Skills, Strategies, and Metacognition in Language Arts

1. Skills, Strategies, and MetacognitionJoyce E. Stone, Partially adapted from Kristina Doubet

2. What students should know and be able to do…… Organize, explain, and use information Compare and contrast Relate to other instances—personal and academic Transfer to unfamiliar settings Discover the big ideas embedded within a novel problem Combine concepts and understandings Pose new problems and solutions Create analogies models, metaphors, symbols, and picture of the concept Pose and answer “what if” questions Generate questions and hypotheses to increase knowledge Generalize from specific to big idea Use knowledge to self-assess and assess others

3. On-going Formative AssessmentSupports Strategic Teaching and Learning …FOCUS! on Student Understanding by anchoring instruction and connecting students to content.

4. Concepts Ensure Understanding: Metacognitive Process using language arts as a model for any content Connect the task to the understanding: TASK: Students will know the eight parts of speech and their function in sentences. UNDERSTAND: Students will demonstrate understanding of parts of speech and their role in sentences. DO: Students will… 1. make flash cards of eight parts of speech 2. using a written passage, students will use highlighters to color code various parts of speech 3. identify and supply missing part of speech in sentences 4. write "I Am" poems using adjectives and adverbs to describe themselves 5. using pictures from magazines, make a collage representing a particular part of speech

5. Pre-Assessment • Administered during previous class period • Diagnostic in nature – 16 questions • Match each part of speech to its definition (8) • Identify parts of speech as used in a sentences (8) • Included some “tricky” questions to see who’s really got it (e.g., one word used in a variety of ways). • Results: • Group A – Firm grasp of definitions and use/application • Group B – Firm grasp of definitions but struggled with application • Group C – Struggled with both definitions and application

6. Ongoing Formative Assessments • Why must I discover where students are in relationship to my instructional goals?

7. Assessment and Instruction are parts of an interdependent, strategic process…. Learning Objectives (reflective of standards) Ongoing, formative assessment Strategies designed to support teaching and learning and fill holes indicated by formative assessment. Valid, Reliable, Summative Assessment that supports strategic instruction

8. Ongoing Formative Assessments How can I discover where students are in relationship to what I am teaching?

9. Easy Strategy for Assessing Student Understanding…When students leave, have they understood the instruction? How will you use this information to promote learning? EXIT CARDS

10. Use EXIT CARDS to Create a Learner Profile and Connect it to Instruction • Exit Cards (AKA “Tickets To Leave”) are used to gather information on student readiness levels, interests, and/or learning profiles. • The teacher hands out index cards to students at the end of an instructional sequence or class period. The teacher asks the students to respond to a pre-determined prompt on their index cards and then turn them in as they leave the classroom or transition to another subject. • The teacher reviews the student responses and separates the cards into instructional groups based on preset criteria.

11. Exit Cards: Science Teacher: Am I asking students to stretch? • Draw the earth’s orbit around the sun. • Briefly explain what causes the seasons. Use illustrations, if necessary. • How have your opinions about this topic changed? What questions do you still have?

12. Exit Cards: British Literature Teacher: Why this task? Student: I am making connections to other works of literature. • What is a “conceit”? • Briefly explain the “conceit” apparent in “The Flea” • In what other works that we’ve read did you notice a “conceit”?

13. Exit Cards: History Teacher: I am asking students to compare and contrast, to examine the context. • Name 3 factors that contributed to the United States’ involvement in WWII? • Briefly explain what you believe to be the most significant of these factors and tell why?

14. Exit Cards: Algebra Teacher: I am providing models and options. • Draw a graph & label the “x” and “y” axes • Graph a line with the endpoints (3,5) (7,2) • Graph a line with the endpoints (-3,-5) (7,2) • Provide two ways of writing the equation for a line

15. 3-2-1 Cards—Metacognition: Students need to know what they learned and why. • 3things I learned today about entrepreneurship • 2questions I still have/ am confused about… • 1 thing I would like to learn more about…

16. Another Alternative….to Exit Cards. A way to pre-assess Prior Knowledge. ENTRY CARDS

17. Spiral Learning Strategy: Concept: Metaphor • Students will know the definition of metaphor, stanza, simile, etc. • Students will be able to describe themselves using metaphors • Students will understand that… • Metaphors allow us to communicate ideas that literal language can’t • Metaphors help readers picture things in their minds.

18. Metaphor Lesson ENTRY CARD Name: ____________ Period:_____ • What is a “metaphor”? • Give at least two examples. • Explain why song-writers and poets use metaphors.

19. Two Tasks: Embedded Strategy • “ME” Metaphor Poem • Choose something to compare yourself to. It can be something in nature, a machine of sorts, a song, a force, and animal, a color—the only thing it CAN”T be is another person. • Strive for at least 4 stanzas (line lengths in stanzas can vary). • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • (Advanced Understanding – Complete assignment independently) “ME” Metaphor Poem • Write a poem describing yourself using a series of metaphors and similes. You can describe both what you are and what you are not. • Try using couplets – and strive for about 5-7 couplets. See page 314 an 315 for more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Basic understanding – Assignment follows mini-lesson on metaphors) A B

20. You can change the category titles to suit your instructional needs. Frayer Diagrams are useful graphic organizers. TOPIC or CONCEPT DEFINE IT GIVE IMPORTANCE LIST EXAMPLES LIST NON-EXAMPLES

21. Economics Example Free Enterprise System DEFINE IT GIVE IMPORTANCE LIST EXAMPLES LIST NON-EXAMPLES

22. Teacher: “Hook” Strategy in literary analysis.Student: Self-assess and assess others. POWER Where Do you have it? Where do you lack it? “Shrew” Characters who had it: “Shrew” Characters who lacked it:

23. Teacher Strategy—The Matrix Combine Understandings In each square, list something that the leader in the two coordinate boxes share that the other two leaders do not. Where a person intersects with him/herself, you must list something unique to only him/her.

24. Students generate questions and hypotheses in Think-Pair-Share ? pair think + share

25. Windshield Check: A feedback Loop for Teacher and Students…. • CLEAR – “I get it!” • BUGS – “I get it for the most part, but I still have a few questions.” • MUD – “I still don’t get it.” Alternative Method: Thumbs-up/Wiggle palms/Thumbs down

26. Help Cards/Stations: Teacher intervenes. Students self-assess, collaborate, and support one another. • In one study, high school students attributed increased success to an atmosphere which encouraged students to ask for help, as well as opportunities to do so. • Help cards – hold up at designated times, or as needed • “Self-Help Groups” – Students self select to hear info another way or to work with a new application

27. Teachers and Students…Which learning strategies have you experienced? Which would you like to try? Think Tank