The Best Instructional Strategies and Resources - …classroom21.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/file/view/The+Best... ·  · 2012-11-06The Best Instructional Strategies and Resources ... Admit

The Best Instructional Strategies and Resources Compiled by: Heather Mullins, Professional Development Consultant North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Revised April 25, 2012 *- Example or template can be found in the Strategies for Literacy Development Handout

Pre-Assessment and Activating Strategies and Resources Clear Learning Targets Clear learning targets are your learning goals presented in student-friendly language. Derived directly from the curriculum, CLTs begin with “I can…, I know…, or I will…” statements, and they are generally performance based. CLTs provide students the opportunity to take ownership of their own learning and provide ongoing formative assessment. The best CLTs are performance-based tasks that students will complete once they have acquired the requisite knowledge and skills. (Black and Wiliam, 1998) Admit Slips* Admit Slips enable students to focus their attention on the reading and study planned for class by preparing responses, ideas, and questions that anticipate the reading for that day. An Admit Slip should serve as a review and provide students an opportunity to provide their insight on a question or topic. OR …an Admit Slip can serve as a preview of a topic/concept that will be studied in class on the day an Admit Slip is due. Generally, the contents of the Admit Slip will serve as an impetus for a bell-ringer activity. Think-Pair-Share or other interactive strategy where students can share the contents of the Admit Slip pairs wells with this strategy. The teacher will use this activity as a formative assessment opportunity and would then clarify any misconceptions. (Vacca, R. T., & Vacca, J. A.,1999) No Pressure-Pretest Pretests provide teachers with much needed information about meeting students where they are. Students need to understand that pretests will not be graded and scored. Disaggregated data from pretests should be used to modify and plan instruction. Students should ALWAYS be informed that grades will NOT be taken on pretests as the purpose is to provide the teacher with a baseline to answer the question: Where are you now?

K-W-L Teachers activate students' prior knowledge by asking them what they already Know; then students (collaborating as a classroom unit or within small groups) set goals specifying what they Want to learn; and after reading students discuss what they have Learned. Students apply higher-order thinking strategies which help them construct meaning from what they read and help them monitor their progress toward their goals. A worksheet is given to every student that includes columns for each of these activities. Squaring Off Place a card in each corner of the room with the following phrases: Dirt Road, Paved Road, Highway, and Yellow Brick Road. Brainstorm with students the characteristics of each type of road and how each road represents a level of understanding. The dirt road would symbolize the lowest level of understanding where the yellow brick road would indicate an ability to teach others about the topic. Instruct students to go to the corner of the room that matches where they are in the new unit of study. You can use this activity to create cooperative learning groups, assess knowledge, and meet students where they are. Four Corners Like Squaring Off, this kinesthetic method of formative assessment allows students to move to a corner of the room labeled as “A, B, C, D,” “Yes/No,” “True/False,” “Agree, Disagree, Neutral,” etc. Students move to the corner that represents their response to a prompt. Teachers use this real-time information to make adjustments to instruction. Anticipation Guides An anticipation guide is a comprehension strategy that is used before reading to activate students' prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic. Before reading, students listen to or read several statements about key concepts presented in the text; they're often structured as a series of statements with which the students can choose to agree or disagree. Anticipation guides stimulate students' interest in a topic and set a purpose for reading. http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/anticipation_guide

Brain Dump Whether you need a pre-assessment or quick focus and review, Brain Dump will provide you with information about how much information your students know or have retained about a specific concept or topic. Ask students to either dump all information they know on a sheet of paper or orally with a partner or group. Ask students to share information with the group about what they already know or what they recall from the previous day. This “no pressure” activity is also a great way to spark interest as well as have students share their individual knowledge with the class. Knowledge Rating* This strategy is wonderful to assess what your students know prior to beginning a study of new vocabulary words. Present students with a chart of selected words. Then, students rate themselves on their current knowledge of the word: I know it and can teach someone about it, I have heard this word but am unsure of exactly what it means, or I do not yet know this word. This strategy can help inform your instruction as you learn where to focus your instructional time. Plus, students can measure their own growth when you revisit the rating throughout the unit of study. Alphabet Boxes Much like Personal Dictionaries, Alphabet Boxes is a personalized, differentiated vocabulary strategy for your students. Students list any words in their alphabet boxes that they do not understand. As the unit continues, have students revisit their boxes and cross out or erase any words they have mastered over the course of the unit. Teachers can take up Alphabet boxes to know how to best prepare for their unit/vocabulary review. Online Dictionaries Many online dictionaries provide features not found in print versions. Sites like Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary http://visual.merriam-webster.com/index.php include images, audio pronunciation, and related words. Wordsmyth http://new.wordsmyth.net/ includes three dictionaries, making it appropriate for all ages. Confusing Words http://www.confusingwords.com/ provides simple explanations and example sentences for words that are often confused or misused. (Note: All of these sites include ads.)

