Get to the Core of Common Core: Creating Engaging Activities to - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Get to the “Core” of Common Core:

Jamie Albon and Caroline Sweiss

North Palos School District 117 | Conrady Junior High School

Creating Engaging Activities to Promote Student Success with the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (Grades 6-12)

Common Core Convictions:

NearPod Activity

✓ Go to nearpod.com ✓ Go to menu and click JOIN LESSON ✓ Type in Name (or alias ☺) ✓ 2 Minutes (Online Stopwatch)

➢What is your greatest struggle in trying to teach the Common Core State Standards?

Today’s Purpose:

Share a VARIETY of ENGAGING TOOLS and ACTIVITIES that will help students become SUCCESSFUL with the ELA COMMON CORE

State Standards (Grades 6-8)

Literature Common Core Standards Anchor Standard 2 Anchor Standard 3 How will we achieve our purpose? Walking you through the PROCESS of unpacking a standard and getting to the CORE of the standard & demonstrating the “How To” of getting students to learn the standard successfully using various TOOLS and ACTIVITIES.

Comprehension and The Standards

The standards DO NOT teach students how to read… ❏ Why is this important for us as educators? ❏ We have a responsibility to equip students with reading comprehension strategies. ❏ Count how many times the Common Core standards ask students to “analyze” or complete an “analysis” of something. Almost every standard! This is impossible if students do not maintain a basic comprehension of the text. ❏ Food for Thought: Anchor Standard 10 (reading at or above grade level) should be Anchor Standard 1. Analysis can’t happen when comprehension is not in place. ❏ Our favorite reading comprehension strategy….(drum roll please) ANNOTATIONS!

Before Anything… Annotate! Annotate! Annotate!

➢ Anchor Standard 10: “By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.”

➢ Introduce Annotations--what is an annotation? Talking to the text. ➢ Provide different formats of annotations- can support the standard.

○ Generally, start with quick summary--what did I just read? ○ As the quarter progresses, demonstrate how to use a variety of different annotations.

■ Character Traits: Students are encouraged to use character traits to annotate- underline text and put character trait with a brief note. ■ Portions of the Plot diagram: Students are not necessarily asked to label entire story, but identify conflict--underline text and write problem with a brief note. ■ Theme: Students are encouraged to identify when a character learns a lesson-underline text and jot down a brief note.

Annotations are meant to be a during reading activity. For sixth graders, we explicitly will put stopping points to train students when a story naturally breaks action. These can be leveled too when working in flexible groups.

Example Annotations: Google Documents

➢ Provided Shared Document for reading and/or annotating. ➢ Students can work collaboratively when reading-each student is assigned a different type of annotations(after various types have been taught) ➢ Each student “owns” their annotation for the day; for longer reading, students can change roles each day. Be sure to use timer for reading- students can also help one another

Type of Annotation Summary Character Trait Plot Components-discuss setting, conflict, etc. Page 1-2 Page 3 Page 4

Sample Annotations: Freak the Mighty

➢ Practices standards ➢ Encourages participation ➢ Can be assigned based on student needs-Differentiation ➢ Used as a reteaching tool

Annotations Rock!

8th Grade Annotations Analysis of Poetry “The New Colossus” and “Statue

• f Liberty: Dreams of Emma

Lazarus Awakens with Tears on Her Cheeks” How cute is this?! This student made her own ANNOTATION KEY! SIDE NOTE: NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE ANNOTATED...only texts at student's frustrational level or slightly above independent level.

Anchor Standard 2: Central Idea

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text. What is this standard asking students to do?

❑ Determine THEME ❑ Determine CENTRAL IDEA ❑ Analyze how the author DEVELOPS THEME ❑ ANALYZE how the author DEVELOPS CENTRAL IDEA through the characters, setting, and plot. ❑ Understand the difference between OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE ❑ Understand what makes a good SUMMARY ❑ Write an OBJECTIVE SUMMARY ❑ Reading/Writing Evidence Tables from PARCC Pearson

STANDARD FOCUS: RL 8.2.1 THE PROCESS OF TEACHING CENTRAL IDEA

Provides a statement of a theme or central idea of a text, based on textual

• evidence. (1)

Conrady 8th Grade Assessment Audit: Conrady 6th Grade Assessment Audit

Just how often are we assessing the standards on our assessments and are we addressing all facets of the standard?

Anchor Standard 2: Central Idea

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Goal for My Students with RL 8.2.1:

• 1. Correctly identify the best central idea statement

in a multiple choice item.

• 2. Accurately write a central idea statement.

