Tuesday, October 25

Today's Content:

• Tier 1 Priorities:  Primary Sources

• Tier 1 Priorities: Close Reading

• Special Education: Co-Teach Cohort

Falcon Focus: Primary Sources

Primary sources continue to be a focal point of instruction in Social Studies.  But between complex content, dated language, and (gasp) cursive handwriting, primary sources can pose an especially challenging read for our students.

So how do we make that historical, necessary content more accessible to students?  One way is to make the learning authentic--to find a way to help the students empathize with the author, subject, or content within the piece itself.

Recently, 8th grade American History investigated the Boston Massacre crime scene.  Students had the opportunity to play detective by analyzing historical artwork depicting the event; observing the crime scene itself, complete with "blood" and "clues";  and reading first-hand accounts from individuals present at the Massacre.

Students work in groups to analyze the crime scene of the Boston Massacre

If it seems like to much information for students to process, it's not.  Different crime scene elements were broken out into stations, and each station provided scaffolds to help with content comprehension.  The written documents had been reenacted and performed for students to listen to or watch while or after reading the original document.  Both the artwork and the crime scene were paired with guiding questions to help students navigate the different types of information being shared.  And all throughout, students had access to each other as they grappled with the different perspectives of the Boston Massacre.

Students use guiding questions to analyze visual primary sources

To help students with comprehension of the difficult language, teachers "performed" each monologue.

In 7th grade Texas History, students have also recently used primary sources, as they are learning about Stephen F. Austin's colonization into Spanish Texas.  In small groups or partners, students read several different letters that had been written to request a spot in Austin's new colony.  Then, students evaluated each individual against a set of criteria to determine whether or not they were a good "fit". The primary source letters presented challenging language and unfamiliar context.  So what helped these students make meaning from the text?

First, the amount of the text is manageable.  Each letter written to Stephen F. Austin fit nicely on a half-page, so students could grapple with the text without getting burned out on the difficulty.

Students grappling with primary sources

More grappling

Evaluating each colony candidate against criteria

In addition, students had the opportunity to read these aloud.  For our auditory learners, hearing the reading will help them process the information; plus, we get to hear students try on some really fantastic accents!  The student below is reading from except A above, "Buffalo" Jones.

Falcon Focus: Close Reading

You may have heard this before, but we are all teachers of reading.   Close reading is main pillar of ELAR instruction, and different variations of it can and should be used in any content area.

When students close read, the goal is for students to go back into a text and use text evidence to support their response to a very targeted question.  The success of the close reading activity relies heavily on the question.  In ELAR, there are 4 specific question levels:

1) What does the text say?  (comprehension)
2) What does the text mean? (making inferences/drawing conclusions)
3) How does the text work? (author's craft)
4) What does the text inspire you to do? (writing piece or other response)

After attending the content professional learning days, 6th grade Reading tried out a strategy called "SpongeBeyonceBananaPants".  (Yes, that's the actual name of this strategy.  No, it has no meaning to the activity other than students remember it. No, Kathy and Kylie did not make it up.)  In this strategy, students use a graphic organizer interact with the text, which in this case, is a poem.

Teacher designed questions require students to go back into the text multiple times to support their responses.

In Sherry Grosenbach's class, students used specific plastic flags to interact with the text in a different way.  In addition to writing on the passage (in this case, a speech), students used the flags to identify different elements of the speech in a hands-on way.  Then when it was time for deeper analysis, students used their tactile practice with the text to move back through it more efficiently.

Close reading can be tactile, too!

If you don't have fancy flags, simply substitute sticky notes or paper clips.  In the future, we will be talking more about how different close reading strategies can help support students in your content areas, as well.  Stay tuned!

Falcon Focus: Co-teaching Cohort

This year all of our teachers with a co-teach classroom (both general ed and special ed) are participating in a flipped year-round cohort.  While we know there are limitations to our schedule, we also believe that we can do better for our students.  Therefore, our goal is to improve our co-teach practice by finding ways to creatively implement co-teach best practices.

Throughout the year, we will be reviewing the six co-teach models: one teach, one observe; station teaching; parallel teaching; alternative teaching; teaming; and one teach, one assist.  The bulk of the work is happening in Google Classroom, with some observation and coaching time for some.

