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Horizon School

Horizon School. Data Wise Journey Presentation By the Horizon Data Team and Horizon 4 th Grade Team December 16, 2010. Steps 1& 2: PREPARE. Steps 1&2: PREPARE. Set norms for our work together Learned about the Data Wise Improvement Process

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Horizon School

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  1. Horizon School Data Wise Journey Presentation By the Horizon Data Team and Horizon 4th Grade Team December 16, 2010

  2. Steps 1& 2: PREPARE

  3. Steps 1&2: PREPARE • Set norms for our work together • Learned about the Data Wise Improvement Process • Reviewed the Educational Question that the Data Team identified based on work from the Getting Started with Data Wise course EDUCATIONAL QUESTION How are our students performing in English Language Arts?

  4. Step 3: Create Data Overview EDUCATIONAL QUESTION

  5. Step 3: What we did • Data Team created data overview focused on our current 4th graders • Together, we discussed overview using the “Visual Thinking Strategies” protocol. This focused our conversation on: • What do you see? • What do you see that makes you say that? • What more can you find in the data?

  6. Step 3: What we accomplished • Identified the Priority Question that we want to dig into: PRIORITY QUESTION How do students use sentence structure in their writing? • This question was important to us because • We wanted to understand why this is an area of relative weakness for our students • We believed this could be an area in which we could foster higher order thinking in our students

  7. Step 3: Reflections • Following the Visual Thinking Strategies protocol forced us to describe the data first instead of jumping to conclusions. • Having the data overview focused on one educational question made examining the data manageable. • Sticking to the time allotments in our meeting agenda ensured we completed our task of identifying our Priority Question.

  8. Step 4: Dig into Student Data PRIORITY QUESTION

  9. Step 4: What we did • Examined 20 writing samples from the September 2010 district writing prompt for 4th graders • Discovered that: • About 2/3 of sentences were simple • I play basketball every day. • Compound sentences only used connectors “and” and “but” • I like reading, but I don’t like math. • Five students used complex sentences; these students only used connector “because” • I like school vacation because I get to sleep late.

  10. Step 4: What we accomplished • Identified the Learner-Centered Problem that our team wanted to address: LEARNER-CENTERED PROBLEM Students’ sentence structure is not as sophisticated as it could be. Students write mostly simple sentences, and when they do use compound or complex sentences, they draw on a limited repertoire of connector words.

  11. Step 4: Reflections • We were concerned that 20 writing samples would not feel representative of all students, but we found that we had a good understanding after 10. • Removing student names from the samples helped us avoid making assumptions. • We found it difficult to use only descriptive language when discussing the samples. We had to keep reminding one another “what did you see that makes you say that?”

  12. Step 5: Examine Instruction LEARNER-CENTERED PROBLEM

  13. Step 5: What we did • Each member of our team described opportunities in his/her classroom for students to build skills in sentence structure. These included: • Weekly writing in journals, lab reports, math learning letters, biographies • Peer editing against the six-point rubric every week • 1:1 teacher feedback using rubric every week • Mini lesson on sentence structure

  14. Step 5: What we accomplished • Identified the Problem of Practice that our team wanted to address: PROBLEM OF PRACTICE We do not explicitly teach students how to vary their sentence structure or show them how doing so can be a powerful tool for shaping the tone of their writing.

  15. Step 5: Reflections • Focusing on something specific like sentence structure helped us: • Feel less overwhelmed • Stay on task during meetings • Have a detailed discussion of about instruction around this skill.

  16. Step 6: Develop Action Plan PROBLEM OF PRACTICE

  17. Step 6: What we did • Met to discuss concrete and immediate steps that we could take to improve students’ sentence structure skills.

  18. Step 6: What we accomplished

  19. Step 6: Reflections • Because our Problem of Practice was very specific, it was relatively easy to develop a very focused action plan for addressing it. • By involving everyone in brainstorming solutions, we came up with an instructional strategy that captured our best collective thinking. • Being clear about who was going to do what when ensured that we would not lose momentum.

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