““Rigor in Action” Rigor in Action” Dan Barber

5th Grade TeacherIrwin Academic Center

Dan.Barber@cms.k12.nc.us

danbarber.cmswiki.wikispaces.net

R

IGO

aise the expectations

RR

G ive appropriate support & guidance

pen your focus

Increase the complexity

•Complexity through projectsStudents solve perimeter and area worksheet problems vs. Students design (and build!) their dream house, calculating the perimeter and area of each room in their house.

Students identify different community helpers vs. Students each pick a different community helper to learn more about, dress up as that helper, and teach their class what they’ve learned

Lord Cornwalis and General Washington have a chance

encounter

Benjamin Franklin takes a moment to posewith an admirer

Betsy Ross displays her flag design

•Complexity through projectsStudents solve perimeter and area worksheet problems vs. Students design (and build!) their dream house, calculating the perimeter and area of each room in their house.

Students identify different community helpers vs. Students each pick a different community helper to learn more about, dress up as that helper, and teach the class what they’ve learned

Students complete a teacher-designed experiment on forces & motion vs. Students design “Leprechaun traps” which, when triggered by a force or motion, will catch a mischievous leprechaun

•Complexity through projectsStudents solve perimeter and area worksheet problems vs. Students design (and build!) their dream house, calculating the perimeter and area of each room in their house.

Students identify different community helpers vs. Students each pick a different community helper to learn more about, dress up as that helper, and teach the class what they’ve learned

Students complete a teacher-designed experiment on forces & motion vs. Students design “Leprechaun traps” which, when triggered by a force or motion, will catch a mischievous leprechaun

Students identify geometric solids on a worksheet vs. Students create “geobots” utilizing a variety of geometric solids & write a story about the purpose of their geobot

Simon and his "Universal Salamander"

Gloria & "SpongeBob Gloria"

Brian and his GeoHouse

•Complexity through projectsStudents solve perimeter and area worksheet problems vs. Students design (and build!) their dream house, calculating the perimeter and area of each room in their house.

Students identify different community helpers vs. Students each pick a different community helper to learn more about, dress up as that helper, and teach the class what they’ve learned

Students complete a teacher-designed experiment on forces & motion vs. Students design “Leprechaun traps” which, when triggered by a force or motion, will catch a mischievous leprechaun

Students identify geometric solids on a worksheet vs. Students create “geobots” utilizing a variety of geometric solids & write a story about the purpose of their geobot

Students write about a hero vs. Students research heroes of September 11th and create a video celebrating those heroeshttp://danbarber.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/September+11th+Ten+Years+Later

•Complexity in pre & post assessmentsStudents complete an exam involving matching pictures of clouds to the correct cloud type vs. Students, over the course of two weeks, take pictures of clouds in/around their neighborhood and create a powerpoint in which they identify cloud types

http://danbarber.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Cloud+Projects

•Complexity in pre & post assessments

Starting with open-ended problems (including material kids haven’t (necessarily) experienced.

In the addition problem below, there are three different two-digit numbers in which different letters represent different digits. What digits do A, B and C represent?

A A

B B

+ C C

B A C

A = 9

B = 1

C = 8

Students complete an exam involving matching pictures of clouds to the correct cloud type vs. Students, over the course of two weeks, take pictures of clouds in/around their neighborhood and create a powerpoint in which they identify cloud types

•Complexity in pre & post assessmentsStarting with open-ended problems (including

material kids haven’t (necessarily) experienced.

Identifying what students already know about a topic (reviewing rather than repeating) and any misconceptions they may have (variations of K-W-L)

Post-assessing with rubrics:

Upper El. Magazine EvaluationUpper El. Magazine EvaluationName______________________________ Date____________________________

Areas

4Exceeds

Expectations

3Meets Expectations

2Partially Meets

Expectations

1Needs

Improvement

Sources/ Research

Used/cited 4 sources of information AND had a variety of sources (i.e., interviews AND print

resources

Used/cited 3 sources of information for their

story (print, online, or person)

Used/cited 2 sources of information for their

story (print, online, or

person)

Used/cited only 1 source of information for their story (print, online, or

person)

Grammar/Mechanics

Always has correct spelling, grammar, and

mechanics (punctuation/ capitalization)

Often has correct spelling, grammar, and

mechanics (punctuation/ capitalization)

Sometimes has correct spelling, grammar, and

mechanics (punctuation/ capitalization)

Rarely has correct spelling, grammar, and

mechanics (punctuation/ capitalization)

Effort It is strongly evident a lot of time was put into

researching, writing, editing, and publishing

this story.

There is evidence that additional time and effort was put into

researching, editing & publishing this story.

There is some evidence that additional time and

effort was put into researching, editing & publishing this story.

Very little time or effort was put into

researching, writing, editing and publishing

this story.

Writing Style Story has a strong beginning, is logically

organized, contains strong supporting

details, and has a strong conclusion

Story has 3 of these 4 characteristics:

Strong beginning, is logically organized, has

strong supporting detail, has a strong conclusion.