Gradual Release of Instruction

The Process of Teaching Central Idea

Objective: Tool/Resource:

1. Understanding of Academic Language: Students will be able to differentiate between the concept

• f theme and central idea.

Theme vs. Central Idea Chart Academic Language of the Standards Posters

• 2. Central Idea: What it IS vs. What it is NOT?

Students will be able to identify the attributes of an accurate central idea statement. Multiple Choice Warm-Up with Short & Engaging Texts Central Idea What it IS vs. What it is NOT Chart?

• 3. Central Idea Starters

Students will be able to identify the BUZZ words for central idea statements Central Idea Starters Document

• 4. GoFormative Central Idea Practice with Peer

Evaluations (Practice, Practice, Practice!) GoFormative (Tech Tool) Peer Evaluation Comments and Rubric Document

• 5. Formative Assessment

Brief Quiz in Edulastic (Multiple Choice Central Idea Item. Students will also write a central idea statement in response to a short passage; a rubric will be provided to evaluate)

Step 1: Understanding the Academic Language

• f Anchor Standard 2 (SubStandard 1)

➢ Folly in trying to teach the entire standard in one week ➢ “Unpack the Standard” (Melissa Murphy) ➢ Dialogue with Students ➢ Post the Academic Language of the Common Core Standards

Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

Resource: Theme vs. Central Idea Handout

NOT EFFECTIVE

For years, I prided myself on this beautiful bulletin board of all the standards; however, it helped ME more than the

• kids. Kids didn’t

care about the posted standards; last year I started posting the academic language and it was life

• changing. Kids

knew where they were posted and always referenced them! #insightinmind

Academic language of the standards posted at the forefront of the classroom and

• rganized by

anchor standards.

Step 2: Central Idea: What it IS vs What it is NOT?

❑ Students are still not ready to write their own central idea statements at this point… ❑ Best way to develop understanding of a word or concept is through EXAMPLES/NON-EXAMPLES. ❑ Use SHORT, HIGH-INTEREST TEXTS ...BUT WHY? ❑ Create PARCC STYLE CENTRAL IDEA MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS in response to short, high interest texts; Use Adie McHugh’s Master PARCC DOCUMENT

❑ MODEL for students a THINK ALOUD BY ANNOTATING a MULTIPLE CHOICE ITEM.

❑ Have students work in pairs and answer central idea multiple choice questions using a FABLE OR

SHORT PASSAGE from “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul” book ❑ REPETITION: Entrance Slips/Central Idea Warm-Ups ❑ INDIVIDUAL PRACTICE Resource: PARCC Style Central Idea Multiple Choice Items with High-Interest, Short Texts & Central Idea Chart

Step 2: Central Idea: What it IS vs What it is NOT?

SHORT, HIGH INTEREST TEXTS!

❑ “The Sniper” by Liam O’Flaherty ❑ “The Umbrella Man” by Roald Dahl ❑ “Charles” by Shirley Jackson ❑ Check out other states’ released test items

Resource: PARCC Style Central Idea Multiple Choice Items with High-Interest, Short Texts & Central Idea Chart

COMMONLIT

Step 2: Central Idea: What it IS vs What it is NOT?

❑ Google Annotations of Central Idea Multiple Choice PARCC Style Questions

Step 2: Central Idea: What it IS vs What it is NOT?

❑ Google Annotations of Central Idea Multiple Choice PARCC Style Questions

Step 3: Central Idea Starters

• Created Fall 2014 (Central Idea Training Wheels)
• Great Tool for Struggling Students
• Buzz Words
• Bulletin Board of Central Idea Starters

Resource: Central Idea Starters

Training Wheels for “Riding” their own Central Idea Statement Bicycles (haha, punny!)

Central Idea Starters Bulletin Board

Step 4: GoFormative Central Idea Practice with Peer Evaluations (Practice, Practice, Practice)

➢High Interest, Short Texts ➢Use as warm-ups! Don’t spend the whole period with Central Idea! ➢Real-Time Tech Tool ➢ 100% Student Participation (NO STUDENT GOES UNDER THE RADAR) ➢Allows for Peer Evaluations and Reteaching Opportunities Resource: GoFormative Tech Tool

Step 4: GoFormative Central Idea Practice with Peer Evaluations (Practice, Practice, Practice)

Step 4: GoFormative Central Idea Practice with Peer Evaluations (Practice, Practice, Practice)

Directions:

• 1. Go to goformative.com
• 2. Click JOIN CODE
• 3. Type ARBCVW
• 4. Sign in with Google
• 5. Join Caroline Sweiss’s Class
• 6. Click Central Idea for The Lion and the Mouse

• Gradual Release of Instruction
• Only assess students on the part of the standard they have learned
• Create Formative Assessments in Edulastic

Step 5: Formative Assessment of Central Idea

Formative Assessment for RL 8.2 Text: Task Evaluation

Short, High Interest Passage Students will be able to identify correctly the best central idea

• statement. Students will write

annotations for the correct and incorrect answers. Points for Annotations Points for Multiple Choice Item Short, High Interest Passage Students will write an accurate central idea statement. Rubric: Student accurately writes a central idea statement.