Google Docs You can use this Google tool to complete a Knowledge Rating, vocabulary quiz, pre-test, final test, or any number of vocabulary activities for students. You get immediate, real-time results and data that can be disaggregated quickly and easily. Go to the Ning for a direct link to Google Docs. Wordle Wordle is a tool that creates a word cloud from text. The frequency of the word found in the text will determine the prominence of that word within the cloud. You can customize the word cloud with various text and color formats. Use this tool to help students determine the theme of a body of text or to highlight important words. http://www.wordle.net Animoto Creating a music video from images couldn’t be any easier! With Animoto, http://animoto.com/education, users upload images/video clips and choose music. The program does the rest by importing transitions, creating a visual slideshow that will remind you of a music video. Free registration allows you to create 30 second videos, but teachers can register to create full-length (3 minute) videos at no cost. Animot0 can also be used by students to allow them an opportunity to express their knowledge/understanding. Skimming and Scanning This is a great strategy when students are assigned a large amount of reading. Give the students several minutes to skim and scan the material either in pairs or alone. Remind them to review titles, illustrations or pictures, captions, headings, subheadings, and texts. Have them complete a graphic organizer with labels such as, “First Impressions, Fast Facts, Troublesome Vocabulary, and Final Thoughts.” You can use students’ input to create important “look fors” or “questions” to consider during their reading. WordAhead

http://wordahead.com Watch vocabulary videos for hundreds of words! Each video includes an illustration along with an audio definition and explanation of the word used in context. With free registration, teachers can create word lists to share with students. The “study room” includes a flash card activity. (Note: Site includes ads.)

Predict-O-Gram Provide students with a list of terms, vocabulary words, or concepts found in an upcoming reading. For example, if the students were preparing to read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the teacher might share the following terms: depression, segregation, jury, trial, South, Alabama, lawyer, racial segregation, kids, jail, poverty, housekeeper, summer, court, rabid dog, drunk. Then, the teacher would ask students to anticipate and discuss in pairs or whole group what they think their reading will be about, how the words might be used in the novel, or what questions they have. As the reading ensues, the class can revisit the list to check predictions. Affinity Diagram An affinity diagram can be used as a pre-assessment strategy, an informal formative assessment, or as a way to brainstorm for a project, writing assignment, or presentation. The purpose of an affinity diagram is to help students sift through large volumes of data, to create opportunities for academic talk, to encourage new patterns of thinking, to problem-solve, and to work as a collective group to self-navigate through information. First, students respond to a question or prompt provided by the teacher by placing their ideas on individual sticky notes or cards. One idea should be captured on each card. Students can use as many cards as they need. Next, students group items based on patterns or similarities. Some stickies may belong in two categories. Group consensus is imperative. Discussions ensure that promote synthesis, analyzing, and evaluation. Students then create an “identity” or title for each group. Students share their themes, big ideas, and understandings with the whole class. Finally, students generate hypotheses, generalizations, or predictions based on their affinity diagram.

Communication Strategies Feedback Request Tools* These tools give students the opportunity to solicit your feedback on specific aspects of their work. A student must be able to self-evaluate his own work in order to ask for a teacher’s specific feedback regarding a concept, section, or item. These tools allow the teacher to focus specifically on areas the student feels a need. These tools can ensure that student-teacher conferences have a clear focus. Discussion Boards Many students and teachers are taking full advantage of using online workspaces to collaborate. Blogs, wikis, Nings, and other online discussion board formats are excellent methods of providing students with an opportunity to respond to you, a text, questions, and to each other whenever and wherever they are. Discussion boards can be use to activate/assess prior knowledge, preview concepts, review, or collaborate. Conferencing Although time often prohibits our having an opportunity to conference with students as much as we would like, conferencing provides an opportunity to address specific issues with students regarding their work. Having students arrive at the student-teacher conference with a feedback request tool completed will help you use your limited time wisely. Sharing a rubric with students, and using the rubric to discuss student work or expectation is also a method of using conference time wisely. Rubrics A rubric is a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work. Generally rubrics specify the level of performance expected for several levels of quality. These levels of quality may be written as different ratings (e.g., Excellent, Good, Needs Improvement) or as numerical scores (e.g., 4, 3, 2, 1) which are then added up to form a total score which then is associated with a grade (e.g., A, B, C, etc). Many rubrics also specify the level of assistance (e.g., Independently, With Minimal Adult Help; With Extensive Adult Help) for each quality rating. Rubrics can help students and teachers define "quality". Rubrics can also help students judge and revise their own work before handing in their assignments. Both www.rubistar.com and http://www.rubrics4teachers.com/ are great starting points for creating rubrics.

