“Teamwork can make the dream work”

GAETI: Global Academic Essentials Teacher Institute

PLC meeting

Common Core Has Arrived!!

• ACT 21 or higher – 75% scored C or better on US History or Psych in college – 50% scored B or better • Declining complexity in text reading over the last 50 years + more “scaffolding” or help

Lack of Reading Independence

• Too many students reading at too low of a level – 11% of incoming college freshman take at least one remedial reading course • Only 30% of these students ever earn a college degree – 69% of those who don’t need remedial reading complete the degree

Figure 3: Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges (in Lexiles) Text Complexity Grade Band in the Standards Old Lexile Ranges Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR expectations 6–8 9–10 11–CCR 860–1010 960–1115 1070–1220 955–1155 1080–1305 1215–1355

Social Studies and the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards

• Emphasis – Collaboration with Colleagues • Literacy Standards for Grade Band 6-8 • Literacy Standards for Grade Band 9-10 • Literacy Standards for Grade Band 11-12 – Cross Disciplinary – Teaching History Literacy • Common core does not have any history standards, only literacy standards!

College and Career Readiness Assessment

• PARCC – Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College or Career – Replacing the Alg I (Mathematics II) and English II (Language Arts) assessments • Formative Assessment • Summative Assessment – Analysis of documents in the form of an essay – Performance assessment – Speaking and Listening Assessment

Purpose

• To compliment, not replace state standards • Incorporate expectations of types of skills needed to prepare for college OR career – Strong content knowledge is still essential – Comprehend as well as critique – Value evidence – Understand other perspectives – Demonstrate independent learning – Respond to various demands of audience, task, purpose

Main Purpose

• To elevate Mississippi school children to a level playing field – Problem: students who were doing well on MS tests were not doing so well on national assessments (ACT, SAT) • MS vs MA • MS vs Hong Kong • Common Core gives Mississippi access to resources (through PARCC) that we would not have otherwise

PARCC Practice Tests

• Sample Items 6-8: Biography of Amelia Earhart • High School Sample Items – Daedalus and Icarus – Biography of Abigail Adams/letter to John • Grade 7 Practice Test: Count of Monte Cristo • Grade 9 Practice Test – Robert Oppenheimer/Truman’s decision to drop bomb • Grade 10 Practice Test:Tinker v. Des Moines • Grade 11 Practice Test – Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man by James W. Johnson – Declaration of Independence – Speech by Patrick Henry

All PARCC items are based on Common Core suggested “Text Exemplars” • Full list of these exemplars from corestandards.org Appendix B • Appendix A: annotated samples – –

Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas Why They Walked

• Appendix C: student writing samples with annotations (which could serve as rubric) – “Explain how civil disobedience was used in the struggle for civil rights in India.” – Animal Farm – Black Boy by Richard Wright – 1918 Flu Epidemic

Objectives

• For teachers – focus more on asking the right questions rather than giving the right answers.

Objectives

• For students – Finding supporting evidence – Recognizing bias – Evaluating multiple perspectives – Determining cause and effect – Making comparisons – Applying conceptual knowledge – Determining significance

In other words…..

• Moving from “what is taught” to “what students need to be able to do” • “Flipped class” or “upside down classroom” • Teacher shifts from “sage on stage” to “guide at the side”

Backward Design or Understanding by Design (UBD)

• 1. Where are we going?

– Content Competencies and objectives • Significant learning outcomes • Enduring understanding • 2. How will we know when we have arrived?

– Informative learning assessments • Writing assessments • Performance assessments • Traditional assessments • 3. How will we get there?

– Content and engaging learning activities

Enduring Understanding

• When was the defeat of the Spanish Armada?

– 1588 – “I know it was sometime after Columbus’ discovery of the New World but before the settlement of Jamestown.”

How will we get there?