❑ Sample Formative Assessment in Edulastic (Common Grade Level Assessment) ❑ Individual Teacher Formative Assessments

Step 5: Formative Assessment of Central Idea

Meeting- 3 Progressing- 2 Not Meeting- 1 Student accurately states the central idea of the text. Student attempts to identify the central idea

• f a text

Student is unable to determine the central idea of a text.

Rubrics are Everything!

Post Formative: Google Peer Critiques of Central Idea

Anchor Standard 3 RL.6.3: Plot and Character Development

Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. What is this standard asking students to do? ❏ Summarize the plot of the text by explaining how one event leads to another. ❏ Determine the conflict of a passage and how it was resolved ❏ Analyze the character’s reactions towards the events. ❏ Describe the character’s change and determine the event which lead to the change.

Gradual Release of Instruction

The Process of Teaching Plot and Character Development

Objective: Tool/Resource:

1. Understanding of Academic Language:

Students must need to know necessary language for plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, character traits)

Academic Language Posters

Annotations: Guided Note Annotations-Paper/Pencil, Google Comments

• 2. Character Change

Students introduced to character traits Students respond to open-ended questions with rubric; when students demonstrate mastery, they do not have to do next day. Developing response to open-ended question using textual evidence.

• Teacher provides daily feedback to students in order to make

personal adjustments.

• Peers provide feedback to one another using Go Formative.
• 3. Plot Diagram (This also supports RL.6.2/RL.6.5)

Students use knowledge of academic terms to complete plot diagram. Use children’s books to model how to complete plot diagram. Choose books with very distinct plot elements to show progression- Choose favorites to complete.

Model! Model! Model!

Begin with modeling how to complete plot diagram-- 1. Start with character traits--Beginning? End? 2. What was the turning point for the protagonist? (Climax) 3. Fill in the rest….

• 4. Provide Exposure to Multiple Choice Questions

While reading the anchor text (short story or novel), use various formats (paper/pencil or Tech tool) to respond to multiple choice. Demonstrate how to identify text by analyzing who said. After reading, provide Part A/Part B questions for students to

• complete. Debunk incorrect answers with stand-up/ sit-down. (Can

use Go Formative, Google Forms, Nearpod, Quizziz, Kahoot)

• 5. Formative Assessment

Brief Quiz in Edulastic

Use as a reteaching tool on Fridays ( or as schedule permits)

Step One: Unpack the Standard--

➢ Recognize how the two- substandards work hand-in-hand. ○ In order to identify how the character responds or changes, what was going on at the beginning of the story? At the end? Teaching these components of a plot diagram assists later in RL.6.5 (how a particular line, scene, stanza contributes to the development of the plot). ○ Bulletin board with Plot Diagram; Reference Packet with character traits and synonyms to provide word bank for students (encourage to stay away from nice, brave, etc.) Building Vocabularies!! Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Step Two: How does a character change? How do you know?

➢ Work with students to develop open-ended question responses (believe it

• r not easier than multiple choice Part A/Part B!)

➢ Provide daily homework to demonstrate mastery (if student does, no homework next night-encourages students to put best effort) ➢ Use GoFormative open-ended responses- Peer Evaluations. ➢ Teach using ATE- easy format to ensure complete response. (Reinforces writing standards) ○ Answer: What is the character trait at the beginning? ○ Text: What text demonstrates this? Choose text that includes events the demonstrate trait. ○ Explain: How does this text/event demonstrate the character change?

Samples of Student Responses of Open-Ended Questions-Students use Post-its to Peer Evaluate (rubric provided)

Additional Activities with Character Change

➢ The Great Debate: For an end of the quarter project, students are grouped (3-4 depending on the class size). Students develop a debate on which they become a character from the quarter’s reading and present an argument showing how he/she changed the most and learned the most valuable lesson. In the course of the debate, students include events which change him/her. At the end, students are provided with images of Judge Judy to determine which person from the group developed the greatest argument.