Tickled Pink – Green for Growth

When providing feedback to students, particularly on writing, students can often become overwhelmed. One strategy is to use a pink and green highlighter to provide two kinds of feedback – Tickled PINK to show that the teacher is pleased with a particular aspect of the work and GREEN for growth to highlight areas that need attention. No more than two areas of GREEN for growth should be marked at one time. The teacher can then provide specific feedback on the two areas of concern. When revisions are made, the cycle is repeated. www.leics.gov.uk/success_crit_leaflet.doc Three Stars and a Wish Students write/highlight or tick three parts of their partner’s work that meets the success criteria (the stars). They then highlight or circle in a different color the area for improvement and write a wish (For example: “I wish you would explain the process more thoroughly in this section.” Students do need training and modeling to learn to provide good feedback. This strategy can also be used orally in partner pairs or cooperative learning groups. www.leics.gov.uk/success_crit_leaflet.doc

Comprehension Strategies and Resources Marzano’s Five Step Process/Interactive Word Walls

1. Present students with a brief explanation or description of the new term or phrase. 2. Present students with a non-linguistic representation of the new term or phrase. 3. Ask students to generate their own explanations or descriptions of the term or phrase. 4. Ask students to create their own nonlinguistic representation of the term or phrase. 5. Periodically ask students to review the accuracy of their explanations and

representations. This strategy can be combined with Word Wall to maximize exposure and to make Word Walls interactive. Use Images and Media Providing students with nonlinguistic representations of words is an important aspect of vocabulary study. Using sites like Google Images http://images.google.com/ and Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ can provide you with images to support word study in your classroom. YouTube for educators is now available to the public as well. This is a great place to find videos for students. Think-Pair-Share/Knee Partners/Squaring Up Think-Pair-Share is a strategy designed to provide students with time to think about a given topic, enable them to formulate individual ideas, and share these ideas with another student. This strategy encourages student classroom participation. Rather than using a basic recitation method in which a teacher poses a question and one student offers a response, Think-Pair-Share encourages a high degree of pupil response and can help the teacher gauge student understanding of a concept. Students also become imparters of knowledge with this strategy. Modeling Providing students with a model or an exemplar of your expectation is one of the most powerful ways to ensure that students are successful in reaching their learning targets. By creating rubrics, providing clear samples for critique, and both poor and exceptional models, students can gain a greater understanding of an appropriate product. Teachers may have to create models on their own, or they may, over time, choose student models from previous classes. Sharing the model/exemplar as well as providing time to discuss the quality of models will ensure student understanding.

Khan Academy Video Series http://www.khanacademy.org/ Khan Academy provides students with over 3100 video tutorials that lend themselves to the flipped classroom. Students can listen to a teacher demonstrate a mathematical, financial, or scientific concept while watching the teacher illustrate the problem, structure, or design on a virtual whiteboard/blackboard. Use this site to reinforce classroom instruction or to allow for students to move at their own paces. YouTube for Schools http://www.youtube.com/teachers Connect your students to the best educational video resources on the web with YouTube for schools. Content is free to educators and has been screened to ensure it is appropriate for K-12 classrooms.

“Teach” / “Okay” “Teach / okay” is one element of the Power Teaching movement created by Chris Biffle in the late 1990s. This movement, now referred to as Whole Brain Teaching, incorporates the philosophy that students learn best when they have opportunities to be the imparters of knowledge, they incorporate movement into their daily learning, and no more than ten minutes go by without the implementation of formative assessment. In this particular strategy, the teacher asks students to turn to their partners and simultaneously explain to each other what they have just learned in class regarding a specific concept. In its truest form, the teacher has incorporated a variety of demonstrative hand gestures to help demonstrate the concept, and students use these gestures to explain the concept to their partner. When the teacher says, “Teach,” the students respond with “okay,” then they teach each other. Inner/Outer Circle This is a review strategy that is great for our kinesthetic learners. Students create an inner circle and an outer circle facing each other. The number of students in each should be the same. Students in the inner circle will hold a two-sided handout. On one side will be a vocabulary term, and on the other side is a definition. The inner circle students hold up the word to the person in the outer circle. On the teacher’s command, the person in the outer circle provides the definition to the person in the inner circle. The teacher can decide whether or not the inner circle person provides the correct definition if the student misses. The students in the outer circle rotate on the teacher’s command until they are back where they began. Then, the teacher can allow inner circle students to switch with outer circle participants. He/She can also ask questions about which words were not missed or missed often to gain information about how to support student mastery. Stoplight Strategy This strategy was featured last year and widely popular. Students are given a red, green, and yellow crayon, marker, or colored pencil for use on their pre-test, vocabulary list, or review. Students code each item as either green, meaning confident in the response; yellow, meaning unsure; or red, meaning a total guess or that they do not understand the term/concept. The information from the student coding informs the teacher about mastery of material and gives the student a chance to process individually. Knowledge Triangles Students choose three different vocabulary words or concepts and place each word in a triangle surrounding a circle. In the circle, the student writes a sentence or creates an image or hypothesis that demonstrates the relationship between the three words.

Sort or Sequence Providing students the opportunity to sort or sequence events by concept, timeline, or other criteria is not only fun, but it allows our kinesthetic learners an opportunity for hands-on instruction. This strategy can be modified to include cooperative learning groups, time limits, or other criteria that will make the interactive experience more engaging. One variation is to make the activity a competition. This strategy can be used as either a literacy or vocabulary strategy. Lesson Writer This online tool allows you to create printable reading assignments tailored to the needs of your students. Free registration enables you to create and save assignments. Paste in a body of text and Lesson Writer will generate vocabulary and various grammar lessons from the content of that text. Add your own comprehension questions and insert graphic organizers. Then, with a click of a button, you can set the layout of the assignment as well as customize the printable assignment sheet by choosing what skill activities you wish to include. http://www.lessonwriter.com/ QAR* QAR basically defines itself. It is the relationship between questions and their answers. There are four basic types of question and answer relationships.

