Hi-Five Friday
APRIL
Building Goal #1: WRITING
WRITING FRAMES for ALL CLASSROOMS
Building Goal #2: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Individual Whiteboards
Individual slates or whiteboards are a great way to hold all students in the class accountable for the work. They actively involve students in the learning and are a terrific tool for assessment and immediate feedback. When students complete their work and hold their whiteboard up, the teacher can quickly determine who is understanding and who needs help. Individual whiteboards are easy to make from melamine or tile board which are usually carried at a local home supply store.
Links for Individual Whiteboards:
Education World: Whiteboards Stimulate Student Learning
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson251.shtml
Using Individual Whiteboards in the Math Classroom
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1064895/using_individual_whiteboards_in_the.html?cat=15
Using White Boards: Fun Ideas for Reading & Language Arts
http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/4730.aspx
Teachnet.com: White Boards
http://www.teachnet.com/how-to/manage/082398.html
Teaching Tools: 7 Ways to Use Individual Student Whiteboards
http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2010/02/7-ways-to-use-individual-student.html
Building Goal #3: BLENDED LEARNING
Visual Representations
There are several forms of visual representation, or nonlinguistic representation, but one that offers assessment data for the teacher is the use of drawing. Graphic organizers can be used as visual representations of concepts in the content areas. Many of the graphic organizers contain a section where the student is expected to illustrate his/her idea of the concept. The Mind Map requires that students use drawings, photos or pictures from a magazine to represent a specific concept. The Verbal and Visual Word Association (VVWA) asks students to illustrate a vocabulary term. Both of these offer the teacher a quick was of assessing student depth of understanding regarding a specific concept.
Links for Visual Representation:
Painting Poetry: Using Visual Representation as a Response to Literature
http://198.104.156.44/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=780
The Role of Visual Representation in the Assessment of Learning
Research on Graphic Organizers
http://www.mentoringminds.com/pdf/pdfGraphicOrganizersResearch.pdf
Classroom Instruction That Works: Nonlinguistic Representations
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/101010/chapters/Nonlinguistic-Representations.aspx
Putting the Pieces Together: Using Non-Linguistic Representations
http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/vste/2008/5nonlinguistic.htm
Five Great Tools for Marzano's Strategies: Nonlinguistic Representation
Building Goal #4: HIGHER ORDER QUESTIONING
Questioning
Asking better questions affords students an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of student understanding. Questions of this nature engage students in classroom dialogue that expands student learning. Questions should go beyond the typical factual questions requiring recall of facts or numbers. Paul Black, a noted authority on formative assessment, suggests that "more effort has to be spent in framing questions that are worth asking: that is, questions which explore issues that are critical to the development of students' understanding." (Black et al., 2003)
Links for Questioning:
Tips for Teachers - Asking Good Questions
http://www.edb.utexas.edu/minliu/pbl/TIPS/question.html#hots
Questioning Techniques: Research-Based Strategies for Teachers
http://onramp.nsdl.org/eserv/onramp:1244/oct08_pl_tas.html
Edutopia: The Right Way to Ask Questions in the Classroom
http://www.edutopia.org/asking-students-good-questions
Inviting Student Engagement with Questioning
http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/258931/inviting_student_engagement_with_questioning/
Using "Think Time" and "Wait Time" Skillfully in the Classroom