Do Now : The Non-Example

1. PLAN 7: Planning Checks for UnderstandingThink about your lessons this week. How did you know if you students were ready for the assessment? Did they get it like you thought?

2. Do Now: The Non-Example Handout 1: p. 487- Mr. Darcy & the Monomial Expressions (3 read/respond) • In a previous CS session on executing an effective introduction to content, you learned that teachers need to take four critical actions: Emphasize Key Points, Command Student Attention, Actively Involve Students, and __________. What is the fourth action that did Mr. Darcy not do effectively (or not do at all)? • In a previous CS session on executing effective student practice, you learned that teachers need to take three critical actions: Connect, Direct, and __________. What is the third action that Mr. Darcy did not do effectively (or not do at all)? • What is the impact of this missing action: • On Mr. Darcy? • On his students?

3. Checking For Understanding: The Bottom Line No one is teaching if no one is learning – it is our responsibility as teachers to frequently and effectively check for understanding during all parts of the lesson cycle. How student SHOW what they KNOW!

4. Checking For Understanding: Sequence of Sessions PLAN 7:  Planning Checks for Understanding (CFUs) • Identify the appropriate places in your lesson plans to plan CFUs. (Where to put them?) • Write strong CFU questions and tasks aligned to your key points. (What to ask?) EXEC 3:  Executing Checks for Understanding (CFUs) • Techniques for executing CFUs that maximize student participation and response. • Responding to CFUs in a way that corrects misunderstanding and deepens understanding.

5. Session Overview: Objectives & Agenda • Objective: Teachers will plan scaffolded checks for understanding throughout their lessons by: • Identifying the most critical moments to check for understanding. • Writing questions and/or planning tasks that allow them to determine whether students are clear or confused with regard to the most critical content.

6. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Process for Analysis Handout 2: p. 488- Strong CFUs – The “New” Mr. Darcy • Take 1 minute to read through Mr. Darcy’s lesson vision • Analyzing Mr. Darcy’s Plan in 5 Easy Steps! • CS posts content about CFUs • CMs read section of Mr. Darcy’s plan • CM pairs discuss focus questions • Whole-group debrief • Rinse and Repeat • I KNOW YOU WANT CONTENT SPECIFIC, SO…..Solution Center, E-3

7. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part One (Opening)- p. 489 • Checks for understanding should occur throughout the lesson cycle to check student comprehension of the key points of the lesson. • Focus Questions • What content did Mr. Darcy CFU in the Opening? • Why was it important for him to do this CFU at this point in the lesson?

8. CFU AHA Effective teachers often use the Opening to push students to “call up” relevant background knowledge– remember, all parts of the lesson cycle can and should be used to CFU!

9. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Two (INM)- p. 490 • An effective check for understanding forces what is in a student’s brain to come out and be visible to the teacher. CFUs must: • Directly link to a key point (or to a group of key points). • Allow us to determine whether or not a student understands a key point… and why or why not. • Are at the appropriate level of rigor. (same as KP) • Many effective CFUs consist of teacher questions, but every question is not a CFU. For a question to be a CFU, it must tell us what students know about something we have already taught them. • Focus Questions • Mr. Darcy asks several questions in this 2-minute section… but these • questions are not CFUs. Why not? Be sure to consider both: • The pair of questions (to which students answer “giving” and “taking.”) • The individual “What do you think?” question.

10. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Three (INM)- p. 491 • CFUs during the introduction to content to help students “chunk and chew” the information… and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.” • We must plan CFUs that check the right amount of information at the right time: • Small-Chunks (lower level- small pieces of info- 1 KP) • Big-Chunks (integrated and higher-level; linked KPS) • Chunky-Chunks (trickiest) • Focus Question Why did Mr. Darcy spend a lot of time CFU-ing Step Two of the process (and not as much time with Step One)?

11. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Four (INM)- p. 492 • CFUs during the introduction to content to help students “chunk and chew” the information… and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.” • But students aren’t likely to “choke” on every key point – we need to be strategic about deciding which key points are the most critical “chunks” to check. • Focus Questions • Why didn’t Mr. Darcy CFU either Step #3 or Step #4 at this point? • What did Mr. Darcy accomplish with his quick CFU of Step #5?

12. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Five (INM)- p. 493 • An effective check for understanding forces what is in a student’s • brain to come out and be visible to the teacher. CFUs must: • Directly link to a key point (or to a group of key points). • Allow us to determine whether or not a student understands a key point… and why or why not. • (bite-sized data to coach and correct) • Are at the appropriate level of rigor. (same as KP) • Check the right amount of information at the right time. • Focus Questions • Why is Mr. Darcy CFU-ing just Steps #3-5 here? Why not check all steps at this point? • How does this CFU meet all of the criteria? (evaluate it against each of the four indicators)

13. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Six- p. 494 • CFUs during the introduction to content to help • students “chunk and chew” the information… • and helps us make sure they aren’t “choking.” • Focus Question • Why did Mr. Darcy take the time to do this last CFU? After all, he ended up CFU-ing every step of the process earlier – why not just move straight to practice?

14. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Part Seven (GP)- p. 495-496 • The gradual release of responsibility means we’re still “chunking and chewing” with CFUs in the practice sections of the lesson (particularly during the Guided Practice). The primary differences are that: • Students are taking more responsibility for the content. • Students are often working on more than one key point at a time. • We must plan CFUs that check the right amount of information at the right time: • Small-Chunks • Big-Chunks • Chunky-Chunks • Focus Question • The CFU questions/tasks in this practice activity are pretty much the same as the CFU questions/tasks in the introduction to content. The difference is in Mr. Darcy’s method of executing his Guided Practice CFUs: What are some of these key differences?

15. Mr. Darcy’s Plan: Impact of CFUs • (If executed effectively – more on that to come!): • What will be the impact of these strong CFUs on: • Mr. Darcy? • His students? • Supplemental Resource: • Handout 3: p. 497-509- Strong CFUs – Ms. Bennett’s Social Studies Plan

16. Application • Look for 3 places you would want to put key points- a small-chunk, big-chunk, and chunky-chunk place.

17. Agenda

18. Planning CFUs: Step-by-Step Process • Identify where you need to check for understanding: Have you just taught a key point? Is this a “chunk” students might “choke” on? • Identify what kind of data you’re looking for: What should your students be able to day or do at this point in the lesson? • Write a baseline CFU question or task that would prompt students to say or do that. • Write an exemplar response to double-check that your baseline CFU gets to the right information (and to provide yourself with an answer key).

19. Planning CFUs: Questions vs. Tasks • Step 3: Write a baseline CFU question or task. • Questions: Push students to show what they know about the key points (repeat steps) • Tasks: Push students to show what they can do with the key points (after defining term, students generate example)

20. Application • Time willin’ extension: Determine whether to have a task or question CFU in each place you noted • Write question or task CFUs for these 3 spots.

21. Agenda

22. Closing: Getting “Meta” • How was your understanding of key points about checks for understanding checked during this session? • How will it be checked after this session?

23. Closing: TAL Rubric & Next Steps

24. Checking For Understanding: The Bottom Line No one is teaching if no one is learning – it is our responsibility as teachers to frequently and effectively check for understanding during all parts of the lesson cycle.