1. Right There -- In this type of QAR, the answer is found in the text. Also, the words in the question and the words in the answer are usually in the same sentence. The reader can point to the answer.

2. Think and Search -- In this type of QAR, the answer is found in the text. However, the words in the question and the words in the answer are not found in the same sentence. The reader must put together different parts of the text to get the answer.

3. Author and Me (or Author and You) -- The answer is not found in the text. The reader has to put together the information the author provides with information the reader already knows to come up with the answer.

4. On My Own (or On Your Own) -- The reader does not use the text at all to answer the question. The answer is based on the reader's opinions and experiences.

Some good QAR resources can be found here: http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/readingliterature/readingstrategies/QAR.htm

Frayer Model* The Frayer Model is an adaptation of the concept map. The framework of the Frayer Model includes: the concept word, the definition, characteristics of the concept word, examples of the concept word, and non examples of the concept word. Free Resources: http://www.worksheetworks.com/miscellanea/graphic-organizers.html http://www.longwood.edu/staff/jonescd/projects/educ530/aboxley/pdffiles/2.pdf Break it Down and Solve it* This strategy, designed for math or any discipline that incorporates math, provides students with the opportunity to articulate how and why they make mathematical decisions. This strategy helps both the student and the teacher discover what misconceptions students have and exactly where understanding ends and confusion begins. The Vocabulary LINCing Routine* Step 1: List the parts Step 2: Identify a Reminding Word Step 3: Note a LINCing Story Step 4: Create a LINCing Picture Step 5: Self-test

Text Reformulation Have students read a body of text and “reformulate” it into another text of their choice. Examples are: An A-B-C story, a poem, a song, a children’s book, a speech, a pattern based on another primary source. For example, the concept of Constant of Variation in math could be reformulated to the patter of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? (Martha Lamb, Catawba County Schools)

I, We, Two, You This strategy focuses on best practice in that the teacher models a new concept, the class then practices together, the teacher then asks partners to practice together, then each student becomes responsible for his/her own work. This strategy provides low-risk for students and also allows teachers multiple opportunities for teachers to troubleshoot potential questions or difficulties students have. Teaching the students this terminology shares your expectation that eventually they will be responsible for the concept eventually.

Organizational / Note Taking Strategies and Resources Alphabet Boxes Students use an Alphabet matrix to record the vocabulary words they find unfamiliar. This differentiated strategy allows for students to focus on words with which they struggle. Students can mark through words as they become familiar with them. Then, the matrix becomes a study guide. Modify this strategy to create a class Alphabet Box matrix for a wall in your classroom. Lexipedia / Visuwords Visuwords http://www.visuwords.com/ and Lexipedia http://lexipedia.com/ are websites that provide visualizations of word meanings and connections. Students can see how words are associated and interact with the graphic representation to help them understand word meanings and to clarify connections. (Note: Both sites contain ads.) Lotus Diagram* The Lotus is an analytical, organizational tool for breaking broad topics into components, which can then be further organized, analyzed or prioritized. Keeps students from becoming overwhelmed. This organizer provides an outline for students to expand their thinking, helps students define the topic being studied, and fosters thinking skills. This Quality Tool is great for major projects, products, or writing assignments and perfect for our ELL, EC, and ADD students as they can organize information and tackle one section at a time. Online Graphic Organizers You can find various graphic organizer templates online. (For example, check out http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/index.jsp.) Some templates actually allow you to customize the text/format before printing. (http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm) Some online tools allow users to create interactive graphic organizers. Exploratree http://www.exploratree.org.uk/ includes many templates, divided into categories. Users can create custom thinking guides, save, print, and share with others. Bubble.us http://bubbl.us/ is another online tool that allows users to create mind maps, save, and share. Additional graphic organizer resources can be found at http://delicious.com/murraygirl/graphicorganizers.

Interactive Notes* Whether students are reading fiction or nonfiction, Interactive Notes provides students with specific “look fors” before, during, and after reading. This literacy strategy provides structure and choice as teachers can choose “some” specific tasks or have students choose tasks from the list. Journals Although many teachers use journals in their classrooms, not all teachers take the time to provide clear, specific feedback to students. Journaling is a wonderful way to have students share their knowledge and for the teacher to gauge understanding. However, students rely on the teacher’s feedback to make adjustments that will improve their achievement. Writing in journals can also function as a pre-assessment or activating strategy or a summarizing activity – depending on the prompt, and purpose. Studying with Labels Adding labels to words and categorizing them is a brain-friendly method of learning and retaining new words. By using labels, students add yet another connection to a word that can help them with recall. Customizable Printables Choose from embedded lists of words or create your own. Then choose the type of printable you would like to create (flashcards, study sheets, quizzes, etc.) and customize the layout and features. http://www.educationalpress.org/index.asp GIST* Students read a passage and highlight or determine the 7 most important words or concepts in the passage. (The teacher will provide a specific number of words from 5-10, but it is important NOT to go over 1o. Students then pair to share their lists and come to consensus on the top 7 number of words. During this time, students will have to justify, explain, and evaluate the text in order to come to consensus. Once consensus is reached, the students then write a 1-2 sentence summary of their reading, incorporating as many of their important words as possible.