Don't have a special education co-teach classroom, but still want to learn more?  You are welcome to participate in the Google classroom with us; just email me and I will get you more information.

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!

Monday, May 23

Today's Content:

• Student Leadership:  Clever STUCO Campaign Posters

•  Best Practices:  TPR in Social Studies

• Shifting Culture: Falcon Way Update

Falcon Focus: Student Leadership

This past week, 34 7th graders ran for an officer position in next year's Student Council.  It was awesome to see so many students showing interest in campus leadership.  Also awesome - all the inventive energy that went into their campaign posters.  With whit and puns, this year's candidates cleverly tapped into commercials, phrases, and even infographics to humorously vie for student votes.

In case you didn't make it all the way around the building to read them, here's a quick recap of some of the quippier campaign posters.  If I missed your favorite, I apologize!

Yes, this last student got permission.  :)

  

So just who are next year's STUCO leaders?  We'll find out later today in the 7th grade Awards Ceremony.

 Falcon Focus: Total Physical Response in SS

Before the STAAR test, 8th grade Social Studies students reviewed the Bill of Rights using hand signals as memory triggers.  As covered in a previous post, total physical response (TPR) effectively helps students learn and remember different bits of information by pulling together the acting/gesturing/physical moving right side of the brain and the telling/explaining/analyzing left side. 

And it really works!  One student came back later and thanked Jonie Dodson for teaching her this strategy because she used it to help her with recall during the test.  Watch the video below of the students moving through the first ten Amendments with only minimal assistance from Jonie.  

 Falcon Focus: Falcon Way Update

As we mentioned in the faculty meeting this past Wednesday, NRMS is moving forward with the work to implement the Falcon Way from day one of 2016-17.  As always, thank you SO MUCH to all of the teachers, staff, and admin who have offered their opinions and ideas either in Falcon Way meetings, in emails, or in hallway conversations.  

This culture shift is about us - our students, our faculty & staff, and our community - and we will not be successful unless we are all on board.  This summer, the Falcon Way needs help with planning:

• Student orientation - plans & materials
• Advisory rotations - schedule & materials
• Pep rallies - creative ideas & planning
• Faculty/Staff "Get to Know You" Activities - ideas & materials

If you are interested in helping, please contact Kathryn Humer, Laurie Istook, Ann Newhouse, or Mary Terry.

Click on the slide to see the Falcon Way presentation from Wednesday's meeting.

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!

   

Monday, May 16

Today's Content:

• Project-Based Learning:  Room Design

•  Digital Learning:  Social Studies Twitter Chats

• Shifting Culture: Falcon Way Update

Falcon Focus: Project-Based Learning

Students search online to build cost estimates

Some students chose online design programs

Over the last couple of  weeks, 8th grade math has been using project-based learning to give students a chance to dream up some ideas for the new building.  Mrs. Atkinson posed the question to 8th graders, "What would you like to see included?"  The result has been an array of creative and inventive ideas to enhance our new campus.  While some concepts are more feasible than others, there's no reason not to consider at least pieces of some of their  ideas and appreciate the creativity that went into the process.

Once students selected an element to design (a "chill-out' or break room, indoor athletic facility, or outdoor recreation area), students were asked to establish the square footage of the space and its components.  Some students elected to use online design programs (see above), while others stuck with pencil and paper.  Students also researched online for cost estimates of the different design elements (see above).

   

Click on the image to see Mrs. A's Prezi

Some groups had time to start working with Tinkercad after creating their 2-D model.
See their 3-D file below.

For final products, students created either 2-D or 3-D models of their space, and presented on the total square footage, estimated cost, and overall "coolness" of their designs.  Watch the video below for a presentation over the addition of an indoor futbol field.

Tinkercad 3-D version of the above group's plan

A final extension Leslie is exploring is the use Tinkercad, an online 3-D design platform, to bring an element of authenticity to the project.  This would allow students the opportunity to see how the design process might work in the real world, by bringing smaller design elements to life with a 3-D printer.  Hopefully this piece works out; but even if it doesn't right now, you can expect to see this project even more developed in the future. 

