Slide 1

Looking at Student Work / Crafting Questions with Multiple Entry Points CFN 204 Meeting February 1, 2014 Presenter: Nate Dechongkit Slide 2 Agenda Collaborative Annotations Looking at Student Work Crafting Questions with Multiple Entry Points Looking at Student Work (revisited) Application to Classroom Practice Slide 3 Setting the Context - Middle Read Earth Water and Sky Quickly complete the following graphic organizer with details to show the meteor was powerful: PowerfulDetail Slide 4 Setting the Context - Elementary Read Greeting the Sun, A Maushop Story Quickly complete the following graphic organizer with details to show that Maushop is caring: Maushop is caring Detail Slide 5 Separating the Best from the Rest From the 7 th Grade 2013 ELA NYS test: Which sentencebest shows how powerful the meteorite was? A.Suddenly, he heard a sharp, whining sound like the engine of a high-flying jet airplane B.Then a ball of fire roared overhead, followed by a searing gust of wind C.The shock wave knocked David to the ground, his ears ringing D.A second later, he heard an explosive, hissing crash up ahead Slide 6 Evidence Maushop is Caring He wakes to the concerns of his people He walked carefully, so as not to step on anyone He was an ambassador to the people and the sun He returns to the sun three times to make sure that he supports the people Slide 7 Meteorite was powerful It knocked David to the ground He heard an explosive hissing crash up ahead Immense heat force evaporated the water in a second High sound like a jet airplane Searing gust of wind Slide 8 Separating the Best from the Rest From the 4 th Grade Released Questions: Which detail best supports the idea that Maushop cared for the Wampanoag? Maushop, the giant, had been sleeping, but the sound of many frightened voices woke him. Maushop stood up from the place where had had been sleeping on the beach, just below the great cliffs at Gay Head Walking very carefully, so that he would not step on anyone in the darkness, Maushop went into the village. Maushop, the people cried. You must help us. Slide 9 Essential and Guiding Questions How can we help students distinguish high-quality thinking and responses from lower-quality thinking and responses? What should teachers look for as insight into student thinking? How can teachers craft questions and activities that will provide insight? Slide 10 Another Approach Our goals for students should not simply be distinguishing correct responses from incorrect ones. We should be supporting their ability to distinguish high- quality correct responses from low-quality correct ones. Slide 11 ANNOTATION STRATEGIES Slide 12 Collaborative Annotation Protocol Independent work: Read and annotate Group Set-up: Each student receives a different colored marker Round 1: Initial annotation to group text Round 2: Comments / questions to other group members Round 3 (and beyond): extended conversation and introduction of new ideas Slide 13 Shared/Group Annotations Practice Read the excerpt from A Long Walk to Water Make your thinking visible on a shared copy of the excerpt Read and respond to others annotations Slide 14 Expanding Student Thinking Completing the activity does not guarantee improved outcomes The thinking made visible allows a teacher to assess: What students understand What misconceptions exist What types of thinking students are not engaging in Slide 15 Types of Annotations/Type of Thinking Understandings of the authors ideas and intentions Main ideas of paragraphs/sections Summaries/explanations Arrows that connect related ideas Reader thoughts, connections, ideas Connections / Real-world examples Reader perspectives agreement, disagreement Inferences Questions that indicate confusion Questions that challenge the author Evaluations of writing Slide 16 Turn and Talk Are students more likely to write one type of annotation? If so, which one? Understandings of the authors ideas and intentions Reader thoughts, connections, ideas If you chose one or the other, how can we help students balance the types of annotations they create? Slide 17 Interactive Annotations Annotate the left and right of a text Left: What does the text say? Summaries, explanations Right: What was I thinking as I read? Connections Agreement/disagreement ( especially for opinion pieces ) Inferences Questions Evaluative statements Slide 18 Teacher Model From Pearson Grade 3, Unit 4, Module B, Lesson 3: Savings accounts are used for setting money aside for later use. Checking accounts, however, are used for spending. They provide an easy way to pay for things without using cash. You cannot get a checking account until you are older, but you should know how they work. I put money into savings accounts I take money out of checking accounts Savings accounts start at zero. Checking accounts should have money. How do you get money into a checking account? Slide 19 EXAMINING STUDENT WORK Slide 20 Annotation Activity A child is born with the potential ability to learn Chinese or Swahili, play a kazoo, climb a tree, make a strudel or a birdhouse, take pleasure in finding the coordinates of a star. Genetic inheritance determines a childs abilities and weaknesses. But those who raise a child call forth from that matrix the traits and talents they consider important. - Robert H. Wozniak Slide 21 Turn and Talk What is the gist of this statement? Which sentence(s) is/are central to the gist? Why? Slide 22 Sample Student Responses What do you notice regarding: The amount of annotation? What students are responding to? Slide 23 Sample Student Responses What do you notice regarding: The amount of annotation? What students are responding to? Slide 24 Sample Student Responses What do you notice regarding: The amount of annotation? What students are responding to? Slide 25 Distinguishing High-Quality from Low-Quality Responses When looking at student annotations (in which most responses are correct), examine