Games with Vocabulary Sort or Sequence Providing students the opportunity to sort or sequence events by concept, timeline, or other criteria is not only fun, but it allows our kinesthetic learners an opportunity for hands-on instruction. This strategy can be modified to include cooperative learning groups, time limits, or other criteria that will make the interactive experience more engaging. One variation is to make the activity a competition. This strategy can be used as either a literacy or vocabulary strategy. Who Would Say It? With this strategy, the teacher gives students vocabulary words and has them work individually, with a partner, or in a small group to write a sentence from the point-of-view of someone who might use the term. Teachers can provide the “person” or allow students to choose from one to three different persons who might say the right word. Students share their responses with the class, or the teacher can take up responses at Exit Tickets to inform instruction for the next day’s lesson. Conversation Game This is a great review strategy for students to use vocabulary words in a different context. Students must process and use vocabulary to create a conversation either individually, in a small group, or in a whole-class situation. Specific emphasis should be placed on the use of context clues to ensure understanding. The Conversation Game is a great strategy to differentiate. A formative assessment strategy, teachers can use what they glean from this activity to focus their instruction and identify misconceptions. Stumpers This strategy was designed provide yet another opportunity for teachers to differentiate vocabulary instruction and give students ownership of their learning. There are a number of ways you can use this strategy in your classroom. For our struggling readers, students can choose two or three words that “stump” them in their reading. They can write the words and what they think the words might mean based on the context clues. High flying students may choose two to three words they “think” will stump other students. Their job would be to write the word, definition, and use the word in a sentence. The teacher can use the stumpers for review, extra credit, test questions, or as a bell ringer.

Online Flash Cards Students need multiple exposures to vocabulary words, and online flashcards can be used as a tool to provide students with another word study experience. There are various flashcard websites that include public user-created card sets as well as options to create and save your own cards. Additionally, sites like FlashcardDB offer free registration so users can customize study options, making the practice experience more individualized. (Example sites: http://flashcarddb.com/ http://www.flashcardexchange.com/) Game Templates Creating an interactive game using programs like Microsoft Excel can require a lot of time. Luckily, there are game templates online that have already been created and shared, allowing you to download and customize the games to suit your purpose. Games patterned after the $100,000 Pyramid and Jeopardy are good resources to create vocabulary/literacy activities. Example templates can be found at http://www.murray.k12.ga.us/teacher/kara%20leonard/Mini%20T%27s/Games/Games.htm#gameshows

Quick Check Methods of Formative Assessment These methods can be used multiple times in each class period to gauge student understanding of a concept. Fist to Five Much like the “Thumbs Strategy,” students show the teacher a fist, one, two, three, four, or five fingers to indicate their level of knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. A fist would indicate an understanding of zero, and a five would indicate the ability to teach someone else the material. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction or form groups. Thumbs Strategy Students give a thumbs up, thumbs to the side, or thumbs down to indicate their knowledge regarding a specific concept, vocabulary word, or question. This strategy provides immediate formative feedback for the teacher to make immediate modifications to instruction. Clothesline Create or have students imagine a clothesline in your classroom that runs from one wall to another. You may choose to place a piece of tape on the floor to serve as your clothesline. Share with students that one end of the clothesline represents a complete lack of understanding of a concept, while the other side represents an amount of knowledge that would allow someone to teach another person about the concept. Then, ask students to gauge their own knowledge of a specific topic or concept and get up and move to the area on the clothesline that demonstrates “where they are now” in terms of understanding the concept. This kinesthetic formative assessment strategy is a nice transition strategy that provides immediate feedback. However, the teacher must have strong rules governing classroom movement, and the students and teacher must also have developed a sense of mutual trust. Speedometer Like clothesline, thumbs, and show me the fingers, this strategy works in the same manner. Students use their arms to create a physical speedometer. With arms overlapping, the top arm will raise to a level that indicates where the student’s understanding of a concept is at a specific time. If the student’s arms remain still and horizontal, then the student has no understanding (the speedometer is at zero). The more a student understands, the more he raises his top arm. Anything past a 90 degree angle demonstrates mastery of a concept.

The Muddiest Point This technique provides feedback on what students find confusing or difficult about a lesson, concept, or topic. TMP can be used as a ticket out the door or as a quick formative check at any point during the class. The teacher simply asks the question, “What is the muddiest point in ______________? Students can write their responses, think-pair-share, or raise their hands to share with the whole group. (Ann Carlsen, M.Ed.) http://www.southalabama.edu/petal/Documents/muddiestpoint.pdf Yes/No Cards Students make a card with Yes (or Got It!) on one side, No (No Clue) on the other. Teachers ask introductory or review questions. Students who know the answer hold up the “yes” card, and students who do not know the correct answer hold up the “no” card. This strategy is very effective when introducing vocabulary words that students may need as a knowledge base for a unit of study. Additionally, the Yes/No Cards strategy can be implemented with little prep yet provides teachers with information needed to adjust instructional design. Variations: Red, Yellow, Green; Negative, Positive; , .

