Center for Social Organization of Schools

1. Center for Social Organization of Schools

2. Keeping Middle Grades Students On Track to Graduation Initial Analysis and Implications Robert Balfanz, Johns Hopkins University Liza Herzog, Philadelphia Education Fund March 18, 2005 Support Provided by the William Penn Foundation

3. Research Question How early in the middle grades (grades 6-8) can we identify students at high risk for falling off the graduation track?

4. Findings Four Powerful 6th Grade Predictors of ‘Falling Off Track’ • Attending school 80% or less of the time • Receiving a poor final behavior mark • Failing Math • Failing English

5. Talent Development Middle Grades Reading and English Language Arts Student Team Literature Listening Comprehension Talent Development Writing CATARA

6. Student Team Literature • thoroughly researched • trade book-based • Partner Discussion Guides • cooperative learning teams

7. The Focus of Instruction ■ building background ■developing vocabulary ■ increasing fluency ■ fostering thinking while reading text ■ providing opportunities for speaking and listening ■ conveying aspects of the writer’s craft ■ using writing to convey comprehension ■ developing social skills that facilitate learning

8. Student Team Literature • Materials • Classroom Organization and Management • Methods • The STLit Cycle of Activities • Assessments

9. The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963 HOLES Student Team Literature: Materials Quality Literature for Adolescents THE GIVER The Dream Keeper and Other Poems Esperanza Rising The Invisible Thread The Cay The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Sees Behind Trees Ann Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl The Library Card Felita

10. Student Team Literature: Materials Partner Discussion Guides Comprehension Exercises that organize students’ activities as they complete a reading selection

11. Student Team Literature: Materials Partner Discussion Guides have five major parts: 1. Vocabulary Lists 2. Partner Discussion Guide Questions (two sections) 3. Selection Review questions 4. Literature-related Writing Activities 5. Extension Activities In Addition: About the Author So, You Want to Read More

12. H L A A Student Team Literature: Classroom Organization and Management Teaching Social Skills, Teaming Students, and Managing a Cooperative Learning Classroom A Teacher-selected, Mixed-ability Cooperative Learning Team Partnership A Partnership B

13. Student Team Literature: Methods Introduction to the Reading Selection Teachers use information in the Building Background and Preview/Predict/Purpose sections of the Partner Discussion Guide to activate students’ prior knowledge, fill knowledge gaps, and set expectations for reading.

14. Student Team Literature: Methods Teacher-led Direct Instruction in Vocabulary Development: Focus on high frequency (starred*) words ■ Oral language work during vocabulary presentation Talk about the words!

15. Student Team Literature: Methods Teacher-led Direct Instruction in Vocabulary Development: Work with students to build definitions using their prior knowledge and direct instruction in identifyingroots and affixes andparts of speech. dis chron ful pro re sub inter graph multi onym ism tion trans mis ful a ize ex

16. VOCABULARY PREDICTION CHART Action Characters Starred Words from The Giver distraught apprehensive irony intrigue aptitude Setting No Prediction Student Team Literature: Methods Teacher-led Direct Instruction in Vocabulary Development: Vocabulary as a Tool for Making Predictions

17. Student Team Literature:Methods Teacher-led Direct Instruction inVocabulary Development: Daily Rapid Reviews

18. After activating students’ prior knowledge, filling gaps in background, and working on vocabulary … There is dramatically more frontal lobe activity (higher level thinking) when people read silently. When reading aloud, almost all activity is in the motor cortex, very little in the frontal lobe. Silent Reading

19. Student Team Literature: MethodsStrategies to Build Fluency Partner Reading of “pivotal passages” • Partner Reading provides: • practice in building fluency • opportunities for correction, clarification, • etc. • stigma-free practice, specially for ESL • students and poor readers • opportunities for teachers to observe and • diagnose problems

20. The Partner Reading Fluency Assessment Once each quarter a teacher listens to each student as he/she participates in Partner Reading in order to assess the reader’s ► Phrasing, ► Smoothness, and ► Pacing

21. Choral Reading Echo Reading Readers’ Theater Strategies to Build Fluency Alternatives to Partner Reading

22. Student Team Literature: Methods Fostering Thinking While ReadingText Annotating Text Recent research supports the notion that before-, during-, and after-reading strategies assist students in making meaning of text1. Teachers using our program begin by building background and engaging students in making predictions about what they are going to read. Students examine covers of trade books and illustrations, captions, and pull quotes2 in textbooks (some call this “textwalking”3). They also skim pages and offer predictions about what they are going to read. •   ?  • Logographic • Cues

23. Student Team Literature: Methods Teachers use the contents of Writers’ Craft Boxes to teach mini-lessons on aspects of the writers’ craft that students are about to encounter.

24. Student Team Literature: Methods Teacher-led Direct Instruction in Vocabulary Development: Composing Meaningful Sentences, sentences in which a writer embeds context clues that indicate his/her understanding of new words I saw a balloon. I saw a big red balloon. During the birthday party, Mike’s big, round red balloon slipped from his hands and floated quickly toward the clouds.

25. Additional Activities Literature-related Writing (using the writing process) Extension Activities (research, exploration, technology, art) About the Author So, You Want to Read More (options for independent reading)

26. Partner or Team Practice DirectInstruction Individual Practice Individual Assessment The Student Team LiteratureCycle of Activities

27. Student Team Literature: Assessments Assessments Words Out Loud Test Literature Test Vocabulary Test Literature-related Writing Assignments Peer Pre-assessments Words Out Loud Practice Selection Review Checking Meaningful Sentences Peer Response to Literature-related Writing Assignments Unit Testsin Standardized Test-format

28. Listening Comprehension Listening Comprehension is a component of Student Team Literature in which students are read to by a model reader, their teacher, for about 20 to 30 minutes once or a week in order to: • hear a fluent reader read and think aloud, and make meaning of text • exercise their comprehension skills • learn about literary elements and devices, and types of literature • improve their listening skills

29. Computer AndTeamAssisted ReadingAcceleration Our ten-week “double dose” of reading instruction for students who need additional support.

30. Reading Strategy Instruction Independent Reading CATARA Core Novel Learning Center Rotations

31. Because of the unique nature of the language arts, all teachers in a school will use the Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening Standards. The standards define the skills and strategies employed by effective readers and writers; therefore, all teachers will assist their students in learning them through multiple classroom situations in all the subject areas. Pennsylvania Department of Education

32. All Hands on Deck! Marshalling the Forces of Content Area Teachers to Improve Students’ Literacy Skills

33. Professional Development • Initial Trainings: Three days • Coaching: On-going • Follow-up Trainings: Individual andSmall group(can be during team meeting time or planning time) Half-day Whole-day

34. Talent Development Middle Grades MATHEMATICS UCSMP Series 5th & 6th: Everyday Math 7th: Transition Math 8th: Algebra (Alternate programs: Math in Context and Connected Math)

35. Talent Development Middle Grades SCIENCE Full Option Science System and other science modules supported by the NSF and The Story of Science

36. Talent Development Middle Grades SOCIAL STUDIES A History of Us By Joy Hakim 10-volume series • Teaching Guide with Lessons • Masters for: • Student Sheets • Team Sheets • Transparencies • Review Games • Assessments