Falcon Focus: Social Studies Twitter Chat

Teachers exhibited a lot of effort and creativity as they planned out STAAR review activities this spring.  Every room you looked in, students were moving, collaborating, discussing, and self-checking; as well as  Kahoot-ing, Quizizz-ing, Quizlet-ing, and utilizing countless other innovative digital learning tools.  One different technology approach that you may not have considered, however, is Twitter.  As part of their review, 8th grade social studies gave students the option to participate in a 3-week Twitter chat series.  Topics started with early exploration and colonization the first week, and ended with reconstruction and a call for any last questions the last week.  Students had the opportunity to answer teacher-generated questions, to read other students' responses, to respond to other students, and to ask their own questions.  Below is an excerpt of one of the chats.

If you're wondering how the a conversation flows on Twitter, you can view the entire chat transcripts on Storify.  Click on any of the three images below.  

Falcon Focus: Falcon Way Update

In the Falcon Way meetings on May 11 and 12, both students and teachers were asked what one thing they would like to see happen to build a community of CORE values from day one.  The most common responses are listed below.  Do you notice any similarities or differences?

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!

Monday, April 25

Today's Content:

• Tier 1 Priorities:  Vocabulary Ladders

• Shifting Culture: Falcon Way Update

• Reminders:  Falcon Walks & "Believe" Challenge

• Newsworthy:  Mickie Siek in FW Star-Telegram

Falcon Focus: Vocabulary Ladders

All content areas are focusing on vocabulary; this is no surprise.  So when two of our teachers stumble on the same vocabulary strategy and are singing its praises, it needs to be shared with all.  

Both Lindsey Cato and Jonie Dodson are working their way through the TAGT On Demand training, and have learned a new vocab strategy  - vocabulary ladders.  Within this application strategy, there are multiple options for students to process their learning.

Lindsey's class explained the connect of each new word to the original.

Lindsey Cato had her students identify a key academic word on the highest rung.  Then, they selected one letter from the original word and came up with related words for the lower rungs.

Afterwards, her students used the right side of the ladder to explain the connections of the new words to the original word.


Jonie Dodson's students used the same graphic organizer but worked with the vocab a little differently.  Starting with the key word, students pulled a letter from each subsequent word to come up with the new related words.  At the end, she had them write a summary that connected all of the terms together.

Jonie's class used the vocab ladder to write a summary.

Falcon Focus: Falcon Way Update

This weekend I sent out the Padlet with the notes from last week's teacher meeting.  However, I wanted to share with you the feedback we've collected from students so far.

Click on the slide to see the guidelines for discussion.

Students were asked for their opinions on how to live the CORE values on campus and improve campus culture overall.  Their responses are listed below.

Falcon Focus: Falcon Walks & "Believe" Challenge

Just a quick reminder of a couple of campus initiatives for the end of the year:

First - the Falcon Learning Walks, our structure for informal peer observation.  As we discussed on Friday, April 1st, the purpose is to provide teachers with self-determined, collaborative professional development.  You identify the type of observation that will best help you and your students, and then make it happen.

Before visiting a class, review our Learning Walk Protocols:

• Intentionally plan your observations.
• Walk in with a growth mindset.
• Observe for a minimum of 15 minutes.
• Remember to be an observer and not a participant in the lesson.
• Complete the Falcon Reflection Form to let your Academic Coach know if you need any assistance.

You may review the Learning Walk handout for a more detailed refresher.  A few teachers have already completed their walks, and they were able to absorb great ideas to implement in their own classes.  Be sure to go for a walk now, while there are still a few weeks to try out something new.

Second - the "Believe" Challenge, your opportunity to reflect a student you really believe in.  The goal here is simply to let our students know just how much we do believe in them, their dreams, and their future.  If you would like to film the conversation, I am happy to assist.  Either way, please send me your names.  Let's share the love with our students! <3

Falcon Focus: Star-Telegram

As a result of their selection into the Mount Vernon trip, Mickie Siek and Watauga Middle's Elizabeth Cumbie were featured in the Star-Telegram last Friday.  The article highlights a lot of our 8th graders talking about the Constitution; there are some fantastic quotes!  Check out the article by clicking on the link below.