Cooperative Learning Activities and Strategies Cooperative Learning Groups Cooperative Learning is a relationship in a group of students that requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better). A true cooperative learning group works because each student has a specific role to play, and every group member is necessary to complete the task at hand. This strategy is often misapplied. Traditional cooperative learning group roles include facilitator, recorder, reporter, timekeeper, objective overseer, and motivational manager. Stay and Stray This cooperative learning strategy by Ian Smith is similar to a structured Graffiti Write with one exception. When cooperative learning groups rotate to evaluate the work of other groups, one team member stays behind to share information or provide clarifying information to groups that rotate to evaluate the work of the group. Say Something Students work with a partner and takes turns reading “chunks” of text as prescribed by the teacher. After reading each chunk, the reader turns to the partner and says, “Say something.” The partner makes a connection, makes a prediction, asks a question, clarifies something that is unclear, or makes a comment relevant to the reading. The reader may then “say something.” The partner then reads the next chunk of text, and the cycle repeats. It is advantageous to provide students with a list of appropriate topics for this activity. (Martha Lamb, Catawba County Schools) Numbered Heads Together A team of four is established. Each member is given numbers of 1, 2, 3, 4. Questions are asked of the group. Groups work together to answer the question so that all can verbally answer the question. Teacher calls out a number (i.e. “two”), and each “two” is asked to give the answer. This low-risk activity provides students with a support system and allows for each student in the class to become responsible for knowledge and understanding.

Jigsaw Students break into groups, and each person has a number. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, each team member breaks away from their group to join all of the like numbers from another group. For example, Jackson is a #3 in a group of five students. When the teacher gives the signal, Jackson joins the four other #3s in the classroom to form an “expert” group. In the expert groups, each student learns about information that they will take back to their jigsaw group to share. The success of the jigsaw group is contingent upon each member’s expert knowledge that is brought back into the jigsaw. This is a great method of differentiation and a way to help students see each other as imparters of knowledge. Reading Quads This during-reading strategy helps students who have difficulty reading and/or comprehending the printed word. Divide students into groups of four. Model the four roles: Reader, Summarizer, Questioner, Answerer. Provide students a handout with the function of each role. Explain that students will rotate after each chunk of text as defined by the teacher. Reader: Read the selection using a quiet voice. Summarizer: Listen and follow along, Give a short summary of the passage. Help the reader with any words he/she does not know. Questioner: Listen and follow along. When the reader finishes, ask a question about the reading selection. Help the reader with any words he/she does not know. Answerer: Listen and follow along. Answer the question. Help the reader with any words he/she does not know. (Martha Lamb, Catawba County Schools) Team, Pair, Solo Students do problems first as a team, then with a partner, and finally on their own. It is designed to motivate students to tackle and succeed at problems which initially are beyond their ability. It is based on a simple notion of mediated learning. Students can do more things with help (mediation) than they can do alone. By allowing them to work on problems they could not do alone, first as a team and then with a partner, they progress to a point they can do alone that which at first they could do only with help.

Circle the Sage The teacher places the students in small groups then polls the class to determine which students have a special knowledge to share. For example, the teacher may ask who in the class was able to solve a difficult math homework question, who had visited Mexico, or who knows the chemical reactions involved in how salting the streets help dissipate snow. Those students (the sages) stand and spread out in the room. The teacher then has the rest of the classmates each surround a sage, with no two members of the same team going to the same sage. The sage explains what they know while the classmates listen, ask questions, and take notes. All students then return to their teams. Each in turn, explains what he/she learned. Because each group members has visited a different sage, they compare notes. If there is disagreement, they stand up as a team. Finally, the disagreements are aired and resolved.

Share One, Get One After students have been asked to research or find information, the teacher asks the students to find a partner to share one idea and get a new idea. This kinesthetic activity allows students to move around the classroom and also view each other as sources of wisdom. Six-Step Partner Often, when we ask students to “find a partner,” they gravitate toward the same person each time. With “six-step partners,” teachers allow their students structured movement in the classroom, and students work with students who do not sit in their general vicinity. Often, students will be paired that generally have little personal interaction in the classroom. Once six-step partners have been established, the teacher can use this strategy for a quick method of pairing students. Chris’ Test The teacher creates a test similar to one he plans to give to his class. A fictional student named Chris takes the test. The teacher distributes copies of Chris’ test to the students. Students work in pairs to go through the test, item for item, and determine whether Chris answered the questions correctly. Students then work together, discuss content, and review content as a formative check of their understanding. The teacher would then review with students and administer a similar test the next day. (Rutherford, 2008)

Reviewing, Summarizing, and Assessment Strategies and Resources Graffiti Write In graffiti write, students are provided a concept or topic and asked to write everything they know about a specific topic on chart paper, a white board, or other large sheet of paper. Their responses should look “graffiti-like.” Students should not write in straight lines or be forced to write in complete sentences. This is a brainstorming activity that can be used as a pre-assessment or a review. Teachers may opt to have students rotate through several stations and either add to or review the work of their peers. (See Gallery Walk.) Gallery Walk Gallery walks typically take place following a graffiti write or other activity where students produce work to be reviewed by peers. Students visit stations in the room where student work is displayed and then have the opportunity to add to the information provided or to assess the information. Students are given ownership of their learning and an opportunity to review, reflect, and respond. (See Graffiti Write) Quick Writes The Quick Write is an assessment strategy that is designed to give students the opportunity to reflect upon their learning. This writing assignment can be used at the beginning, middle, or end of a lesson and takes only about three to five minutes. Short, open-ended statements are usually given. For example, students are asked to write about what they learned, problems they encountered, what they liked (or did not like) about the lesson, and about how well they understood the concepts. In content teaching, the integration of reading and writing reinforces meaning construction as both activities use similar processing skills. (Designed for math classes, as math requires students to continually think at higher levels as one skill is achieved, another is introduced.)