Story has 2 of these 4 characteristics:

Strong beginning, is logically organized, has

strong supporting detail, has a strong conclusion.

Story lacks or has a weak beginning, is not

logically organized, lacks supporting details,

and does not have a strong conclusion

Self-Assessment: ______/16

Mr. Dan Assessment: ______/16

3Exceeds Expectations

2Meets Expectations

1Needs Improvement

Critical/Analytical Thinking

Response is complex and/or imaginative in

nature. Response considers and addresses multiple perspectives of

an argument or formulates a different

view point or perspective on an issue than has already been

considered.

Response is somewhat complex in nature.

Other perspectives of an issue or argument are

acknowledged or recognized.

Response is simplistic in nature, addresses the

question/statement on a “surface” level or is obvious in nature

Effort Response exceeds the requirements of the

posting (i.e., multiple replies to other postings were given or additional

sentences were provided) and/or

demonstrates breadth or complexity was applied when the posting was made

Response fulfills the requirements of the

posting but lacks additional breadth or complexity of thought

beyond what is expected

Response is short, lacks breadth or complexity, or does not fulfill the requirements of the

posting (i.e., is 2 sentences when 3 are

required)

Writing Style Response is written in a clear and concise

manner. Response is easy to read and

understand.

Most of the response is written in a clear and

concise manner. There are some aspects of the

response which are difficult to read and/or

understand.

Response is incoherent and/or written in a confusing/unclear

manner. Response is difficult to read and/or

understand.

•Complexity in pre & post assessmentsStarting with open-ended problems (including

material kids haven’t (necessarily) experienced.

Identifying what students already know about a topic (reviewing rather than repeating) and any misconceptions they may have (variations of K-W-L)

Post-assessing with rubrics.

Pick one of these two questions to respond to: 1) What do you think would have happened if the Japanese did

not attack Pearl Harbor? or

2) The video mentions that the Japanese attack was not as devastating as it could have been.  The Japanese did not

destroy the naval base at Pearl Harbor.  What do you think would have happened if the Japanese attack had been more devastating or if the Americans were unable to fight back as

well as they did?

Using student-generated questions to assess for understanding

Using R.A.F.T as a strategy for more real-life/authentic assessment

Post-assessing with open-ended questions/essays/scenarios:

R.A.F.T.RoleRole AudienceAudience FormatFormat TopicTopic

Neil Armstrong Television Audience

Talk show Interview

Armstrong’s perspective on the moon landing (inc. mission-related anxiety & emotion associated w. their accomplishment)

Mission Control Technician

Supervisor Apollo 11 Mission Report Summary

Highlights and lowlights (including loss of contact with Gemini) of mission (from their perspective)

President Kennedy

Congress Persuasive Speech

Address to Congress asking for money to be set aside for mission to the moon and potential impact the success of such a mission could have.

American Student (any age)

Classmates Oral Report to class

Reflections on Apollo 11 mission and what it felt like to witness it/be a part of it

1) Write a one page summary of the story. Be sure to include any and all important dates and events and explain the significance of those events.

Apollo 11 Moon Landing – 5th Grade Reading

2) Imagine It story assessment on Moon Landing story (multiple choice & some open-ended questions)

3)

•Complexity in writingStudents write to a genuine audience (i.e., students write their own fairy tales and then share those fairy tales with younger students).

Students write from a different perspective (i.e., they examine the revolutionary war from the perspective of a British soldier).

Two voice poems (i.e., Democrat vs. Republican OR Endangered Animal vs. Housing Development Manager)Variety of writing products [i.e. websites, blogs, tweets summarizing an important concept learned that day (sent out to parents) wordle, poetry, etc.]

Other examples? http://danbarber.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/david

Select a group to join this evening:1) Question Matrix group

2) Multiple Intelligences group

3) R.A.F.T. group

4) Point of View group

Presenter:1) Tell a little about the activity and what was expected of students.

2) Share your work sample

Audience:

2) Examine the work product through the lens of rigor. Are there noticeable examples of rigor in the work product.

1) Ask any clarifying questions about the activity or work sample

3) Give suggestions for next steps (either ideas for making the activity more rigorous OR logical, rigorous extensions of the activity)

R

GO

aise the expectations

RR

G ive appropriate support & guidance

pen your focus

Increase the complexity

Retire earlyaise the content level

Educational Trend/Norm Rigor

Covering many topics on a “surface” level

Vs.

Valuing depth

Exclusively using assigned text books or reading materials

Increasing reading/text complexity through the use of primary sources & supplementary reading materials

Repeating material Reviewing material

Teaching concepts in isolation

Interdisciplinary teaching (creating connections between & within content & subject matter)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpog1_NFd2Q

Homework

Implement Rigor in your class!

Be an agent of change! Encourage your colleagues to add rigor to their lessons.

Remember, rigor is in the best interest of our children!