Beyond the Blur: Focusing on Writing

1. June Preszler Education Specialist, TIE August 23, 2007 Beyond the Blur:Focusing on Writing

2. Status check Activating learning Building vocabulary Summarizing learning Differentiating learning Integrating technology Assessing learning The Plan

3. I believe my role in the teaching of writing is… Something I enjoy about teaching writing is… Something I struggle with when it comes to teaching writing is… I assess writing by… The importance of writing in the Meade School District and why (rank 1-5, 5 high) Finding the Writing Teacher Within

4. Strategies that work and how to use them Looking at the Old Ways

5. The concept: Counting Coup What do you think it means? Think-Ink-Pair-Share—Content Area Writing, 12-13 Counting Coup

6. Not a person But a thing “The biggest enemy our children have are those things sitting in front of you and they’re called books.”—Gerard Baker The Enemy in Front of Us

7. “What do you do with your enemies? You conquer them.” “We have to redefine our enemies and conquer them.” The Warrior

8. “We have to count coup on books.” Three-Minute Pause (Write) (Struggling Readers, 21) Vocabulary Notebook (Build Student Vocabularies, 24) Counting Coup

9. Identifying the enemy Empowering the student Becoming a warrior Conquering the enemy The (Battle) Plan

10. Choice Theory (Glasser and Erwin) • All behavior is purposeful • Five basic needs that drive all behavior: • Survival • Love and belonging • Power • Freedom • Fun Power of Choice

11. Power over Power within Power with Power

12. Please return in 15 minutes You’ll know it’s time to come back to me when the music stops… Take a Break!

13. Reading Strategies to Guide Learning, page 7 Virtual World of Second Life Independently Share with partner or small group Share with class Write a prediction of what you think you’ll learn Activation the ABC Way

14. Even 2nd Life Has to Upgrade!

15. 2nd Life Home

16. In your group, read the article provided Research Second Life via the Internet As you learn more information, jot down the ideas on your ABC chart Write a paragraph (or two) describing one (or two) things you’d like to share (teach) the rest of us about Second Life Second Life Investigation

17. On your own, summarize your learning. Some guiding questions you might want to consider: What new information have you learned regarding Second Life? Why is Second Life so successful? Who uses Second Life? How could Second Life be used in the classroom? Would you consider using Second Life in your classroom? Why or why not? Reflection on Second Life

18. Text to self Text to text Text to world More Strategies to Guide Learning, pages 5-7 Making Connections

19. Summarizing • When we summarize, we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their bare essentials. • Bare essentials: the gist, the key, the main points worth remembering. • Content Area Writing, 16-23

20. Marzano: When working with struggling students, we need to understand that summarize academic learning doesn’t come automatically. In fact, we need to provide students with a variety of approaches to use as students attempt to summarize.

21. Strategy Explanation • Summarizing and note taking are identified as two of the most useful academic skills for all students. • Summarizing and note taking are grouped together since both require students to distill and then synthesize.

22. Research on Summarizing • Students must delete, substitute and keep information. • Students must analyze information at a deep level of understanding. • Students must be aware of the information’s structure in order to effectively summarize. • Marzano, et al: Classroom Instruction that Works, pages 30-32

23. Ear Wax That’s Gross!

24. Tips and Tricks--1 • Provide students with a selection • Ask students to take notes of important details • When students have finished, direct them to turn over the paper and write what they remember…without looking back

25. Tips and Tricks--2 • Have students write successively shorter summaries, constantly refining and reducing • Begin with half a page, then two paragraphs, then one paragraph, then two or three sentences, then a single sentence

26. Read articles Create GIST for articles, Content Area Writing, 23-23 Create poster Share summaries Getting the Gist of It