Conga Originally a Sheltered Instructional (SIOP) strategy, Conga gives students the opportunity to become experts about a subject, concept, or topic. To begin the Conga, students create two equal lines facing one another. One line becomes the “speaking” line, and the other line becomes the “listening” line. When the teacher poses a question to the class, the speaking line members look at the partner directly across from them and answer the question. The teacher chooses a time to say, “Conga,” and then the speaking line shifts one person to the right. The last person on the end shifts down to the other end of the line. The speaking line students then provide their answer to the same question to the next person in line. This continues until the teacher changes questions. Eventually, the listening line becomes the speaking line so that all students have an opportunity to be the expert and to be the listener. This activity is great for formative assessment as the teacher can monitor student responses. Follow up questions such as, “Which question was most difficult to answer?” or “What did you learn that you didn’t already know?” or “What is still confusing to you?” can make this formative process beneficial to students. Plus, this activity is a structured way to provide student movement in your classroom. Inner/Outer Circle This is a review strategy that is great for our kinesthetic learners. Students create an inner circle and an outer circle facing each other. The number of students in each should be the same. Students in the inner circle will hold a two-sided handout. On one side will be a vocabulary term, and on the other side is a definition. The inner circle students hold up the word to the person in the outer circle. On the teacher’s command, the person in the outer circle provides the definition to the person in the inner circle. The teacher can decide whether or not the inner circle person provides the correct definition if the student misses. The students in the outer circle rotate on the teacher’s command until they are back where they began. Then, the teacher can allow inner circle students to switch with outer circle participants. He/She can also ask questions about which words were not missed or missed often to gain information about how to support student mastery. GIST This Sheltered Instructional strategy promotes literacy by allowing students to evaluate vocabulary words and concepts, make educated choices, and summarize. Students read a text and choose the X number of words they find in the text, as specified by the teacher, they deem most important. Then, students must write a one to three sentence summary of their passage, using as many chosen words as possible. Teachers can vary this assignment in many ways to differentiate for all learners.

Exit Tickets* Also known as “Ticket out the Door,” this strategy also gauges student understanding of particular concepts, vocabulary words, Essential Questions, Clear Learning Targets etc. Specific questions or tasks are best to use with Exit Tickets. Although the teacher can create his/her own questions for Exit Tickets, here are some popular types of tickets:

+ Δ ? After an lesson, reading, or activity, students complete the + Δ ? to share what they feel confident about, what they do not understand, and what questions they have. Teachers can use this strategy as an Exit Ticket, a Think-Pair-Share, or a formative assessment to inform instruction. The Important Thing… To gauge understanding of a particular concept, teachers can ask students to relate “the most important thing” about ________. Like + Δ ?, teachers can use this strategy as an Exit Ticket, a Think-Pair-Share, or a formative assessment to inform instruction.

3-2-1 The idea is to give students a chance to summarize key ideas and rethink them in order to focus on those that they are most intrigued by, and then pose a question that can reveal where their understanding is still uncertain. Often, teachers use this strategy in place of the usual worksheet questions on a chapter reading. When students come to class the next day, you're able to use their responses to modify your instruction. The students feel a sense of ownership because the discussion is based on the ideas they addressed in their 3-2-1. Capture Your Thoughts Capture students’ thoughts on four elements of your content of your choice. Use the template to ask students to respond to a passage, answer the Essential Question, list most important elements of a concept, list, or ask questions.

The Struble Technique A few days before giving a major assessment, provide students with a copy of the test and a multiple-choice bubble sheet. Ask students to bubble “A” if they are 100% sure they can answer the question. Ask them to bubble “B” if they are not 100% sure they can respond correctly to the question. The teacher can disaggregate the data to create a plan to address student deficiencies. The teacher can also gauge his/her own instruction and evaluate where more/less time needs to be allotted when this concept is taught again. Admit Slips

Admit Slips enable students to focus their attention on the reading and study planned for class by preparing responses, ideas, and questions that anticipate the reading for that day. An Admit Slip should serve as a review and provide students an opportunity to provide their insight on a question or topic. Generally, a bell-ringer activity would follow the next day with a Think-Pair-Share activity or other activity where students would be able to share ideas on their Admit Slips. The teacher would have an opportunity to evaluate and clarify any misconceptions. Connect Two* Connect Two invites students to share the relationship between two vocabulary words in one sentence. This is another strategy that can be differentiated based on the level of the particular needs of the student. In one model, the teacher can provide pairs of words that the student will use together to write a sentence that demonstrates not only an understanding of the words but also makes clear the relationship between the two words. In a more advanced model, students gain choice of words as they are provided a list of vocabulary words and then choose words to pair together to complete the same activity. This strategy focuses on comprehension, relationships, literacy, and fluency. FIT Sheets*