➢ Create an Infographic: Students can showcase their knowledge of how a protagonisti changed by creating an infographic (Piktochart). While doing this, students choose different events that lead to the character’s change from the beginning to the end. This also supports the first substandard relating to the plot diagram.

Additional Activities with Character Change

Step Three: Plot Diagram

❏ Start with Character Traits-What was the character like in the beginning? End? ❏ What was the major turning point(climax)for the protagonist? What event caused the protagonist to go in a different direction? (Change him/her) ❏ Fill in remainder of plot diagram-keeping in mind the events that lead the protagonist to make that final change--this helps to weed

• ut the insignificant events students sometimes choose.

❏ What lesson did the protagonist learn (supports RL.6.2)

Additional Activities with Plot Diagram

➢ Plot diagram Puzzle: Provide students with unlabeled plot diagram, but allow them to fill in the comprehension information from the story. Have students cut the portions of the plot diagram out and switch with a group to put in order of events. Groups will then provide feedback to

• ne another about the events they chose. Lively conversation often

ensues. ➢ What’s in a Line?: Choose lines from the passage that relate to the different portions of the plot diagram (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, lesson learned), students must choose the correct lines to fit the plot diagram label. Supports RL6.5 ➢ Create a Summary: Using the plot diagram, student create a written summary using Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then-The central idea- can self-check by determining if the plot diagram and summary match up--if not, self-correct. (Supports RL.6.2 as well)

Step Four: Provide Exposure to Multiple Choice Questions

➢ If you are going to get to the core, you have to model the core. Released PARCC samples show different varieties of questions for the same standard. Both of these questions are for RL.6.3.2 ➢ You can do this in any format you like-paper/pencil or Tech Tools (Go Formative, Quizziz, Nearpod, Kahoot, etc.)

Step Four: Provide Exposure to Multiple Choice Questions

• 1a. How does Max’s attitude toward school change as the chapter progresses? RL.6.3

a. He goes from annoyed to excited about school. b. His attitude does not change at all. c. He goes from indifferent to upset. d. He goes from determined to angry.

• 1b. Which two statements best demonstrate Max’s change?

a. “...it’s like getting jabbed with a needle everytime I hear the word.” Pg. 73 b. “The boy is certainly growing.” pg. 75 c. “The shouting and singing goes on…” pg. 77 d. “Sometimes we are nine feet tall and strong enough to walk through walls.” pg. 78 e. “I can’t explain why, but it was pretty cool.” pg. 79 ****IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REVIEW THE RESPONSES WITH STUDENTS TO DEBUNK THE

INCORRECT ANSWERS. A GOOD TECHNIQUE TO USE IS STAND UP/SIT DOWN- GETS THE BODY MOVING AND SUPPORTS THE SPEAKING AND LISTENING STANDARDS.

Example: Using Quizziz for Sherry’s Game

➢ Go to Quizziz. ➢ Click Play Quizziz ➢ You’ll see ➢ Enter code: ➢ Type in your name ➢ Wait for the game to begin. ➢ See your result at the end. You can review the answer with students at the end.

• Gradual Release of Instruction
• Only assess students on the part of the standard they have learned
• Create Formative Assessments in Edulastic(allows for similar tools found on PARCC)

Step 5: Formative Assessment of RL.6.3

Formative Assessment for RL 8.2 Text: Task Evaluation

Short, High Interest Passage RL.6.3.1 :Describe how a particular

story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series

• f episodes

Students will be able to accurately put events in order from story using drag and drop on Edulastic. Use a rubric in order to access; correctly put major events in

• rder choosing accurate plot

diagram (4)- Three would be elements in order but plot diagram elements may be off. Short, High Interest Passage

RL.6.3.2 Explain how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Students will identify character traits with Part B to support response. Multiple Choice Part A/Part B response

➢ Reteach/Warm-Ups ➢ Jamie Albon’s “Reteach Friday” ➢ Extension Activities ➢ Peer Tutoring ➢ Show Them You Genuinely Care… ➢ Growth Mindset Relationship with Students

Step 6: Post Formative…What Next If They Still Don’t Get the Standard?

Contact Information

Jamie Albon jalbon@npd117.net Caroline Sweiss csweiss@npd117.net Twitter: @sweissELA

Thank You…

We are beyond lucky to work in such a wonderful district and school. We thank these very talented individuals for their leadership and support along the way …

• Ms. Jeannie Stachowiak
• Mrs. Melissa Murphy
• Mr. Andy Anderson
• Mr. Sean Joyce
• Mrs. Natalie Profita
• Mrs. Adie McHugh

And most of all, our students who inspire us on a daily basis to “Be the Best for the World.” (NPD 117 Core Value)