27. It’s lunch time; please return at 1:15 TAKE A BREAK!

28. Three Facts and a Fib Strategies to Help Struggling Readers, page 25 A Little Lie Goes a Long Ways

29. 1.When I took my son to college, I camped out in the dorm parking lot for the first night…just in case. 2.I played soccer for a championship youth team in Brazil in the 1970s. 3.In one month, I traveled over 3000 miles for education-related business, had one accident in a BHSSC/TIE vehicle, and received two undeserved speeding tickets. 4. I began my professional career as a recipe writer for the Aberdeen American News. Three Facts and A Fib

30. RAFTS • R=Heart (Role) • A=French Fries (Audience) • F=Complaint (Format) • T=Effects of fat in the diet (Topic) • S=Warn (Strong Verb) • You are Heartand are concerned about your good health. Write a letter of complaint to the French Fries. Warn the French Fries of the effects of fat in the diet. • See handout

31. RAFTS Dear French Fries, I’m writing to give you a warning. You are killing me! You may not realize that one small serving of you contains more saturated fat than I can handle in an entire day. I’ve had it with your high sodium, fat, cholesterol, and artery-clogging ways. Your value-meal family may be easy on the wallet but you are really costly to me. Clean up your act, The Heart

32. RAFTS Dear Mary, It is important to use punctuation. Why aren’t you using punctuation? Punctuation marks are periods, commas, question marks, exclamation marks, and so on. When you write you should always use my marks or people won’t know what you mean. I know your teacher has shown you how to use my marks. Please use them everyday. Thank you, Peter Punctuation Ruth Culham, 6+1 Traits of Writing: Professional Study Guide

33. Observe to Infer • Music in the Wind, Bev Doolittle Details Inferences Making Meaning through Inferences, 16

34. One Possible DI Definition • Differentiation is classroom practice that looks eyeball to eyeball with the reality that kids differ, and the most effective teachers do whatever it takes to hook the whole range of kids on learning. (From Carol Ann Tomlinson, ASCD)

35. Beliefs Behind DI • Learning profiles differ • Active learners, decision makers, problem solvers • Making meaning priority • Opportunity for choice

36. What DI Is… • Proactive • Varied approaches • Multiple approaches to content, process and product • Student centered • Ebb and flow of whole-class, group and individual instruction • Carol Ann Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom, 1999

37. What It Is Not… • Individualized instruction • Chaotic • Homogeneous grouping • Bluebirds and buzzards • Hard questions for the gifted, easy questions for the struggling • Carol Ann Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom, 1999

38. DI Classroom Characteristics • Teachers engage students in instruction through different learning modalities. • A student competes more against self than others. • Teachers provide specific ways for individuals to learn. • Teachers use classroom time flexibly. • Carol Ann Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom, 1999

39. What to Differentiate? • Content (what students learn) • Process (how students learn) • Product (how students show what they know)

40. Prep Steps • Start small—one strategy, one area. • Start with what is—mine ideas; determine what all students will do, what some students will do; identify basic and advanced activities. • Get students ready—discuss differences, organize, “fair” not “same.”

41. Before You Begin, You Need to KnowWhat You Want Your Students to • Know • Understand • Do

42. Menu Approach • Main dish: Everyone • Side dish: Pick and choose • Dessert: Optional but irresistible • Differentiation, Grades 4-12, 10-11

43. Cubes • Looks at topics from different angles • Eliminates flat thinking • Includes six commands and a prompt • Differentiation, Grades 4-12, 12-13

44. ThinkDots • Strategy used to review, demonstrate, and extend thinking • Can be developed to respond to learner readiness, learning profiles, student choice • Variation of cubes; works well with older students

45. Think (TIC)-Tac-Toe • Allows students choice • Incorporates learning preferences • Takes readiness into account (basic and advanced) • Provides framework • Differentiation, Grades 4-12, 14-15

46. Exit Cards • Easy strategy for assessing student learning • Students respond to prompts or questions; turn in cards as they leave • Teacher uses card to help create groups, monitor student progress, revise lessons • Struggling Readers, 27