Digging Deeper for Research "Questioning"

As part of their social studies curriculum and library/technology skills classes, 5th grade students are beginning their research for the production of our online magazines. This activity is used to depict their understanding of various Revolutionary War topics.  Before we can create our magazine pages we needed to learn specific information on our topics and the process of questioning is where we begin. One of our PD (professional development) topics was all about the thinking strategy “Questioning”, what perfect timing for me to decide how to restructure these lessons. You will see below that I began by using two different questioning graphic organizers to help students to develop their writing.

We started by asking questions to develop our background (schema) needed for this research process. Asking questions was the obvious way to get the information they needed. Student’s made a list of the first 4 W’s (Who, What, When & Where questions). Using the Question Builder Chart below. This graphic organizer allowed them to scratch the surface on the information available about their topics.

 graphic organizer…(Question Builder Chart,)

Next we used the What I wonder…What I learned…graphic organizer as our on-line tool for recording our answers to the research questions. The change here was that they were to ask the first 4 W’s and then ask the “How” and “Why” questions that come to the surface because of the first set of questions they were researching.

graphic organizer…(2 column note taking form)

The first draft of research writing:

Students began to understand that these questions (4-W’s) and answers would help them to organize the written part of the magazine pages. These background questions should have empowered them to ask more probing questions, probing deep enough to challenge their assumptions and get at the real answers, not just superficial ones. It was now that I wondered if some of us should try using the graphic organizer, “Peeling the Fruit” that was presented in our PD. I was thinking that by asking deeper and deeper questions that build on the answers students would be more likely to discover what really matters for their topics. I thought it would also challenge students to think a little more than usual. I was wrong they only asked the same questions that they used in their 2 column notes. I was disappointed because I had hoped it this graphic organizer might help them probe a little deeper. Next time I will not give them the 2 column note taking form and see if they attack the “Peeling the Fruit” strategy with a little more vigor.

Headline Success

HEADLINES 

Easy way to assess understandings based on an essential question

This is the second year working with the thinking strategy “Headline”. I have always felt that this was a great way to make meaningful connections to the lessons in our classroom. Unfortunately in the past my students haven’t always created headlines that synthesized the” Big Idea” of our lesson. The headlines felt flat or filled with misconceptions, which is not always a bad things, but not what I was hoping for. This particular time I would say I loved the “Headline” thinking routine because it was easy for the students and at the same time showed me that they had made meaningful connections. (Yahoo!) Goes to show me, “practice makes perfect”. I love that this strategy documents group thinking and gives everyone an opportunity to summarize and synthesis their learning in a cooperative format. I believe learning can be more powerful when you have the support of your classmates.

What were we leaning:

In this particular lesson we were learning about the first three English settlements in North America

Roanoke, Jamestown, & Plymouth.  During and after our social studies lessons students analyzed these three settlements to show why settlers came and the hardships they endured.

Setting the stage for this thinking activity:

As usual I begin this thinking activity by using mentor text (newspaper headlines) to remind students what headlines looked like. The difference was this time I used headlines from the local paper, Front Porch, those headlines read: “Home Business Turns Kids on to Sewing” & “Meet the Kids: Fifth Graders Explain Homelessness”

 I've used mentor text like the above before, but with less success. I believe that because they had previous experience in conjunction with these headlines students were activating and applying their schema more effectively and we were more successful in the end.

 Next Steps:

Students were given the directions to write three or more headlines that captures the main ideas of one of the three New England settlements. I reminded students that headlines are not written in complete sentences, but are short in order to capture the Big Idea of their learning. I was trying to find out what they’ve come to understand about early settlements. Essential Question: "How did the challenges that the first English colonies face determine their success or failures?"

We did put a little twist on this activity that you won't find in the textbook. As always I give everyone an opportunity to share their headlines and ask them to give reasons behind their headlines. This time I asked each group to send the secretary who recorded their thinking to meet with me as a group. I asked the secretary to look at the headline their group chose as their best. I then told them the headline couldn’t have the name of the settlement present. At first they were not happy with taking the name off, but by removing the name we really were able to see where they focused their thinking.  Once we had our new headline we wrote them on a sentence strips. Taking these headlines back to the classroom everyone began to analyze the headlines together. This allowed us to see other perspectives and see the content in a new way they might have not thought about. Our final step was to try and categorize headlines according to the three English settlements. Student's shared supporting evidence for choosing that settlement. This is where the magic happened for me. Adding this twist to our "headline"  activity allowed me to get a glimpse into how students were or were not connecting to ideas.  I was not disappointed with the rich discussion students have been having about their thinking.

Future plans for this activity:

I will keep the above headlines handy so that we can revisit them during our next lessons on the 13 New England colonies. My hope is that students will transfer their learning from this activity to the next.

I love headlines as a formative assessment tool. I should start using it as a pre-assessment tool  so I can quickly see what my students are coming to the lesson with and who needs some more scaffolding to get there.

I’m thinking that I could use headlines with just about anything. I might try having students write a headline about their weekend, how class went for the day, after an assembly, or even to sum up a conversation in class. Headlines are a quick way to checking in on students synthesis.

THINK- PUZZLE-EXPLORE: Investigating Human Systems

All of us are interested in learning more about our bodies. 5^{th graders} are very interested in their bodies because they are changing at a very rapid rate, therefore, it is easy to get students interested this science unit, Investigating the Human Body Systems. We learned about how specific body systems worked and how exercise and good nutrition contribute to the health of our bodies.  As a culminating activity students presented their understanding and deepened their knowledge through specific cooperative group projects. I decided to use the thinking routine Think-Puzzle-Explore as a reflective tool to help the students determine what they already know, what they still question, and how they will explore what they would like to learn more about. After evaluating their Think-Puzzle-Explore organizer I grouped individuals together to create a product that would teach us more about the body organs and systems.

