk her students through the “Be Sure To” strategy, allowing them to think about what they learned in class and use that knowledge to plan for the future. Daily Reflection Here's a quick formative assessment that helps students reflect on a daily basis: The Stoplight Method from Teaching Channel. Setting Goals Based on Peer Review This video is filmed in a kindergarten classroom, but if these little guys can give and receive peer review suggestions and set goals so successfully, imagine how we can use these same strategies with older students! Portfolio Assessments A great way to encourage students to be metacognitive about their learning is to assign a portfolio assessment mid-year and end-of-year. Here is a model portfolio assessment and rubric that you are welcome to adopt/adapt: Portfolio Assessment Assignment "Dear Reader" Rubric The Teacher's Role in Portfolio Assessment: An Article

Media Literacy

In a "post-truth" society, how do we teach our kids how to be critical readers of what they see? The News Literacy Project (NLP) is an innovative national education program that equips middle school and high school students with the tools to be smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed citizens. Check it out here!
And check out an NPR story about it here.
Here's a great article from the School Library Journal about media literacy:
The Smell Test: Educators can counter fake news with information literacy. Here’s how.

Crash Course Literature

I'm sure you've all heard of John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars and other great Young Adult lit.
But have you seen his Crash Course Literature videos?
If not, click here and explore!
Great resource!

How To Ensure Students Are Actively Engaged and Not Just Compliant

8 qualities that indicate students are engaged:

Does the activity, strategy, task, or idea allow for the student to personalize his or her response? Can they bring their life experiences into the activity and make it their own?

Are there clear and modeled expectations?

Is there a sense of audience above and beyond the teacher and the test? Does the activity have value to someone else?

Is there social interaction? Do students have an opportunity to talk about the learning and interact?

Is there a culture of emotional safety? Are mistake valued because they are an opportunity to learn?

Do students have opportunities to choose within the activity?

Is it an authentic activity? This doesn’t mean it always must connect directly to the student’s world, but it should connect to reality.

Is the task new and novel? If kids are bored, it’s hard to see engagement

Click here to read the entire article from Mind/Shift.

"Reading" Images

Here is a very interesting “read” and deep analysis of the recent Time magazine cover:

http://forward.com/culture/356537/why-times-trump-cover-is-a-subversive-work-of-political-art/

Non-fiction text analysis worksheet

Name: ___________________________________

Non-fiction Analysis Worksheet

Name of text: _____________________________________________

Type of text: ______________________________________________

Author: ____________________________________________________

What is the purpose of this text? (circle one) 

persuade,           describe/explain,          entertain

How do you know? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What does the text say…

Who?

What?

Why?

Where?

When?

How?

Style: A writer’s style is closely tied to tone, the writer’s attitude toward the subject. It is shown through his or her word choice. What adjective(s) would you use to describe the writer’s style in this text?

______________________________    _____________________________    _____________________________

Text  Structure: Choose which text structure this text follows the best. Then pick a graphic organizer from below to draw on a separate piece of paper and complete.

Sequence                       Compare-contrast          Descriptive           Problem-Solution           Cause/effect

Consider the features above to complete the following sentences:

1. General conclusion: The selection is mainly about ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.                 

2. Specific conclusion: The author uses ___________________________________________________ in order to                                                                                                                                                (text structure) ______________________________________________________________________________.

                                                                        (purpose)

Build a Culture of Reading

Reading is to the mind 

what exercise is to the body!

You can help build a culture of reading here at Everett! 

If you haven’t built independent reading into your classes yet, consider doing so, even just once a week. Require students to have a book on their desk so that when they’ve finished a task, they can open up the book instead of the phone. Read aloud - not just for academics, but for enjoyment. Talk up books you are reading or books you recommend. Don't forget to be a good reading role model - you may be the only adult your students see reading.

If you don’t have a little classroom library, I encourage you to start one: library book sales are a great place to stock up cheaply, and https://www.donorschoose.org/ is another great source of support. Search for Everett on Donors Choose and you’ll see some of your colleagues’ requests out there!

There is a lot of research on the benefits of free reading:

Vocabulary development: The major determinant of vocabulary growth from about 3rd grade on is free reading.

Background knowledge: Differences in background knowledge account for differences in text comprehension, especially for low- and middle-income children. However, reading helps students develop background knowledge.

Reading achievement: Amount of free reading is correlated with reading fluency and comprehension.

Success in school: Student success in school is correlated with the amount of independent reading they do.

Attitude and motivation: Students who do a substantial amount of voluntary reading demonstrate a positive attitude toward reading and school than students who do not.

You can read the first chapter of Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading by Steve Gardiner for free.

You can read this article about the value of free reading from Language Arts, RealTeachers’ Classroom IndependentReading Practices by Sherry Sanden.

You can read the entire book Revisiting Silent Reading: New Directions for Teachers and Researchers by Elfrieda H. Hiebert & D. Ray Reutzel online for free.

Happy reading!