Click the image to go to the article in the FW Star-Telegram.

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!

Friday, March 4

Today's Content:

• Tier 1 Priorities:  Academic Vocabulary in Toby Osborn's World Cultures class, and Analyzing TEKs in Mickie Siek's US History class

• Tier 1 Priorities: Socratic Seminar in Lori Liles' Texas History class

  
Falcon Focus: Academic Vocabulary in Word Walls

Feel like you've got too much on your walls?  It may be that you haven't settled on a way to really pull that information into your daily instruction.  By adding a header, Toby Osborn has turned the Social Studies Thinking Words into part of his students' daily routine.  

Academic Word Wall in Toby's Class

When students come in, they can read the TEK and the language objective, and they can review all of the academic vocabulary (with graphics!).  However, by adding the Thinking Words wall, students now know exactly what process they'll be using to work with all of that content.   All Toby has to do is circle the appropriate verb.


Falcon Focus: Academic Vocabulary in TEKs

If you need help getting your students to take ownership over the TEKs, try this approach that Mickie Siek uses in her 8th grade US History classes.  We know that students need to see the TEKs in all their scholarly glory, but sometimes (a lot of times) the meaning gets lost in the academic language.

When students are introduced to a new standard, Mickie's classes work together to analyze the TEK for  unknown words and academic vocabulary.  My video-editing skills here are not great - but her strategy for introducing new TEKs is.

Kids can create their own word walls, connecting the TEKs to the vocabulary displayed around the room.  Simple and to the point, having the kids discuss what they don't know about the standard will lead them to a deeper understanding of what they need to know.

Falcon Focus: Socratic Seminar

Finally, if you have never heard of Socratic Seminar, never used Socratic seminar, tried Socratic Seminar and tanked, or facilitated Socratic Seminar like a boss, you should take a couple of minutes to watch this next clip.  This week, Lori Liles created the environment for a lively academic discussion on states' rights and Texas secession.  Students spent day 1 prepping for the seminar through close reading and question writing.  By day 2, they were able to (almost entirely) move through an academic discussion on their own!

Students demonstrated respect for others' opinions, stayed on topic, and even invited more hesitant participants into the fray.

Socratic seminar requires a little prep work, but the results far outweigh the challenges.  Sometimes adults can't have conversations like this, so just imagine what our students can accomplish if they can learn how to express their informed opinions and disagree with others respectfully.

Word.

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!

Friday, February 19

Today's Content:

• SIOP: Language Objectives in different classrooms
• Continuous Improvement: Student Analysis of Data: 8th grade ELAR
• Differentiated Instruction: Using Total Physical Response in 7th grade Reading & 6th grade science

Falcon Focus: SIOP

The SIOP committee has spent the last few weeks working on how to bring the Language Posting Language Objectives in our classrooms helps our ELLs become more aware of how the tasks they perform in class connect to their learning objectives.  Not sure what an effective Language Objective looks like?  Here are a few great examples from around our campus!

Falcon Focus: Continuous Improvement

8th Grade ELAR recently used a data day for students to assess their own learning for the year thus far.  Students keep data folders, and compared all of their test results over the course of the first semester to identify different TEKs that were strong, and TEKs that had room for improvement.  

Particular emphasis was placed on growth in Figure 19 TEKS - basic reading comprehension.

Other than celebrating overall class growth, students also looked at their results individually, and identified personal areas of strength and growth.

Falcon Focus: Differentiated Instruction

So why do we want students to move in class?   Because brain research says so.  Studies show that physical activity increases memory retention and recall.  (Click here to read an article summarizing some of the brain research of David Sousa.)

Some great examples of total physical response (TPR) are evidenced on our campus.  Watch the videos below to see Amy White's 7th grade Reading class using TPR to remember the meaning of stem vocabulary, or to see Ted Odum's 6th grade Science class dancing to a plate tectonics rap.  You also get to hear the beatin' skillz of Ted himself!

This was only the 2nd or 3rd time Amy's class had done this activity.

Same for Ted's class.  Hopefully there will be a whole cafeteria flash mob soon; I'll be sure to post!

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!