 

Once groups were created I shared the following essential questions. I wanted to use these questions to guide them in their research and in the final presentation of their learning. I believe that essential questions help with the inquiry process, they help students organize or focus their research, and they foster creative and critical thinking.

Essential Question:

What can you do to protect your body organs and systems?

What illnesses occur in your body organs or systems?

How does lifestyle impact the body systems and organs?

How does the systems and organs of the human body work together and individually to support life?

How does the health of one of my organ systems impact the health of my other organ systems?

Why is the system you are presenting important to the human body?

Students were allowed to determine how they would present their specific information to their classmates. I didn’t want to put restrains on their thinking. I did require that they make a plan for their presentation and they had to determine who and how they would divide up the necessary research and project. As a group they came to me with their ideas and either they were off to research or we refined their thinking.

Our classroom was abuzz with motivated focused students. They created some fantastic projects and everyone worked together so productively.  Most of the students wanted to create a Google Doc, but each of them added their own twist during or after the Google Doc was presented.

Projects:

·         Google Docs presentation with text, images, and embedded videos

·         Google Docs presentation with all the above and short skits

·         Google Docs presentation in addition a poster is added

·         Google Docs presentation with an original RAP performed by individuals

·         Television news report

·         Posters

 

This thinking strategy allowed students to explore what they wanted to learn. It allowed me to group students based on interest not ability. Since students explored what they thought was interesting rather than what I thought was necessary, I believe they reach a little deeper in their thinking and their presentations were interesting and engaging.

Should Homework Be Graded?

Friday’s PLC (3/14/14) was thought provoking. “Our enduring goal is to create a learning culture that encompasses environment, instructional practices, curriculum and assessments that support rigorous and differentiated opportunities for deep thinking, leaning and understanding.” Michelle’s padlet had some very intriguing articles and videos that allowed us to choose from a smorgasbord of topics and to continual our focus on school-wide learning goal.  http://padlet.com/wall/AssessingUnderstand I found it helpful to read more than one article that addressed the same topic. I read two different short articles on summative and formative assessment.

Grant Wiggins article, Using Homework as Formative Assessment, required that the reader have a strong philosophical reason for grading homework. Wiggins classified homework as a form of formative assessment which should be on-going, provide reoccurring feedback and a tool for adjusting our teaching. Do I grade homework, sometimes, “yes,” but now I’m wondering if it is the best practice for helping students move forward. Do I give proper feedback, “yes,” or I hope that I do. The problem I see occurring in my classroom is that I don’t always get homework with proper feedback into my students hand quickly enough for them to make the adjustments in their leaning before I give a summative assessment. The turn over time has to be quicker if homework is going to be used as a formative assessment. I like the analogy used for grading homework. They compared homework to the pre-season soccer games and how these games help soccer players to prepare for the seasonal games when things really count.  This connection helped me to see how homework should be preparation for the summative test and corrections should be made along the way as students are preparing for the final performance of our unit of study. I realized that when I don’t make adjustments in my instruction after checking homework I’m very likely not helping my students to move toward a deeper understanding. I’d like to address one more point that was made in the article. If you take a grade on homework the article suggested that we might want to consider raising that grade if their performance has improved on the summative assessment. With everything I try to keep track of in each day I’m not sure I could remember to raise someone’s grade after grading the summative assessment, but it’s a nice concept, something to think about.

The second article also about formative and summative assessment written by Andrew Miller, Courageous Conversation: Formative Assessment and Grading.  The first point that stuck me was grading homework was, “leverage to make students do the work” and “I was ‘Cattle-prodding’ them into doing work”.  Oops, I’ve never looked at it in this way, but if I’m grading homework and making them do unfinished homework, I might be doing just that. Andrew Miller agrees with Grant Wiggins homework is a formative assessment and should not be grade. Andrew suggest that you give specific focused feedback on assignment and to ask students to set goals based on this feedback. This article does say that you could use the homework as a formative assessment to create a progress grade and to track a students Work Ethic. Whew! I believe developing a good work ethic is a necessary life skill.

 I believe that it is time for me to be more reflective on homework practices for my students. Is my homework assignment necessary, engaging and will it help my students perform better on the summative assessment because of the homework assigned? In the UbD planning template we determine evidence for assessing learning and plan those assessment with the end in mind. After reading these two articles I will reevaluate my homework assignments and make sure they will allow students to demonstrate their learning and understanding because I’ve anchored the homework around our essential questions.

Claims - Support - Question

Claim - Support - Question  (CSQ)

At the beginning of our science unit, "Human Body" we had an opportunity to share our ideas about products and services that claim to promote fitness. Students were asked to be skeptical of products and services that claim to promote fitness with or without exercise. To be skeptical students would need to critically analyze advertisements that promote fitness and changes to the body. Students worked in small groups to identify assertions made by selected advertisements. Each student could develop their own claim about what the advertisement represented, but the claims presented should be focused on specific evidence (support). The purpose of presenting the support was to be sure that students were not making a claim based on opinions, reactions or feelings.

Focus Question: Would you believe this ad if you read it in a magazine?
 What makes you say that?

 Students had a number of magazine ads to practice their CSQ activity. As the I observed the activity I realized that my focus question was not going to give me the results I was hoping for. I worked on generating what I thought were topical questions.  My hope was that students would make claims based on the evidence rather than opinions.

Topical questions:

What generalizations do these ads make?

What evidence supports your claim?

What would make someone question your claim?

Introducing these new questions allowed my students to begin asking questions and determining importance while discussing these advertisements. Making me feel like we were going in the right direction, but we need more practice analyzing direct and indirect evidence.I believe this thinking strategy is a great way to see if students can process information analytically.