Issue 53: Jul 06, 2009 Connections Newsletter
Don’t Skip the K-U-D Organizer
Denise Burson
Jul 06, 2009
Teacher comments from Learning-Focused Conference Days:
"Don't skip the K-U-D Organizer! We decided this is the best tool to transform the standards."
"The K-U-D Organizer clearly communicates the expected learning to us and to our students."
"We have learned a way to transform the standards into meaningful units and lessons."
To truly understand the standards, it is necessary to use a K-U-D (Know, Understand, Do) Organizer. Although this may sound daunting, the K-U-D Organizer is basically an outlining technique in which teachers identify and interpret the expectations of the standards in terms of knowledge, understanding and skills. The purpose of the K-U-D Organizer is for teachers to collaborate and to identify the specific information from the state standards that students are being required to know, understand and do for mastery. Analyzing the state standards and creating a list of what students should know, understand and be able to do by the end of a unit ensures that what students learn in classroom lessons are driven by the standards.
Steps to follow (from Learning-Focused Strategies: Transforming Standards into Learning):
- Identify the content area in your State Standards for the unit you are planning
- Examine the State Standards to select a topic for the unit focus
- Examine the standards to determine exactly what students should know (concepts-the nouns) and be able to do (skills-verbs).
- Determine the overall Understanding for the unit. This is what students will understand overvall by the end of the unit. It is the important generalization about the subject, the "aha!" realizations students are to reach after instruction is completed.
- After completing the K-U-D Organizer, decide if you think that some of the things on the K-U-D Organizer have already been mastered. Check the K-U-D Organizer against the standards to make sure that there are no redundancies or gaps.
Remember, don't skip the K-U-D Organizer." This process will provide the structure from which a deep and rich Student Learning Map can be built. Your Student Learning Maps provide a focus for what to teach and clearly communicates the expected learning to students.
"I now know what I am accountable to teach. I truly understand what the standards say students are to know."
The Relationship between Unit Essential Questions, Lesson Essential Questions and Assessment Prompts
Bill Blynt
Jul 06, 2009
Is it still difficult to tell the difference between a Lesson Essential Question and an Assessment Prompt? How do the Assessment Prompts help the students answer the Lesson Essential Question? How do Lesson Essential Questions enable students to answer the Unit Essential Question?
Here are examples of each and how they connect:
Social Studies
Unit Essential Question
How and why do we provide checks and balances on government power?
Lesson Essential Question
How can the separation of powers inherent in our government create a deadlock?
Assessment Prompts
How is government power shared in the government of the US?
What are the powers given to each of the branches of government?
Why do we have three branches of government at the federal level in the US?
Math
Unit Essential Question
How can we mathematically predict future events?
Lesson Essential Question
How is expectation different from probability?
Assessment Prompts
What is a combination?
What is a permutation?
How do the formulas differ?
Science
Unit Essential Question
How are past events and environments on Earth inferred?
Lesson Essential Question
What characteristics of rocks enable them to "tell a story"?
Assessment Prompts
What are some structural characteristics of rocks which help us infer past environments and geological events?
What is relative age and how is it used to sequence past events?
What is absolute age and how is it determined?
English
Unit Essential Question
How are cultural and societal issues reflected in works of literature?
Lesson Essential Question
What affects did the Great Depression have on culture and society?
Assessment Prompts
What is the stereotype of an Okie?
Why were people 'mobile' during the Great Depression?
When students can correctly respond to the Assessment Prompts, they can answer the Lesson Essential Question. If they can answer the Lesson Essential Questions, they can answer the Unit Essential Question. The connection between the Assessment Prompts, Lesson Essential Questions and Unit Essential Question allows for more effective formative assessment that leads to more effective summative assessment and more learning.
To learn more see Connecting Exemplary Practices in Acquisition Lessons.
What Initiatives Enable Middle and High School Students to Become Better Readers?
Barbara McSwain
Jul 06, 2009
Policymakers believed that Reading First would solve the problems caused by low levels of reading achievement in America's schools. The 2000 report from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development was the sort of information and guidance that proved to be beneficial to both state and federal legislatures who make policy decisions. However, the policymakers focused only on the first few years of school. What happens to those students when they move on to middle school and high school? What initiatives do we presently have in place to enable them to become more proficient readers? A few states have invoked a secondary reading program. However, these initiatives have been implemented with little or no guidance on what this should consistently and pervasively look like at the school site.
Mary Ann Zehr in her Education Week, May 1, 2009 article "Southern States Urged to Tackle Adolescent Literacy" reported that The Southern Regional Education Board is advising its 16 member states to devise a comprehensive set of policies to improve reading for middle and high school students. According to Zehr's article, David S. Spence, president of the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board, said in an interview: "We're saying this needs to be the top priority, even if something else has to give. It's obvious that we get kids reading or decoding by grade 4 or 5, and we probably make good progress in that. But in terms of higher-level reading, reading comprehension, we just don't do it." Virginia leads the southern states with a higher percentage of 8th graders scoring at or above proficiency in reading than any other SREB state, according to Governor Tim Kaine, reports Zehr. Zehr notes Kaine also remarks that 34 percent "is hardly anything to turn cartwheels about."
