Melissa Mitchell (robesonma@scsk12.org)

Formative and Common Formative Assessment and Literacy

For elementary, middle and high librariansSession 2 – 9:10 – 10:10Session 3 – 10:20 - 11:20Session 4 – 11:20 – 12:30

Norms•Be present and engaged

•Be respectful of differences in perspective while challenging each other productively and respectively

•Monitor “air time”

•Make the most of the time we have

•Stay focused on students

ObjectivesKnow: • Literacy is every educator’s obligation.• Every librarian has the potential to impact literacy through instruction, resources and support.• Shelby County Schools has developed a Comprehensive Literacy Improvement Plan (CLIP) to

accelerate literacy learning.Understand:• Learned strategies can be integrated across content areas to increase student literacy.• Development and implementation of high-quality programs encourage student reading and

enhance literacy instruction across all grades and subjects.• Digital resources are additional tools that can be used to impact student literacy.Do:• Analyze literacy assessments to determine the instructional needs of their students• Design activities or lessons that support Common Core Standards in literacy• Obtain grants to provide high quality resources to increase literacy• Provide multiple opportunities to engage in authentic literacy activities

Literacy in the Content Areas

Supporting literacy and language development and ensuring rigor across SCS schools, grades, and content areas

Students who receive intensive, focused literacy instruction and tutoring will graduate from high school and attend college in significantly greater numbers than those not receiving such attention. Despite these findings, few middle or high schools have a comprehensive approach to teaching literacy across the curriculum.

--Alliance for Excellent Education (2002)

What is the Goal of Content Area Literacy Instruction?

• To teach the ideas, concepts, and principles of a specific subject in a manner that learners receive instruction in reading strategies that meet the unique requirements of the individual subject area

ObjectivesKnow:• The DRAFT SCS Comprehensive Literacy Improvement Plan (CLIP) ensures a

quality balanced literacy approach to instruction that results in high levels of learning for all students, across content areas

Understand: • All teachers can respond to the literacy needs of struggling readers and

writers, including ELLs and students w/ disabilities, and support improved content-area learning so that students develop the literacy skills and strategies of skilled readers and writers

Be able to Do: • Implement research-based literacy strategies and practices that enable

students to comprehend informational texts across all content areas• Plan reading and writing tasks that are meaningful, analytical, and authentic

to specific content areas• Provide effective vocabulary instruction that not only includes discipline-

specific words, but also high utility (or Tier 2) words that occur across other content areas

WHY TRY AND TEACH LITERACY IN THE CONTENT AREAS?

ACT, The Forgotten Middle, 2008

9

Chance of Later Success

Science Mathematics

UnpreparedIn

Reading1% 15%

PreparedIn

Reading32% 67%

Literacy and content area learning depend on each other

What happens if students leave MS and enter HS unprepared for reading?

Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction and informational texts [Reading Standards #1-10 in ELA and Reading Standards for History/SS, Science, and Technology]

Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from the text [Reading Standard #1, Speaking and Listening Standard #1, and Writing Standards #1, #2, #9]

Regular practice with complex texts and their academic vocabulary [Reading Standards #10 and #4]

Progress toward CCR Shifts in Literacy/ELA hold Promise for Content Area Learning

Literacy• Reading, writing, speaking, listening, and

understanding--including new media (e.g., digital and not, multimedia, hypertext or hypermedia)

• Reading includes decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, etc.

• “developmental nature of reading and content learning, considering that the ability to learn from text changes over the course of one’s education and as the result of life experience” (Adolescents and Literacy: Reading for the 21st Century, 2003)

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Academic Language • Used in textbooks, classrooms, assignments, and tests

– tends to use more complex text than spoken English• Different in structure and vocabulary from everyday

spoken, social English; many who speak English well have trouble w/ academic language used in high school and college

• Allows students to acquire knowledge and academic skills, and successfully navigate school policies, assignments, expectations, and norms

• Associated w/ academic performance

Areas of Effective Literacy InstructionEffective adolescent literacy instruction includes focused work in: • Word study• Fluency• Vocabulary• Comprehension• Writing• Motivation

(Boardman et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2008)

WHAT CAN WE DO TO SUPPORT LITERACY LEARNING IN THE CONTENT AREAS?

Tier 1, Core Instruction (to support literacy, language, and content-area learning)

Librarians

There is a clear consensus...School libraries are a powerful force in the lives of America's children.

The school library is one of the few factors whose contribution to academic achievement has been documented empirically, and it is a contribution

that cannot be explained away by other powerful influences on student performance.

Librarians in a Unique Position

• We support all content areas– Mathematics– Science– Social Studies– Reading/Language Arts

• Teachers will need our guidance more than ever

Literacy “Look-Fors”-Content Area Literacyand Collection Development

• Clearly identified literacy and language in book selection

• Students read content-specific text • Research-based literacy strategies and practices

implemented in lessons• Students respond to text in ways that are

meaningful, analytical, and authentic to the content area

Offer Our Expertise

• Checks for understanding where possible in the library

• Share what we observe with teachers and students

• How?

Formative Assessment

• Remember it is an assessment for learning• It guides instruction• Formative assessments are not graded

Types of Formative Assessment• Observation of Students

• Can Include Sticky Notes• Checklist

• Discussion with Students • Speech makes thinking visible or concrete

• Questioning• Admit/Exit Slips• Think Pair Share• Answering with hands

• Thumbs, sign language, number of fingers go with answer choice

More Formative Assessments

• Graphic Organizers– http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/GraphicOrganizers.html

• Peer/Self Assessments– Two Stars and a Wish

• Paper Plate Faces• Four Corners

– Can be used on a desk or piece of paper• Individual Whiteboards• Appointment Clocks• Constructive Response

Even More

• Index Card Summaries• One Minute Essay• Choral Response• One Word or One Sentence Summary• Turn to your Partner• Chain Notes

– Pass around an envelope with question, kids put answer inside

• Use Sticky Notes

Popsicle Sticks

Yes, there are more!

• Windshield Check– Clear, Buggy, Muddy

• Colored Cups or paper slips• Projects• Rubrics• Colored Paper or Paint Color Strips• Foldables• Any other ideas?

Common Formative Assessment

• Assessment for Learning• Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment• Begin with the End in Mind• Clear Target• Based on Standards/Objectives• Done Across an Entire Grade Level or Subject

Area• Done Across Libraries

Steps To Creating A Quality Common Formative Assessment

• Select an important instructional topic• Identify a matching standard• Unwrap the priority standard• Determine the “Big Ideas”/essential question• Develop a formative assessment

– Include a constructed response when possible• Review for evidence of proficiency• Adjust the instruction and share findings

Feedback is Important

Discovery Education(session today!)

• Excellent tool for formative and common formative assessments

• Data collection– Create probes (allows you to evaluate questions)

• Use clickers• Paper pencil• White boards• Flash answers/number answers

Accommodations for ESL and DEC

• 1. Formative assessment techniques are easily adapted for ESL and DEC students. (share examples)

• 2. Manipulatives and pictures may be used to indicate a response. (share examples)

T.R.A.I.L.S(session today!)

• Assesses information literacy skills• Multiple-choice• FREE!!!

Final Thoughts

• Share ideas