not just what they write, but what text they are responding to Are students responding to critical sections of text? Slide 26 CRAFTING QUESTIONS WITH MULTIPLE ENTRY POINTS Slide 27 Sample Task One of the main characters in the novel is Salva who is a lost boy. This is a reference to Peter Pan, a story in which boys fell out of their prams when the nurse was not looking and were lost by their nannies in places such as Kensington Gardens. Having gone unclaimed for seven days, they were whisked off to Never Never Land and lived with Peter Pan and never grew up. There are no lost girls because as Peter explains, girls are much too clever to fall out of their prams and be lost in this manner. In light of the explanation above, how appropriate is the label lost boys as a way of identifying the boys who suffered in the Sudanese civil war? Write a response to this question in your notebooks and be sure to cite evidence from prior readings about the Sudanese. Slide 28 Multiple Entry Points A student could focus on whether the Sudanese children experienced one or more of the following: Falling out of prams Being lost/unclaimed Going to Never Never Land (or another place) Never growing up literally and/or figuratively * Being only male Which of the above represent a deeper understanding of the text? Slide 29 Distinguishing High-Quality from Low-Quality Responses When looking at student annotations (where most responses are correct), examine not just what they write, but what text they are responding to Are students responding to critical sections of text? Craft questions with a variety of viable answers Can you (the teacher) identify multiple possible answers? Are some better than others? Slide 30 Sample Student Work Examine the three pieces of student work Based on our conversations, which ones convey a deeper understanding of the text? Slide 31 Distinguishing High-Quality from Low-Quality Responses When looking at student annotations (where most responses are correct), examine not just what they write, but what text they are responding to Are students responding to critical sections of text? Craft questions with a variety of viable answers Can you (the teacher) identify multiple possible answers? Are some better than others? Examine student work not from a right/wrong standpoint, but from a deeper understanding/shallow understanding standpoint Are you following up with students? Slide 32 APPLICATION TO CLASSROOM PRACTICE Slide 33 Prompt Thinking about Quality Ask students to rank items, then justify: Which detail best shows that Maushop is caring? Why is that detail stronger than the others? Which detail best supports the main idea? Maushop is caring Detail Slide 34 Prompt Thinking About Quality Ask students to rank items, then justify: Which step is the most pivotal? The least? Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Slide 35 Ways of Ranking Least/most, best/worst On a scale of 1-10 Assigning values: 5-cent detail, dollar-detail Thermometer degrees Slide 36 Craft Questions with Multiple Viable Answers Instead of asking students to provide support for a statement or idea, give students a line of text and ask for the statement or idea it supports: Ex. from A Man of Persistence (ReadyGen Sleuth Unit 4): Analyze this text: the ship was securely stuck in the ice and would remain stuck through many long winter months. Shackleton had his crew stick to their routines and exercise the sled dogs they had brought with them. What does this text reveal about Shackleton? ??? had his crew stick to their routines Detail Slide 37 Provide Systems for Evaluating Quality Students can provide abstract characteristics Science Example: characteristics of a good results section of lab report (graphs, tables, diagrams, quantitative and qualitative) Example: characteristics of a good summary Students can read and comprehend summaries Students need to be able to: Match characteristics of summaries to a given summary Recognize when a summary does or does not exhibit a targeted characteristic Slide 38 Characteristics of Good Summaries of Literature Good Summaries Should / Should Include: problem/solution (conflict/resolution), identify a theme, introduce main characters, have a sense of setting, be concise, an opinion Good Summaries Should Not / Should Not Include: irrelevant details, minor characters and events Slide 39 Matching Criteria to Text Evidence Criteria for Good Summary Should have: problem/solution (conflict/resolution), identify a theme, introduce main characters, have a sense of setting, be concise, an opinion Should not have: irrelevant details, minor characters and events Sample Summary Maushop lives near the Wampanoag people. He goes to talk to the Sun on the other side of the world. The Sun calls Maushop his younger brother. Maushop is also friends with the spiders. The spiders weave a net for Maushop to use. Slide 40 Prompt Thinking about Quality Instead of asking students to summarize, provide multiple similar summaries and ask students to discuss what makes one a better summary than the other. Who does the summary focus on? What details are unnecessary? What missing details should be included? Slide 41 Prompt Thinking About Quality Instead of simply creating a Venn diagram, (where appropriate) ask students to discuss where authors/ideas/items are the most similar and the furthest apart Slide 42 Practice Read Botsteins Start it Earlier, End it Earlier and Ripleys Real-World Skills in the Classroom Complete the attached Venn Diagram (how are they similar and different) Scaffolds available! As a group, we will transfer the information to a continuum, distinguishing where they slightly differ from where they greatly differ Slide 43 Closing Timecards/timesheets Feedback/Evaluation Forms Future Meetings: Scaffolding (elementary): February 8 Scaffolding (middle): March 1 Questions? Comments? Concerns? ndechon@schools.nyc.gov ndechon@schools.nyc.gov