A 2 hour articulation meeting with grade 6/7 teachers and secondary teachers, focusing on information reading and inquiry, guided by the results of performance-based assessments and what students need to know in terms of how to deeply understand these texts.

1. Engaging Students with
Information Text: What’s
Working? What’s Next?
BEST
November
20th,
2013
Faye
Brownlie
www.slideshare.net

2. Learning Intentions
• I
have
a
be?er
understanding
of
what
makes
a
difference
in
learning
• I
have
a
way
to
begin
working
with
informaFon
circles
and
inquiry
• I
have
built
more
relaFonships
with
teachers
in
my
community
of
schools

3. The teeter totter
kids
kids
curriculum

4. “Pedagogy
trumps
curriculum.”
(Dylan
Wiliam)

5. Four Minute Reflective Write
Thinking about what you learned from your PBA (DART, RAD,
…)
What are the strengths of your class as a
whole?
What are some areas to strengthen of
your class as a whole?
What are you wondering about?

6. Synthesize
• What are two key words/phrases
from your write?
• Pick ONE to share & to explain why
you picked it.

7. Talk Time
A/ B Partners – Share your ONE key idea
(2 minutes each)
Square up – Share your partner’s idea
(5 minutes)
Decide as a group on ONE key thought to
share with the wider group
Group Report out –ONE key idea
(1 minute per group)

8. Background
knowledge
has
a
greater
impact
on
adolescents
being
able
to
read
a
text
than
anything
else.
-­‐Doug
Fisher,
Richard
Allington

9. • Adolescents,
more
so
than
young
children,
link
their
beliefs
about
the
role
of
effort
in
achievement
to
their
interacFons
with
teachers,
and
the
control
that
student
feel
over
their
own
academic
performance
tends
to
decline
as
they
grow
older
(Van
Ryzin,
2011)
• quoted
in
McGill-­‐Franzen
&
Lubke
“Under
the
Radar,
Struggling
to
Be
NoFced:
Older
At-­‐Risk
Students”
in
A]er
Early
IntervenFon,
Then
What?,
2nd
ed.,
Paratore
&
McCormack,
ed,
2011,
IRA

10. Do
your
students
receive
individual
feedback
from
you
in
every
class?

11. “The
most
powerful
single
influence
enhancing
achievement
is
feedback”-­‐Dylan
Wiliam
• Quality
feedback
is
needed,
not
just
more
feedback
• Students
with
a
Growth
Mindset
welcome
feedback
and
are
more
likely
to
use
it
to
improve
their
performance
• Oral
feedback
is
much
more
effecFve
than
wri?en
• The
most
powerful
feedback
is
provided
from
the
student
to
the
teacher

12. “Achievement Now” Alfred Tatum, DeKalb, Illinois
• Kids
could
travel
throughout
the
day
and
read
less
than
3
pages
of
text
-­‐
in
a
high
achieving
high
school
• Kids
could
go
to
the
school
and
become
smarter,
but
not
become
be?er
readers

13. Inquiry based teaching …
•
•
•
•
•
•
Is
problem
or
quesFon
driven
Encourages
collaboraFon
Makes
students
into
explorers
and
discoverers
Requires
kids
to
think
Puts
teachers
in
nonconvenFonal
roles
Requires
the
explicit
teaching
of
social
skills
and
comprehension
skills
– Built
from
the
work
of
Steph
Harvey
and
Harvey
Daniels,
2009

14. Inquiry Circles on Mesopotamia
• Fishbowl
of
inquiry
circles
– Read
to
find
what’s
important
and/or
interesFng
and
defend
with
2
pieces
of
evidence
-­‐
“because”
•
•
•
•
Co-­‐create
criteria
for
effecFve
group
Assign
students
to
topic
groups
Students
read
to
choose
‘the
best
invenFon’
In
groups,
each
talks
by
supporFng
his/her
opinion
with
evidence
• With
Sue
Jackson,
Minnekhada

15. •
•
•
•
Co-­‐create
criteria
for
effecFve
group
Assign
students
to
topic
groups
Students
read
to
choose
‘the
best
invenFon’
In
groups,
each
talks
by
supporFng
his/her
opinion
with
evidence

16. Regroup!!!
Have
at
your
table,
elementary
and
secondary
teachers
who
share
their
students

17. The 10
A Scholastic Series for Inquiry
Editor: Jeff Wilhelm
• 100
Ftles
grades
6-­‐10
• 50
Ftles
grades
4-­‐8
Smartest Adaptations in Nature
-Scholastic

18. What is the smartest
adaptation?
How do animals adapt?

19. Why is this adaptation the best?
• Examine
the
pictures,
the
capFons
and
the
graphics,
the
text
• Look
for
what
strikes
you,
what
jumps
out
as
unique
and/or
important
to
remember
• Place
3
post-­‐it
notes
on
3
different
points
that
support
your
inquiry/argument
• Come
to
the
circle
to
start
the
conversaFon
with
the
informaFon
behind
the
post-­‐it
notes