A F-I-T Sheet is an instrument that teachers use to assess reading comprehension, interpretive skills, and ability to make connections between content and real-life. Students share a (F) fact from their reading. The fact may be a passage, a summary or a portion of a reading, or a truth evident in an assignment. Then, the (I) interpret the significance of the fact. Students cannot choose a fact arbitrarily or there will be nothing to interpret. Finally, students write at (T) tie-in or connection to their own lives, history, or the real-world. Through these connections, our students become better readers and improve their literacy skills. (Nicholl, 1992)

What Else? This strategy is wonderful to help alleviate some of that test anxiety students feel surrounding multiple-choice assessments. At the completion of the test, the students are able write any additional information about the topic that they want on the back of the test. Teachers can prompt students by writing a “What else?” question on the board. For instance, teachers could ask, “What do you know about the Underground Railroad that I did not ask about on the test?” This allows teachers to see what students are thinking about and what they valued from their learning experience. “What I Know…” Sentences* Students are provided with one or two vocabulary words and instructed to write as many sentences as they can about their words in the time provided. These students share their sentences. The entire class listens and words together to add to the information provided by the expert group. The teacher can ask coaching questions to get more information, clarify misconceptions, and facilitate this student-generated discussion. This is a great activity to use as a review before an assessment. Good sentences can be used as extra credit items, test questions, etc. Voicethread A VoiceThread http://voicethread.com is an online slideshow (with images, documents, and/or video). Users can narrate with text, audio, or video and the VoiceThread can be shared with others. A great feature of VoiceThread is the capability for other users to comment on slides. There are various pricing options, including a free educator account.

Other Online Literacy and Vocabulary Resources Florida Center for Reading Research The Student Center Activities section of the FCRR website http://fcrr.org/Curriculum/SCAindex.htm includes an enormous amount of printable reading activities. Divided by grade level and then by skill (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension), these activities are designed for elementary students but can certainly be resources for teachers who are working with students reading below grade level and/or ESL students. ReadWriteThink This website is rich with resources, lesson plans, and interactives for literacy instruction. The Student Materials Index http://readwritethink.org/student_mat/index.asp provides a wide variety of interactive tools for reading activities. Each tool includes an introduction and related lesson plans.

Scholastic Vocabulary Tools Scholastic provides teachers with two tools to create printable vocabulary quizzes http://wordwizard.scholastic.com/quizmaker/ and mini-dictionaries http://wordwizard.scholastic.com/minidictionary/. Simply title your quiz/mini-dictionary and enter a list of up to 25 words. You are then provided with a list of those words with the corresponding definitions. If applicable, you can choose among multiple definitions to tailor the vocabulary lesson. The mini-dictionary will include the words, parts of speech, and definition(s). The vocabulary quiz will include a word list with fill-in-the-blank definitions. Text to Speech Natural Reader http://www.naturalreaders.com/download.htm and Yak It To Me! http://www.yakitome.com/ are free text-to-speech software options. The free version of Natural Reader (requires download) includes the functionality to read aloud any text in your computer and allows you to change speed and speaker. Yak It To Me! enables users to upload documents or paste text, choose voice, speed, and save the file as an Mp3 or wav format.

Online Flashcards Students need multiple exposures to vocabulary words, and online flashcards can be used as a tool to provide students with another word study experience. There are various flashcard websites that include public user-created card sets as well as options to create and save your own cards. Additionally, sites like FlashcardDB offer free registration so users can customize study options, making the practice3 experience more individualized.

Web Resources for Literacy and Vocabulary Teachers’ Domain – www.teachersdomain.org/special/adlit/ Literacy Design Collaborative -- http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/ Teaching Channel – www.teachingchannel.org Lesson Writer – www.lessonwriter.com Flashcard Exchange – http://www.flashcardexchange.com/ Flashcard DB – http://flashcarddb.com/ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary – http://visual.merriam-webster.com/index.php Confusing Words – http://www.confusingwords.com/ Wordsmyth – http://new.wordsmyth.net/ Animoto – http://animoto.com/ Word Ahead – http://www.wordahead.com/ Worksheet Works – www.worksheetworks.com Today’s Meet – www.todaysmeet.com Visuwords – www.visuwords.com Lexipedia – http://www.lexipedia.com/ Graphic Organizers – http://delicious.com/murraygirl/graphicorganizers Customizable Printables – http://www.educationalpress.org/index.asp Voicethread – http://voicethread.com/ - home Wordle – http://www.wordle.net/ Khan Academy – www.khanacademy.org YouTube for Schools – http://www.youtube.com/teachers

The digital tools used during the course of this district-level training have been helpful to some educators across the state. However, due to the rapidly changing digital environment, NCDPI does not represent nor endorse that these tools are the exclusive digital tools for the purposes outlined during this professional development offering.”

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