Nwea assessments are in full swing. I’ve added normative data charts to the NWEA assessment page on this blog for easy reference.
M-Step will be here very quickly! I’ve added a link to the Spotlight newsletter, M-Step schedule, and other information to the M-Step assessment page.
Why student vocabulary and academic percentile increase with continued reading outside of school.
How do we structure our class time with our group of growing minds to think differently about reading and writing? How do we, as teachers, change our thinking about reading and writing as a messy, liberating, and creative process? A process that allows students to be in the pilot’s seat. Penny Kittle gives some advice. Here are two links for general writing instructions, as well as, argumentative writing steps.
Short article off Penny Kittle’s website.
Students should be reading and writing everyday….read here
As we strive to teach our students to think critically, a lot has to do with our questioning techniques. Below are links to some question stems, learning activities, and levels of higher thinking.
We can use NWEA data in many ways. If students are not reading the “right book”, what do we offer them? Below is a link that matches books to lexile scores. Feel free to use data to match students with good fit books.
Smekens Education Solutions, INC.
“Students are used to aggressively convincing a reader to take their side in persuasive writing. However, argumentative writing is much more balanced. It requires the development of both sides of an issue, offering several claims for one side while acknowledging that there are valid counterclaims from the opposition. Argumentative writing is not about winning to “get” something, but rather giving the reader another perspective to consider on a debatable topic. ”
Continue reading article at this link
Many of us struggle with what to say during small group or whole group instruction to facilitate a conversation of deep thinking. Our objective is for students to learn how to think critically; therefore, becoming self assessors. In an RA classroom, critical thinking and self assessment begins when the teacher has created a safe, collaborative learning environment–thinking is valued, confusion is cool, and ambiguity is tolerated. Students learn what to do when they are confused and feel anxious about a complex text.
As facilitators, drawing out a student’s thinking is done through a variety of routines. In order for us to assess where a student is struggling, we need to “see” their thinking; thus, the importance and value of metacognition. Routines built into an RA classroom’s instructional design become the vehicle with which metacognition takes place and becomes evident. When this occurs, student and teacher returns to goals and objectives with next steps in mind.
I’ve attached teacher talk stems compiled from Reading for Understanding, as well as, facilitator talk during pd. I trust this will aid your facilitation of student thinking.