• Examples of learning activities that may be interesting but are not effective – Crosswords – Word searches – Fill in the blanks – Trivia pursuits – Posters

Interesting and Effective Techniques

• Films, videos – Students must engage in questioning or discussion for it to be effective, however • Field Trips – Pre- and post-trip exercise for a significant learning experience • PMI by Edward Debono – P (plus/positive) – M (minus/negative) – I (interesting/I wonder…) • U shape forum – Example: Indian, Braves, Redskins mascot debate

Effective Techniques

• Events Graph – Timeline of key events • Evaluate the significance of each event – How many people were affected?

– Did it cause a significant change? – Did it cost or save lives?

– Was the impact short-term or long-term?

» Was the present world affected by it?

• Rank each event – Scale of 0-10 – Bar graph • Present to class – Justify your rankings • Post Cards from the Past

Performance

• Role-playing and simulation • Tableau – Striking scene (or series of scenes) created by people posing in costume – Labor conflict: Haymarket, Pullman, Homestead

How will we get there?

Team Based Learning (TBL)

• Principle Design Principles – Teams of 5-7 should be permanent – Accountability • Pre-class preparation and contributing to team success – Students make complex decisions that require course concepts but can be reported in simple form – Frequent and timely feedback

Typical TBL Module

• Readiness Assurance – Readings outside of class – iRAT (individual Readiness Assurance Test) • Multiple choice quiz on the reading material – tRAT (team Readiness Assurance Test) • Same quiz completed in groups • Teams negotiate to choose the correct answer • Scratch off answer on IF AT form • If team does not select the correct answer, they continue to discuss and choose another answer choice.

– Mini lecture • Using the tRAT results, the teacher can easily see which area(s) students are having the most difficulty with and lecture on those points only.

• Suggested time for Part I: 1-1.5 hours

TBL Part 2: In class Application Activities

• Suggested time: 2-5 hours • 4 S’s – Significant problem: teams work on a relevant, significant question, issue, or problem – Same problem: all teams work on the same problem – Specific choice: teams choose an answer (A, B, C, or D) – Simultaneous Report: each team holds up their answer choice card; teams should challenge opposing opinions and defend their answers

Strategies

• Read Alouds • Authentic Experiences – What would historians do?

• Found Poem Activity – Primary or secondary source – Everyone gets piece of cash register paper – Choose 5-10 words that capture your attention – Groups of 5-6 – Put the word phrases in order to make a poem – Each group reads their poem

Use of Technology is absolutely vital to making CC a success in the classroom

Reasons its time to move beyond the textbook

• Paper,copies, and books are expensive • Textbooks come in “One Size Fits All” • Kids don’t read textbooks!

• Fine List from Mrs. Curtis • Books are heavy  student back problems • Real life doesn’t come from a textbook • 1000 books with 1000 pages can be replaced with a single device!

Strategies

• Google Earth – Locate or plot Landmarks in DC – The Great Migration • Research where migrants from MS went • Union Station • What part of town were they likely to have lived?

• Where were they likely to have worked?

• What did they likely do for entertainment?

– Freedom Rides

Strategies

• Text or tweet content to a friend • Jigsaw – Expert Groups export to class • Timelines with dipity.com

• Sheppardsoftware.com (geography)

Resources

• MAGNOLIA – http://magnolia.mstate.edu

– http://guides/library.msstate.edu/magnolia – Magnolia Password: magn0897 • Common Core Guide – http://guides.library.msstate.edu/commoncore-magnolia – http://corestandards.org

• Digital Collections – http://digital.library.msstate.edu/collections

Resources

• 65 Free Smartboard Resources • SMART Exchange • Wordle.net

• Quizlet • Quia.com

– Rags to riches – Battleship

History Resources

• Historypin.com

• Famous Moments in Early American History • icivics.org

Resources

• nationalatlas.gov

– thenationalmap.gov after Sept. 30 • Water conflict Chronology map • NY Times interactive map on immigration • Migrationpolicy.org

• Forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html

• worldmapper.org (cartagraphs) • Earthcam • National Geographic Supply Chain activity

Resources, contd.

• Steam for purchase of games at reduced price