In 2005, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that only a third of America's middle and high school population meet grade level expectations for reading. These numbers rise to one in seven for children of poverty. This is most disturbing when it is noted that literacy is a requirement for any type of pathway to success. Technical colleges and entry level jobs are requiring advance literacy skills which must be demonstrated on an entrance exam. In one South Georgia Community, the Technical College, Chamber of Commerce, and the University have banded together for entry level minimum requirements demanding higher levels of proficiency than ever before demonstrated. Many districts have "Make Education Work" and other initiatives to encourage mastery of literacy and good grades. It does not matter which geographical area in which you li ve, middle and secondary educators and researchers agree that basic literacy may allow proficiency at the K-3 levels, but it is not enough to carry students into the upper grades. One fourth grade teacher stated, "There is a huge gap between 3rd and 4th grades in the expectations for literacy." Students in grades 4-12 need ongoing support to enable them to master reading and writing requirements.
Donald Deschler, Director of the University Of Kansas Center for Research on Learning states, "During the past decade, researchers and practitioners have made remarkable progress in finding ways to address the needs of struggling adolescent readers. While much is yet to be learned, we have a solid base from which to close the achievement gap for older learners. The challenge before us is to effectively use all that we know!"
In 2004, Biancarosa and Snow wrote Reading Next. In this document the authors described the following 15 teaching strategies and school-wide reforms that research has demonstrated have had encouraging effects on middle and high school readers:
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Direct explicit instruction in reading comprehension
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Reading instruction focused on academic content
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Attention to student motivation and self-directed learning
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Collaborative learning
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Strategic tutoring
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Opportunities for students to read diverse, high-level texts
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Intensive instruction and practice in writing
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A technology component
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Ongoing assessment of students' skills and needs
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Periodic assessment of students' mastery of standards
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Extensive time reserved for literacy learning
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Professional development opportunities for teachers
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Opportunities for teachers to work in teams
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Strong leadership
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Comprehensive and coordinated planning
Subsequent reports (Torgesen et al, 2007) found that in grades 4-12 literacy instruction should include: reading fluency; vocabulary knowledge; content knowledge; higher level reasoning and thinking skills; reading comprehension strategies; and student motivation and encouragement. We can all agree with Peggy McBride, Chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), when she says, "We don't know all we need to know, but we certainly know enough to make a difference for these young people right now." We have known that since the 2004 Biancoraosa and Snow report. Joseph Torgensen, Director of the Florida Center for Reading Research stated, "If we could effectively apply the instructional knowledge we currently have in schools and classrooms across the county, I have no doubts that we would begin to see improvements in adolescents' literacy almost immediately."
One Learning-Focused middle school teacher exclaimed, "After I attended the Reading Assignments and Vocabulary Instruction workshops, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I said to myself, if they can do this in other places, we can do it right here in this school! I could not believe it when the AYP scores came back at the end of the year. Children that I thought would never be successful are working and are passing the state exam."
Unfortunately, not all schools/districts have a research-based literacy framework in place. Also, policymakers have not adequately addressed the issue. The National Alliance for Excellent Education June 2007 brief stated that recent research studies and policy reports often cite the following recommendations for policymakers:
- Policymakers should encourage schools, districts, and states to articulate clear, comprehensive and actionable plans for improving adolescent literacy instruction.
- Policymakers should invest in assessment tools that schools can use to identify struggling readers in grades 4-12, assign them to appropriate classes, keep track of their progress, and adjust instruction to meet their needs.
- Policymakers should invest in targeted interventions that will enable students who read far below grade level to make rapid progress in reading, helping them to catch up to their peers as quickly as possible.
- Policymakers should invest in ongoing professional development programs designed to help all middle and high school teachers provide effective literacy instruction.
- Policymakers should support and invest in accountability systems that give teachers strong incentives to provide effective reading and writing instruction in upper grades.
- Policymakers should invest in ongoing research on and evaluation of strategies to improve adolescent literacy.
It is imperative that we begin to support literacy for the adolescent student. These skills are the gateway to their futures. Timothy Shanahan, President of the International Reading Association, 2006-2007, and a member of the National Reading Panel stated, "There is a substantial body of high quality research evidence that provides useful directions for how to improve reading achievement for older students. This evidence is particularly rich with regard to what needs to be done to teach vocabulary and reading comprehension to striving students." One must ask the following questions:
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Why are we not concentrating on teaching vocabulary based on content standards?
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Why are we not using researched based strategies to teach vocabulary?
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Why is there not a focus on reading comprehension skills across content areas?
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Is there a consistent and pervasive focus on Extending Thinking skills (higher level thinking skills)?
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Do we have a framework to "Catch Kids Up"?
To learn more about the Learning-Focused Literacy framework and Catching Kids Up visit the Learning-Focused website at www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com and explore the Literacy and Catching Kids Up products , workshops and future conferences. To schedule a workshop contact Client Services at www.LEARNINGFOCUSED.com or call 866-95-LEARN (955-3276).
References:
Biancarosa, G., and Snow, C. (2004). Reading next-A vision for action and research in secondary literacy: A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellent Education
International Reading Association. (2006). Standards for middle and high school literacy coaches.Newark.DE: Author.
National Alliance for Excellent Education, Issue Brief (June 2207) Federal Support for Adolescent Literacy: A solid investment. Washington, D. C.
National Center for Educational Statistics (2005).National Association of Educational Progress. Washington, DC: US Department of Education
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Zehr, Mary Ann. (May 1, 2009). Southern States Urged to Tackle Adolescent Literacy. www.edweek.org
